Success is blocked by concentrating on it and planning for it... Success is shy - it won't come out while you're

watching. ~Tennessee Williams

August 30, 2011

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”

~Tennessee Williams

August 31, 2011

Biography

• He was born Thomas Lainer Williams in Columbus, MS in 1911

• At age 7, his father took a job with a shoe company and the entire family moved to St. Louis

Biography

• In 1937, Rose underwent a brain operation to correct her increasingly erratic behavior

• Enrolled in the University of Missouri’s journalism department

• Entered the University in 1936 and immediately formed the St. Louis Poet’s Workshop

Biography

• He changed his name from Tom to Tennessee• He submitted a piece titled “The Gentleman Caller” to MGM

Studios• It was rejected but slowly evolved into “The Glass Menagerie”• After finding fame with “The Glass Menagerie,” he left for

Mexico and began writing what would become “A Streetcar Named Desire”

• In later life, he developed health problems including difficulties with alcohol, addiction and cataracts

• He died on February 24, 1983

Major Works• The Glass Menagerie (1944)• A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)• Summer and Smoke (1948)• The Rose Tattoo (1951)• Camino Real (1953)• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955)• Orpheus Descending (1957)• Suddenly, Last Summer (1958)• Sweet Bird of Youth (1959)• Period of Adjustment (1960)• Night of the Iguana (1961)• The Eccentricities of a Nightingale

(1961)• The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here

Anymore (1962)• The Mutilated (1965)• The Seven Descent of Myrtle (1968)

• In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel (1969)• Will Mr. Merriweather Return from

Memphis? (1969)• Small Craft Warnings (1972)• The Two-Character Play (1973)• Out Cry (1973)• The Red Devil Battery Sign (1973)• This Is (An Entertainment) (1976)• Vieux Carre (1977)• A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur (1979)• Clothes for a Summer Hotel (1980)• The Notebook of Trigorin (1980)• Something Cloudy, Something Clear

(1981)• A House Not Meant to Stand (1982)• In Masks Outrageous and Austere

(1983)

DISCUSSION QUESTION

Much of the content of The Glass Menagerie is autobiographical, drawing directly from characters and events in Tennessee Williams’ life. If you were to write a play that was based on your own family, what format would you use (would it be a comedy, a drama, a musical, etc.)? What characters would you use to represent people in your life and family – would you use all your family members, or just a few? Is it a story you would be proud and happy to share with your family?

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’ COMMENTS ON SUCCESS

“The Catastrophe of Success”: A Condensation

IN HIS OWN WORDSComments from the Playwright

EXIT TICKETON YOUR OWN

In no more than 5 sentences, answer the following question:Do you believe success something to be desired? Why or why not?

The Meaning of UnicornsMyth and Symbol

History of the Unicorn Symbol

• Traditional unicorns possess a single horn, billy goat’s beard, a lion’s tail and cloven hooves

• Appears to represent a mythical animal that Greek and Roman sources trace back to the Indian subcontinent

Unicorn Meaning in Art and Heraldry

• Became a religious symbol in the art of the Middle Ages

• As legend grew, unicorn came to represent Christ

• In heraldry, unicorns are shown with a collar and a broken chain, indicating that they have freed themselves from bondage and cannot be taken again

The Meaning of UnicornsMyth and Symbol

The Magic of Unicorns

• Unicorn horns are said to be harder than diamonds and able to neutralize poisons

• Unicorn tears are said to heal both physical wounds and sorrows of the heart

The gentle and pensive maiden has the power to tame the unicorn

The Merchant Marine

• The fleet of ships which carries imports and exports during peacetime

• Becomes a naval auxiliary during wartime to deliver troops and war material

• Government trained men to operate the ships and assist in manning the guns through the US Maritime Service

What is the Merchant Marine?

The Merchant Marine Act of 1936

“It is necessary for the national defense… that the United States shall have a merchant

marine of the best equipped and most suitable types of vessels sufficient to carry the greater portion of its commerce and serve as a naval

or military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency…”

DISCUSSION QUESTION

The Glass Menagerie is set in St. Louis in the late 1930s. What do you know, from history, about what was happening in America, particularly urban America in the 1930s? How might that have affected people’s lives during that time?

The Great Depression

• Widespread economic prosperity of the 1920s ended abruptly in October 1929, when the stock market crashed

• This was known as Black Tuesday

The Great Depression

• When FDR was elected President in November, 1932, there were approximately 13 million people unemployed, representing almost a quarter of the workforce.

• On March 6, 1933, he closed every bank in the country so as to stop people from closing their bank accounts and withdrawing their savings, thereby plunging the banks further into debt

• Created FDIC which insured every account up to $100,000

Guernica

• In April 1937, Guernica was the first city to be deliberately targeted for aerial bombing.

• Guernica was the ancient capital of the Basques - a group who had withstood the advances of the army since the Spanish Civil War begun in 1936.

• The city had great importance to the Basques so its bombing would send a clear message of military power

EXIT TICKETON YOUR OWN

Tom dreams, for some time of leaving his job at the warehouse and seeking adventure. Ultimately, he joins the Merchant Marine. Do you have dreams of leaving your hometown and going off somewhere to pursue a very different future? If so, what would you like to do and where would you like to go to pursue that dream? If not, what is it that makes you committed to staying in your community?

THE RISE – AND FALL? – OF SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES

by Bill O’Hare