Tennessee Williams’ Poetic Language

 Has anyone ever wondered if there would be another writer as influential as Shakespeare? Some may say it is a poet or novelist, but others, such as author John Lahr, say its Tennessee Williams. Lahr claims that Williams is significant and that Williams expresses talent in his works. Lahr continues to say that Williams is, “The world’s greatest talent since Shakespeare” (Lahr). Like Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams will continue to make a large contribution to American theater and literature. Tennessee Williams influenced literature through the use of language, the use of personal experiences, and the use of real-life situations.

Tennessee Williams’ language is considered to be the most literary of all dramatists, which he demonstrates through his characters. Williams’ poetic language and imagery can show writers how the use of different literary elements can affect the meaning of what the character is saying. Each character has a different personality and voice to be heard: “Williams uses their speech to emphasize their individuality” (Griffin). By expressing their individuality through their discussions and behavior, the characters shape the outline of the play. The characters add interesting detail to the play while bringing richness and clarity. Williams used literary devices to bring out a new side of his characters and their actions. He used tools and techniques of language to convey his meaning. When playwrights use new forms of literature in their dramas, they display different themes in the dramas. “Williams’s dramatic skills are evident both in the characterization…and in the delineation of the action” (Griffin). His characters were made convincing to keep his audience intrigued. The unique poetic language of today’s plays are modeled by the convincing characters of the old theater, including those belonging to Tennessee Williams. 

His strong poetic language has influenced later dramas, and his plays are therefore seen as American Classics. Tennessee did not create poetic plays, but rather his plays created dramatic poetry. “David Mamet describes Williams’ plays as ‘the greatest dramatic poetry in the American language’” (Griffin). The use of his climatic poetry added more context, including drama, into his plays. When writers add dramatic lines to their works, the audience is further captivated to keep reading the book or watching the play. The strong use of dramatic literature is seen in plays today. Like Williams, the playwrights use powerful phrases to mold the characters and performance.  The literature of one playwright might go along with the literature of another. When playwrights combine their own view of the American theater with the view of someone such as Tennessee Williams, their plays can change the audience’s perspective. “Tennessee Williams is recognized today as one of America’s most essential and influential dramatists” (Hill). The original productions of Williams’ plays were the most prominent because of the first showing of a unique method and production. These styles were seen through his strong wording and techniques. “The original production of [The Glass] Menagerie and of his subsequent major plays…led to misunderstanding and even attacks on his method…” (Griffin). Critics did not realize how these techniques would shape the American theater. They disagreed with Williams’ new literature. This literature would later form the overall of the American theater.

Williams’ use of personal experiences formed his own characters and has influenced other playwrights to do the same. Williams’ family experience built his characters in his plays. Some of which are seen as plays that shaped the theater. Author Bill Hill says that “Williams used his own experience to generate artistic masterpieces” (Hill). These masterpieces helped to impact future playwrights and current playwrights of the century. He used his surrounding friends and family as themes for characters in multiple plays. “Williams’ family served as an important influence throughout his life and works. He is quoted as saying ‘the strongest influences in my life and my work are always whomever I love: whomever I love and am with most of the time, or whomever I remember most vividly’ ” (Hill).  His family’s actions led to his successful career. When playwrights use their own experiences, not only do they show the audience their story, but they also demonstrate the story and actions of people just like them. Williams used playwriting to express the side of himself that was not shown to others. Williams and other playwrights use their past experience to influence the audience with a new mindset on life.

Williams’ plays, which reflected on his past, are an inspiration for other playwrights to use similar concepts in their dramas. He used the attitude of his father, an industrial worker, and the southern lifestyle of his mother’s family in his artwork. Williams’ sister Rose was a large impact in his life. Rose was close to him and looked up to him: “Her struggles with mental illness…were a theme that reappeared often in the playwright’s work” (Plimpton). His sister was an inspiration for a character in one of his most famous plays, The Glass Menagerie. She modeled the role that the drama had been developed around. His family’s relations are seen throughout his dramas, for example, in the plays Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Glass Menagerie. His father’s tone and sister’s quiet actions helped transform the characters in both of these plays. Playwrights today use their own personal thoughts and background rather than their imagination for plays.By using their personal memories, these new playwrights can make a large impact on the American theater, just as Tennessee Williams did.

