Talk:Tennessee Williams

Gay Bashing

Is Gay Bashing really a PC way of putting it? I'm from the UK so maybe it is different in the US? 88.109.187.133 22:47, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Poor Quality

I was struck by the poor quality of this page for such an important figure, what is writing like "For two years he could do almost nothing. His mother wasn't going to allow him to waste his time, so she encouraged him to use his imagination a lot. When he was thirteen, his mother gave him a typewriter." doing on Wikipedia? Also, "Genre critics maintain that Williams writes in the Southern Gothic style." seems non-neutral to me.

Agreed, the former sounds very personal; the latter breaks WP:WEASEL. Ah well. - THE GREAT GAVINI {T-C} 20:31, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Agreed 66.30.220.220 05:08, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Agreed, the writing appears amateur and has no basis in fact as far as I can tell.

Agreed. The reference for the Southern Gothic is an Oprah website that is mostly about prose writers, not even theater critics. We have to do better than that. The article hardly "maintain"s; it just lists Williams along with a batch of other writers who are given more coverage.--Parkwells 17:52, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

It's the end of 2008, and this article is still awful.

Redirect

Adopted redirect for Google: Thomas Lanier Williams

Name

The name “Tennessee” was a name he adopted from his father's background in Tennessee.
But the BooksFactory bio (external link) says: Williams's Deep South accent and poverty made him a target of his schoolmates and earned him later from his university [of Missouri] classmates the nickname ‘Tennessee’.
Who’s right? Is it even possible to know? Frungi 01:06, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Even if it is true, there is no point in referencing his father if you don't spell out exactly what is his father's background in Tennessee. Did his father sell in Tennessee? The article doesn't say. Also, I think the section about his critics being homophobes is slightly biased. Knapster2005 14:07, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

IF anyone has read his memoirs, the section about students at Missouri giving him the nickname seems a bit false. Williams states plainly that it is from his father's connection in East Tennessee, and his family connection with the first governor of Tennessee and the first man to oversee the Tennessee territory before it became a state. Liontamarin 20:04, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

If we look at Lyle Leverich's biography (which has been widely known to be the definitive biograph of TW since its publication in '95), he writes that there have been "many versions of how Tom became known as Tenneseee..." (274). Probably the best thing we can do is use the story Leverich uses-- Williams was on his way to New York to meet his agent Audrey Wood, when on the way he'd decided to go to New Orleans instead. But before going to New Orleans, he decided to send a manuscript of a collection of one-act plays entitled American Blues into a playwriting contest by the Group Theater (for which he later won a $ 100- I think- award). When he sent these plays off, he altered his birthdate by three years because of an age restriction on the contest. As a result, he decided to create a nomme de plume. He signed the application, "Tennessee Williams." Later, when he arrived in New Orleans, he signed into his room as Tennessee, and the rest, as they say.... (This last little bit is anecdotal from a prof. of mine who is a renowned TW expert.)HomelessRobles (talk) 03:53, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Category: ppl diagnosed with clinical depression

Michael David and I have been having a discussion on one anothers' talk pages about the rights and wrongs of including Williams in the people diagnosed with clinical depression category. My evidence for including him is as follows:

• Autobiographical evidence: Williams discussed his "decade-long episode of depression" in his own memoirs
• Biographical evidence: ...and it's been in his biographies, too.
• At least one academic paper exists written by clinicians which reviews his psychiatric history, and includes: "we believe that sufficient evidence exists to suggest that Williams probably had major depressive episodes at age 25, 35, 46, and 52 years". The article also acknowledges the problems of attempting such diagnoses.
• Williams is known to have received psychotherapy for his depression.
• ...and to have taken antidepressants.

I believe that this merits his inclusion in the category. Given that we are unlikely to persuade him to nip round with a letter from his doctor, largely because he's dead, I think it's entirely appropriate in a project such as this to categorise people as suffering from conditions where that is supported by historical evidence and their own personal discussions of the topic. Nmg20 01:44, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree.--Parkwells 17:48, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

I would add that his play Suddenly Last Summer was a result entirely of his extended analysis with Dr.Lawrence Kubie-- it is something widely known to TW scholars. Williams was in analysis with Kubie right after Rose (his sister) had her lobotomy. In the sessions, Kubie encouraged Williams to stop writing and urged him to attempt to "cure" his homosexuality. Here's one source that might help: [1]HomelessRobles (talk) 04:02, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Template

