Tennessee Williams Impact On Society

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Tennessee Williams is known for his ability to portray the unspeakable and force people to face their disputes in the most artful form. He is clearly a professional at one-upping everyday problems, but there are many different reasons why Williams decided to expose these real life issues to not only America, but the world. “A playwright is concerned, as an artist, to present a slice of life or of human experience.” (Reid 440). Many of his works are rumored to be based off of actual experiences, and yet some believe his work is immoral. That brings up a certain question, shouldn’t people be free to discuss matters that are currently happening? The 1940‘s and 50‘s are a completely different time and a lot has changed since then. Williams’ work has influenced American …show more content…

Though Williams hid who he was for most of his life, he sends a positive message. His taboo themes, which were extremely popular, prove that people are attracted to unusual and problematic situations. Overall, Williams sets a high bar for not only American playwrights, but playwrights around the world. Williams life was a complicated one; faced with the hardships of his personal life and the pressures of his literary one. Years after his career took off his works were finally brought to the Silver Screen. Unlike many others, Williams got lucky and was able to work with some of the greatest directors and actors of all time, such as Joseph Mankiewicz, Elia Kazan, Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh and many others. In order to allow his works to be on screen certain parts of the films had to be censored; some more than others. “By the late '50s, public standards of morality were loosening, and filmmakers were pushing the boundaries of the code by dealing more frankly with once-taboo topics.” (Landazuri). Then again, stage did allow more freedom than film, giving playwrights the opportunity to express themselves.

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