Childhood memories heavily influence our writing styles and story telling abilities, as adults. Some talented authors find more inspiration from their more difficult childhood experiences, such as Tennessee Williams. Tennessee Williams’ childhood was plagued by disease, addiction and ignorance. The many challenges he faced, throughout his childhood, allowed him to developed his creativity, and pushed him to become a descriptive and influential playwright. Some of Williams‘ most haunting memories inspired his greatest literary works: The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Looking at Williams’ young life, it is evident that his later writings were affected by his difficult childhood.
At the age of five, Williams began his journey down a rugged path. At this young age, Williams was diagnosed with Bright’s Disease (Gross 79). The disease paralyzed his legs for two years, making him unable to consort with other children. This long period of inactivity had permanent effects on his mental development. Despite the negative affects, the disease allowed Williams to discover his love of story telling. Being constricted to his bedroom, Williams entertained himself by using his imagination. He began to imagine elaborate stories (each had different characters, costumes and settings)(Hayman 2). This is when Williams discovered his exceptional ability to create stories. He began sharing his stories with Rose, his sister and only friend (12). Williams and Rose had a very close relationship. Because they were both entangled in the dark complications of the adult world, they looked to each other for acceptance and comfort.
Williams’ father was an alcoholic and very abusive (physically and verbally...
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...ughout Williams’ plays, there are common themes: the failures of the family structure, failures of fathers, broken promises, and personal failure (250). These same themes had poisoned Williams’ life, but because of them he found inspiration. Through his creativity and passion, he created astonishing literary works. Williams put his heart and soul into his writings, and exposed a great deal of himself in his plays. Williams died in 1983, but he lives within each of his play. He will never be forgotten.
Works Cited
Beahm, George. Stephen King from A to Z: An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work.
Kansas City, Mo. Andrews &McMeel, 1995. Print.
Gross, Robert, ed. A Casebook: Tennessee Williams. New York, NY. Routledge, 2002.
Print.
Hayman, Ronald. Tennessee Williams: Everyone Else Is an Audience. Conneticut. Yale
University Press, 1993. Print.
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