I'm glad to see that template for all the plays, but right now it's awfully difficult to look at. Even if it's necessary to include every play and screenplay he ever wrote (and I'm not sure it is, since many of these don't even have articles yet), is it possible to subdivide it by, say, full-length plays, screenplays, one acts, etc.? Unless all these are full-length already, in which case, I'll happily shut up... --24.216.66.133 04:14, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

The Fugitive Kind 1937

Tennessee's 1937 play was not called "The Fugitive Kind" that was the name of the movie, starring Marlon Brondo, adapted from the play "Orpheus Descending" it was later re-worked and re-published as "A Battle of Angels." Within the list of plays the title should be "Orpheus Descending"

---

TheBigGrayDog

--- The above text is wrong. "A Battle of Angels" was rewritten and published as "Orpheus Descending." Whoever edited this earlier was mistaken. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.96.143.241 (talk) 18:31, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Tennessee Topics Template

Why is there a template of Tennessee topics at the bottom of the page? Williams is not really, in any way, part of Tennessee (other than in name an in family history, but only in this way is he vaguely connected). Has someone made a very stupid error or is it sly vandalism? Liontamarin 21:47, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Went ahead and made the correction. It just didn't seem appropriate and didn't figure it should stay. Liontamarin 21:50, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

"Citation Needed" for Rose's influence on Williams's writing?

The common "mad heroine" theme that appears in many of his plays may have been influenced by his sister. This is marked with a "citation needed" tag, but I'm wondering why, since, if the information about Williams's closeness to Rose, her mental illness, and subsequent lobotomy allowed by her parents is all true, the rest seems sort of empirical. It seems self-evident to me, at least in terms of "Suddenly Last Summer," that Catherine Holly's predicament seemed to shadow that of Williams's sister, Rose. I would think that, if someone had instead added to the article that Williams had not been creatively influenced by his family, a citation would have been needed, since so many of his characters and their dramatic contexts seem relatively to have dynamics, personalities, and challenges germane to Williams's own experiences and family members. Since the statement above is tagged with "citation needed," though, I'm now wondering if I misunderstand the necessity for a citation in the context of an article?

Help me out!

Sugarbat 16:16, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

error

"His mother, Edwina Dakin Williams, was a descendant of a genteel southern family,..."

She was born in Ohio, and died in Missouri. The Dakin line were originally Quakers, from New York. Nothing very southern about them. I don't have a reference (other than my own family Gedcom), or I would go ahead and make the change myself. --Anthon.Eff 16:29, 9 September 2007

(UTC)

If she grew up in southern Ohio and TN, the family may have adopted southern attitudes. Many people in southern Ohio shared culture with those in KY. Were her parents from NY, or was it further back than that? Quakers lived in the South, too. Some Quakers in Tidewater VA were active in manumitting slaves after the Revolutionary War, but they may have lived other southern values.--Parkwells 17:47, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

"One Arm Date?

I have one source that says one arm was written in the 40's

amazon has it listed as published in 1950,

http://www.amazon.com/One-Arm-Tennessee-Williams/dp/0811202232

and this article says 67.

can someone update that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kactapuss (talk • contribs) 01:32, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Reorganization

The article needs work with copy editing, sourcing and reorganizing. The discussion of autobiographical elements and other aspects of the plays should be given separate treatment from the events of his life. It's confusing. I made a start.--Parkwells 17:43, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

This is crap

Their ongoing relationship has been frowned upon by many, but they refuse to be affected by societal pressures. Currently Wilkerson and Coles are planning on moving to Canada to obtain a domestic partnership, and, later, may adopt a Korean child. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.220.93.48 (talk) 03:43, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Influences

I added Hart Crane to the influences section on the side, since A) It says right in the article that he was one of his most profound influences and B) Williams said many times that Hart Crane was one of his biggest influences. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.13.107.185 (talk) 07:52, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Trivia? Leave until this article is vetted

I don't understand why every wannabe unknown and overrated hype monger is included here simply because they referenced Tennessee in their work. Let's knock this off. Talk is cheap. So who needs it? He was far greater in every aspect, and deserves a well-sourced bio. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Telegrapher52 (talk • contribs) 05:51, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Convertion to catholicism

Nothing in the article about he's convertion? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.21.246.145 (talk) 20:21, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

His "conversion" to Catholicism, facilitated by his brother Dakin after Tenn had just OD'd and was in rehab... it is important, but from what I understand, he only did it to appease his brother, not because of any profound religious experience. Either way, it is an interesting thing to include, though I can't point to any source one way or another, I'll keep an eye out. HomelessRobles (talk) 04:11, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Date for his death

In the article we have two different dates that indicate his death, which are 24 and 25 of February! Citing source is needed! --Kaaveh (talk) 19:07, 2 June 2008 (UTC)