context on tennesee williams

Question 1

when was williams born?

where was williams born?

what was his birth name?

Answer 1

1911

mississippi

thomas lanier williams iii

Question 2

williams’ mother

Answer 2

she was a beautiful, sexually alluring southern belle

lived on the verge of hysteria

later admitted to a psychiatric ward

his mother’s personality is reflected in blanche dubois

Question 3

who is stanley kowalski based on?

Answer 3

williams’ father, who was a forceful, aggressive and short tempered man

Question 4

williams’ childhood

Answer 4

lived his life not wanting to grow up

largely dependent on relatives due to childhood illness

Question 5

what did writing offer williams?

Answer 5

an escape from the harsh environment of society

ridiculed due to his effeminate nature

Question 6

williams’ sister

Answer 6

had a nervous breakdown and suffered from schizophrenia

spent much of her life in a sanatorium and was lobotomised - something that williams never recovered from

Question 7

literary style

Answer 7

moved from the realistic and traditional plays to more abstract ones

influenced by shakespeare, the english romantics, the french symbolists and modern american literature