Williams used the situations and problems going on in America at the time to influence the setting and actions in his plays, which encouraged others to do the same. His plays informed others of the situations taking place in American society or in our American history. This is used by many writers today. His characters were formed from current conditions and used to create imaginative scenes. When writing his scenes, he made his characters come to life by acting upon current conditions. For example, he portrayed a mortifying view of the misjudgment and ethnic discrimination in the south, notably Louisiana. One play that showed the wrongdoing of Americans was A Streetcar Named Desire. “Streetcar served as a somewhat monumental contribution to American theater… and served simply to reflect American habits and motivation” (Hill). Williams changed the nation’s sense of itself and the level of discrimination. Plays today, such as Hamilton, show the racial discrimination of the past and present times. Multiple works belonging to Tennessee Williams allow American cultures and values to combine together freely. His works showed other playwrights how to include present-day situations in their own writings.

Williams’ dramas not only showed the good in American culture, but he also used current situations to criticize the way Americans were acting, which inspired many writers. He demonstrated that the American society tried to silence the actions and stories they thought were wrong. His plays revealed a social purpose, to acknowledge economic realities. “At his best, Williams pinned down America at its worst” (Billington). He was not afraid to be foremost with the American society about their actions. Tennessee Williams had his own thoughts on the American actions, but most importantly, he criticized American’s stress on appearances and materialism. “His criticism of American culture with its emphasis on appearances and materialism are still powerfully recorded” (Levy). Criticism is a theme that is followed by many playwrights. It is used to express the disapproval of America’s ways of life. Criticism of American actions or culture can bring a new perspective on life, which may need to be seen through the actions of someone else. These playwrights, including Tennessee Williams, showed society their actions and what is really going on outside of their own world. Williams and other playwrights have given the audience eyes to see the mistakes going on in real life.

Through his use of real-life situations, personal experiences, and language, Tennessee Williams left a unique but significant mark on American dramas and he influenced the future generations of writers. Williams’ plays are an inspiration to American playwrights and writers. His contributions to American theater have inspired writers to be true to themselves. His different techniques may have been criticized then, but are enjoyed today. Tennessee Williams will continue to change American literature for generations yet to come.

Works Cited

• “Becoming Tennessee Williams”. Harry Ransom Center, 2011. http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/2011/williams/. Accessed 28, Oct 2018
• Billington, Michael. “Tennessee Willliams: The Quiet Revolutionary”. The Guardian, 27 Jul 2009. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/jul/27/tennessee-williams. Accessed 28               Oct 2018
• Bloom, Harold. Tennessee Williams. Bloom’s Literary Criticism, 2007.
• Britannica Encyclopedia, volume 12. “Williams, Tennessee.” The New Encyclopedia. 15^thEdition, 2003. Page 681.
• Falk, Signi. Tennessee Williams. Twayne Publishers, 1978.
• Griffin, Alice. Understanding Tennessee Williams. University of South Carolina Press, 1995.
• Hill, Bill. “Tennessee Williams”. Word Press. https://wuster3388fall2011.wordpress.com/student-pages/Tennessee-williams/. Accessed 28, Oct 2018.
• Lahr, John. Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh. W.W. Norton and Company, 2014.
• Levy, Emanuel. “Tennessee Williams’ Contributions to American Cinema.” Emmanuel Levy, 25 Mar 2006 http://emanuellevy.com/comment/tennessee-williams-contribution-to-american-cinema-6/. Acesssed 28 Oct 2018.
• Plimpton, George. Playwrights at Work. “Tennessee Williams.” The Paris Review, 2000. Page 87-124
• “Tennessee Williams”. Poetry Foundation, 2018. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/tennessee-williams. Accessed 28, Oct 2018
• “Tennessee Williams (1911-1983)”. Tennessee Williams-Historic Missourians-The State Historical Society of Missouri. https://shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/w/williams/. Accessed 28 Oct 2018.