ENG 472 Tennessee Williams Portfolio

Tennessee William Plays Portfolio
Name
Institutional Affiliation

Abstract
While Tennessee described his life as happy and carefree, his life took a different twist when his family moved to an urban environment in Missouri. His struggles in life inspired him to write some of best plays in the history of theater. In brief, William’s plays reflect his views about different aspects of life. Apparently, the Glass Menagerie play reflects his relationship with his sister and mother after his father left them. The majority of plays portray men as either brutal. For instance, the play A Streetcar Named Desire portrays men as brutal while women become the victims of men’s brutality. Other themes such as sexuality, relationships, and social life, in general, are common in all the plays. Looking at the different works, it is evident that William was educating his audience by showing them the importance of pursuing their dreams and establishing strong social ties. Giving his characters different viewpoints about specific issues allows the audience to evaluate where they stand. In other words, the plays give the spectators an opportunity to reflect on how they will act or react if they find themselves in a similar situation as the characters.

Tennessee William Play’s Portfolio
Introduction
Tennessee William is considered one of the most prolific personalities in the world of play writing. His works such as the Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof are still popular today.

Other popular plays include Summer and Smoke, and the Rose Tattoo. This portfolio presents a combination of William’s works that makes his plays exceptional and intriguing after many decades. The portfolio presents different themes and characters in relation to William’s personal life. In particular, each of the characters seemed to portray a unique view about different issues such as relationships, sex, and pursuing one’s goals.
Discussion of William’s Family
The play the Glass Menagarie is an autobiographical play that reflects William’s family (Bloom, 2007). For instance, Amanda takes the place of William’s mother who had to raise William and his sister Rose Williams after her husband left. She struggles to raise her two children despite the tough economic situation and the many personal issues that her children had to undergo. In contrast, Rose Williams, William’s sisters had schizophrenia that made it difficult for her to live a normal life. She had to undergo a pre-frontal lobotomy due to her worsening situation. In the play, William presents Laura as a sister who seems to have trouble establishing a normal lifestyle (Bloom, 2007). Laura’s character reflects William’s sister and her medication condition. For instance, William shows how Laura suffered a serious mental problem to reflect how his sister underwent a lobotomy.
The Theme of Escape
Mr. Wingfield
The theme of escape is clearly seen in Mr. Wingfield life when he chooses to consume alcohol a way of escaping from the harsh realities. His family is undoing serious financial difficulties, and he is not ready or willing to face such challenges as the man of the house. Instead, he develops a drinking habit that makes him forget his troubles temporarily (Bloom, 2007). In the play, Wingfield’s son, Tom, becomes the bread winner after Wingfield deserted Amanda alone and left her with Tom and Laura. The fact that Wingfield left and avoided his paternal responsibility is clear indication of the escape theme. In other words, Mr. Wingfield escapes from his fatherly responsibility leaving Amanda with the responsibility of taking care of their two children.
Amanda Wingfield
As a single parent, Amanda had the responsibility of taking care of her family after her husband left. However, Tom starts working to support the family instead of attending school. For Amanda, Tom’s job provides an escape from the harsh realities that Amanda could have faced if her son was dependent (Bloom, 2007). The theme of escape is also evident when Amanda decides to live partially in the world of her youth, where she entertains gentlemen callers as a way of escaping from the realities of her life. For instance, in Scene I, Amanda tells her daughter about one instance where she entertained 17 gentlemen callers in a single day.
Tom Wingfield
The theme of escape is evident when Tom ends up inviting Jim as his sister’s suitor only to discover that he is engaged to another lady. Top watches from the fire escape outside their house as Amanda tries to comfort her daughter. After the incidence, Tom ends up losing his job and leaves his family behind thinking that he was escaping from the guilt. However, he laments that he cannot escape from the guilty memories even after traveling and staying far away from his sister. In scene three, Tom’s mother complains that Tom was spending every night away drinking (Bloom, 2007). In response, laments that he had to work for a company that he dislikes just to support his family rather than pursuing his dreams. In chapter four, Amanda raises the issue again by telling Tom how he prefers drinking just to escape the apartment. When his mother makes her daily call of ‘Rise and Shine,’ Tom portrays the theme of escape by envying the dead since he felt that dying was a sure way of escape from his responsibilities of providing for his mother and sister.
