The Struggles Of The Displaced In Tennessee Williams's Plays

In Tennessee Williams's plays, most of the protagonists share one common feature: they are out of place. In other words, they seem to be aliens in the society. And these characters are usually grouped together and labeled as"the outcasts","the fugitives","the non-conformists","the misfits", and"the outsiders". In this thesis, they are termed"the displaced", which means those who are put in the wrong place, either geographically or socially. For example, faded southern belles bearing and searching for Southern gentility are put in an industrial city where such gentility is forever gone; and the homosexuals were born into a society that hates their deviation of sexuality to the bone. Each of these protagonists suffers a lot but has to find their own way to deal with the mundane existence: they either live in an imaginary world or have to resort to such means as drinking to escape the reality.Tennessee Williams has long been regarded as a writer lacking in political and historical awareness. However, a detailed analysis of the displaced characters in three of Williams's plays yields contradictory clues to the above statement. Engaging in the study on how the displaced persons suffer, this thesis shows that such critical view doesn't do justice to Williams's works. By exploring the defensive measures employed by the displaced characters, this thesis illustrates how these displaced persons perish or survive in a world where they do not belong and thus brings out the manipulating power of the mainstream ideology over the individuals. By putting Williams's plays back to their historical context and exploring the social contents of these plays, this study shows that the manipulating power is both operating in the historical context and in Williams's created world, thus it not only proves that Williams's social and historical concern is throughout his works but gives us a new perspective to better understand our world.Brought into focus are three of Tennessee Williams's plays: The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Several other plays will also be touched upon in order to show that the theme of displacement is throughout his plays. The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One gives a brief introduction to Tennessee Williams and his plays and makes a general survey of the displaced characters. Chapter Two focuses on the play The Glass Menagerie and discusses the Wingfields'desperate efforts to conform to the industrial values. This chapter mainly discusses the great pain suffered by the displaced persons and the awkward situation they were in. Chapter Three centers on Blanche DuBois, the protagonist in A Streetcar Named Desire and explores how Blanche struggles to transform the world around her and is finally excluded. Chapter Four illustrates the fate of Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The process of how Brick internalizes the mainstream ideology and is finally overwhelmed by such an ideology is revealed. Chapter Five concludes that Tennessee Williams's plays are mainly devoted to the description of the existential world of the displaced persons, that these people's tragedy shows the destructive power of mainstream ideology over the displaced, and that Williams gives his audience and readers a new perspective to look at the society.