A Street Car Named Desire 高等教育出版社 美国文学选读课件.pptVIP

General Questions If a friend of yours is happily dating someone and you find out something bad about that person, should you tell your friend? What is expected of a woman in today’s society? Consider career, marriage, family. Now consider what is expected of a man? Further reading The Glass Menagerie, 1944 The Cambridge Companion to Tennessee Williams Modern American Drama 1945-2000 Homework With regard to the play, write a 400-word essay on one of the following topics: The reasons for Blanche’s tragedy Symbolism in A Streetcar Named Desire Civilization and Human Nature, which to choose? American LiteratureUnit 20 Tennessee Williams Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) born in Columbus, Mississippi Died in the Elysee Hotel in New York One of the most important playwrights in American literary history: Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller “Tennessee” Williams Original name: Thomas Lanier Williams Tennessee: his father was from Tennessee, his friends called him Tennessee for his southern accent Family Mother: Southern lady, educated, refined, daughter of the Minister, aggressive Father: traveling salesman, distant from home, abusive Family resembles that of D. H. Lawrence, sexually disturbed boy: clinging to Mother while alienated from Father Sister Rose Rose: elder Sister, emotionally disturbed and spent most of her life in mental institutions Closely attached to his sister, felt lonely after she was hospitalized, turned to writing for expression, began to publish at an early age. Homosexuality Frank Merlo, met in 1947, died in 1961. Williams’ most productive years Homosexuality plays a subtle but important part in most of his plays His major works The Glass Menagerie 1944 A Streetcar Named Desire 1947 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 1955 Awards Two Pulitzer Prizes (A Streetcar Named Desire , Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) The first playwright to receive in the same year (1947): The Pulitzer Prize for Drama, The Donaldson Award, The New York Drama Critics Circle Award A