Laura Wingfield
Evidently, the play portrays Laura as a shy girl who escapes from a real world and lives in a world of her own. When her mother takes her to school, she stops attending classes and instead wonders looking for an escape (Bloom, 2007). She ends up creating her world of old phonograph records and little glass animals as a way of escaping from the real world where girls her age were attending schools or dating. Her mother and brother do their best to bring her back to a normal life by trying to find suitors for her.
Jim O’Connor
While Jim seems not escape from anything, he brings out the theme of escape by possessing a contrasting character. In other words, his realistic life becomes an eye-opener for Wingfield’s family, which seems to escape from realities (Bloom, 2007). For instance, Jim openly discusses his ambitions, his relationships, and other issues that matter to him.
Rose Symbol and Bird Imagery
In the Glass Menagerie play, ‘Blue Roses’ was a nickname that Jim used to call his sister Laura. The title symbolizes Laura’s uniqueness yet allure (Bloom, 2007). It reflects the character of William’s sister named Rose. The blue roses tend to be mysterious or impossible to come by which is supported by Jim’s description of Laura as one-in-a-million girl.
In A Streetcar Named Desire play, roses symbolize death as well as desire. At the end of Scene Five, Mitch brings Blanche roses, which is a clear indication that he uses the flower to court her (Williams, 1947). In Scene Nine, a Mexican woman appears selling ‘flowers for the dead.’ Stella describes her sister to be as fresh as a daisy (flower) (Williams, 1947). In response, Blanche says that she was picked a few days earlier. Since picking a flower automatically kills it, Blanche response symbolizes death.
In the play the Rose Tattoo, the rose symbolizes love, sex, and procreation. Apparently, both Serafina and her husband Rosario have risen tattoos, which bare significant symbolism in their relationship (Williams, 1951). Serafina tells another character named Assunta how another rose is growing in her body. Serafina reveals her pregnancy early in the play and goes ahead to occasionally brag about the love and sex she shared with her husband, Rosario. Jack shows the universality of the symbol by calling Rosa, Serafina’s daughter, a rose (Williams, 1951). In the play Summer and Smoke, William describes a character named Alma as a faded porcelain flower (Williams, 1948). The play also presents the bird imagery since Alma remains unmarried despite her reserve tendencies and character associated with marriageable women.
Women as Victims or Survivors
In the play the Glass Menagerie, Amanda becomes a victim when her husband, Mr. Wingfield, leaves her with the responsibility of raising her two children, Laura and Tom. As a single parent, Amanda struggles to support herself and her two children until Tom became old enough to start working. For example, the constant disagreement between Amanda and her son Tom shows her daughters’ inability to get a suitor shows Amanda’s fate. Apparently, her desire to make her children happy seems fails to materialize when her children fail to achieve what they desire in life. On the other hand, Laura, Amanda’s daughter seems to face totally different fate. Laura’s antisocial character seems to affect her ability to cope with the realities of life. Instead, she lives in the world of fantasy surrounded by glass animals. A good example that shows Laura’s fate is when Jim admits that he is already engaged to another woman. The announcement breaks Laura’s heart since she had hoped that Jim would eventually marry her.
Although in different plays, Blanche and Alma seem to share the same fate. In A Streetcar Named Desire play, Blanche seems to face a similar fate when her lover, Mitch learns about her past and decides to ditch her (Williams, 1947). Just like Laura, Blanche had hoped that her man would marry her leading to a happy life. However, her fate changes for the worse due to a series of events that follow Mitch’s decision to end their relationship. For instance, her situation worsens when Stanley rapes her. As she is taken to a mental hospital, it becomes clear that her fate is sealed and her life is ruined.
In the play Summer and Smoke, Alma faces problems with her relationship with Buchanan since they possess different characters. While Alma is conservative and modesty, Buchanan is fun-loving and wild making it difficult for them match (Williams, 1948). However, towards the end of the play, the couple switched places as Alma loses her inhibitions while Buchanan desires to settle down. In the final scene, it becomes apparent that Alma will start living a carefree lifestyle when she follows a young traveling salesman to enjoy the after-dark entertainment.
Serafina, a character in the Rose Tattoo has a different fate due to her relatively good relationship with her husband. She constantly brags how she has a healthy relationship with her husband Rosario (Williams, 1951). Her pregnancy gives the audience the impression that she is leading a happy. Serafina’s greatly differs from Amanda’s life whose husband decided to run away and provide no support. However, Serafina’s fate remains unclear since her husband worlds as a drug smuggler under the guise of a banana seller. Maggie, a wife in the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof play, faces a similar fate as Serafina since her marriage to Brick uplifted her from poverty. However, her marriage faces difficulties as other family members suspect that her strain relationship with her husband prevented them from fulfilling their conjugal rights (Williams, 1975). Towards the end of the play, Maggie had to lie that she was pregnant to protect her husband’s rights to inheritance. As the play ends, Maggie tells her husband that the lie will change to truth. Tellingly, the sentiment suggests that their relationship with change for better since they will have to make love to make her pregnant.
Male characters as Brutes or Weaklings
While William painted the female characters as victims, he developed male characters by giving them brutal, uncaring, or frail personalities. Although they appear in different plays, Tom, Mitch, Big Daddy, and Rosario show similar tendencies of weakness in their respective relationships with family and friends. In the Glass Menagerie play, Tom shows his weakness when he fails to face the realities of his life and pursue his dreams of becoming a poet. Instead, his mother, Amanda, seems to control him by shifting his attention to working in a company that he does not like at the first place. Tom’s weakness becomes evident when his mother tries to control his life by talking about his drinking habits and her he spends his free time. Similarly, in A Streetcar Named Desire play, Mitch portrays his weak tendency when he failed to accept Blanche’s past and decides to quit upon hearing her confession (Williams, 1947). In yet another instance, Mitch fails to protect Blanche when his friend Stanley rapes her. Mitch’s unwillingness to confront Stanley regarding the unfortunate incidence shows his weakness as man.
A character named Big Daddy in the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof play also shows similar week tendencies. For instance, the entire Southern family decides to hide the truth about Big Daddy’s health condition from him (Williams, 1975). Tellingly, his family members were aware of his weakness and inability to bear such news and decide not to inform him about his health condition. In the same play, Brick also portrays a weak character. Just like Tom, Brick indulges in alcoholism as a way of dealing with his weakness. In one instance, Brick’s friend named Skipper took his wife Maggie to bed just to proof that he (Skipper) is not romantically related to her husband (Williams, 1975). Tellingly, the inability of Brick to confront his wife or friend or wife about the incident is a clear indication of his weakness.
In the Play the Rose Tattoo, Alvaro is an Italian character that represents aggressive men in the manner they approach sexuality. In one instance, he uses sexuality to achieve his objectives (Williams, 1951). In particular, Alvaro sees Serafina as a long-term investment when he eyes her despite her older age as long as he gets a well-finished house and business from the relationship. In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley shows his brutal character when he mistreats his wife Stella and her sister Blanche in separate incidences of violence (Williams, 1947). Stella had to take refuge in their neighbor’s house after Stanley attacked her while drunk. In yet another incidence, Stanley raped leading to her mental breakdown that ruins her life.
Some of the male characters portrayed relatively balanced characters that neither showed weakness or brutality. For instance, Jim was an outstanding character in the play the Glass Menagerie. In one instance, Jim showed his boldness by pursuing what he wanted in life; for example, his relationship that resulted in an engagement. On the same note, Jim shows his tenderness when he dances with Laura and takes time to appreciate her. In yet another instance, Rosario’s character falls in between the two extremes. In the play Rose Tattoo, Rosario neither shows weakness nor brutality in his relationship.
Williams Approach to Characters who failed to accept Realities
Evidently, William developed the fate of his characters depending on their ability to accept realities in their lives. There are multiple examples that show William’s approach that seemed to punish characters depicting unrealistic tendencies. Apparently, William wanted to pass a clear message of what will happen when one decides to live in a fantasy world instead of facing the challenges associated with a real life. Apparently, Laura in the Glass Menagerie play is the first victim of William’s approach. Her mother, Amanda, and brother, Tom, try their best to create a realistic environment for Laura to live. However, she decides to withdraw by avoiding schooling and social interactions. Consequently, she ends up leading a miserable life full of loneliness while women her age enjoyed attention from male suitors. In the same play, Tom seems to face the same problem as he prefers taking alcohol as a way of running away from the real world. Consequently, Tom ends up straining his relationship with his mother as she tries to convince him to stop his dodgy lifestyle and face the realities.
In yet another play, Brick is not ready to face the realities that are ruining his relationship with his wife, Maggie. Just like Tom, Brick takes alcoholism as a way of forgetting his sorrows and marital issues. William shows the repercussions of failing to take control of one’s life by portraying Brick’s relationship as a failed marriage that is about to collapse. For instance, William makes other characters suspect that Brick is not enjoying his conjugal rights.
In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, William makes Blanche suffer due to her unwillingness to accept her past and instead of trying to live a lie (Williams, 1947). When Blanche moves in and starts living with her younger sister Stella, she buries her dark past and portrays herself as the righteous lady with a clean background. For instance, she is reluctant to inform his new man Mitch about her dark past just to win his heart. Once the Mitch learns the truth about Blanche, he terminates his relationship with her. Blanche’s situation worsens when Stanley rapes her leading to a mental breakdown that lands her in her mental hospital at the end of the play.
The Nature of Human Sexuality
William presents sexuality from different angles by giving his characters different opinions about sexuality. In particular, the Summer and Smoke play concentrates on sexuality, where some characters portray sex as a physical phenomenon while others look at it as a spiritual phenomenon. The play presents Alma and John Buchanan as lovers with opposing views about sexuality (Williams, 1948). Buchanan, who spends most of his free time gambling and romancing, had posted a chart of soulless anatomy to reflect his views about sexuality. The soulless chart taught about man’s need such as truth, food, and lovemaking (Williams, 1948). Therefore, Buchanan’s belief was that love-making was a physical phenomenon aimed at satisfying the sexual needs. On the contrary, Alma believes that sex was a spiritual phenomenon that connects lovers. Alma’s name means ‘soul’ in Spanish, which reflected her aspirations to achieve spiritual goals by holding strong moral standards hen dealing with her sexuality.
Other plays also reflect different views about sexuality. For instance, Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof play views sex as a physical connection with no spiritual connection. Her willingness to sleep with her husband’s friend shows how he takes sex casually. In the entire play, Maggie shows her view about sex when she comfortably lives with her husband without any sexual contact (Williams, 1975). Maggie only sees the need for sex at the end of the play when the need to make a baby arises to proof that she was indeed pregnant. Contrastingly, in the play the Rose Tattoo, Serafina views sex as a spiritual experience that is connected to love and marriage. She takes precautions in protecting her 12-year-old daughter named Rosa (Williams, 1951). Serafina tells her daughter the importance of staying pure by avoiding sexual intercourse at a tender age.
Conclusion
In summary, William did an excellent job in breathing life into his memorable characters such as Tom, Blanche, Serafina, Amanda, and Laura. After examining his personal life, it is clear that some of his characters reflect the same people in his real life. For example, it is amazing how William told his story in the Glass Menagerie play. While Amanda reflects his mother’s character, Laura portrayed his sister’s character. Another sticking feature in most of the plays is his ability to reward or punish characters depending on their approach towards life. Apparently, William rewards those who take bold steps in influencing their destiny. In contrast, characters who divert from their responsibilities or challenges in their life end up suffering. Therefore, the analysis of the plays shows that William wanted not just to entertain his audience but also encourage them to take bold steps towards achieving their dreams in life. William’s justified his viewpoint by drawing inspirations from what he learned in his personal life about family, relationships, and pursuing one’s dreams.

References
Bloom, H. (2007). Tennessee Williams’s the glass menagerie. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=HsqiiMzNcAUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Tennessee+Williams%27s+The+Glass+Menagerie&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Tennessee%20Williams’s%20The%20Glass%20Menagerie&f=false
Williams, T. (1947). A streetcar named Desire: A play. New York, NY: New Directions. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=zq14pmXz9LEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=A+streetcar+named+Desire:+a+play&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=A%20streetcar%20named%20Desire%3A%20a%20play&f=false
Williams, T. (1948). Summer and smoke. New York, NY: New Directions. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=OVFsfcnqMZUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Summer+and+smoke&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Summer%20and%20smoke&f=false
Williams, T. (1951). The rose tattoo. New York, NY: New Directions. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=sBCaoqAk57oC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+rose+tattoo&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The%20rose%20tattoo&f=false
Williams, T. (1975). Cat on a hot tin roof. New York, NY: New Directions. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=5NB3GVSBBrgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Cat+on+a+hot+tin+roof.&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Cat%20on%20a%20hot%20tin%20roof.&f=false