The Critical Response to Tennessee Williams (Critical Responses in Arts and Letters)

Tennessee Williams is generally regarded, along with Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, as one of the greatest American dramatists of the 20th century. This reputation rests upon more than 40 years of critical acclaim accrued by his two masterpieces— A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie—and by a body of works that also includes the Pulitzer prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and more than 60 other plays, such as The Rose Tattoo, Orpheus Descending, and The Night of the Iguana. He has created some of the most enduring characters on the American stage, and several actors have achieved stardom through roles created by him.

Through representative reviews and criticism, this reference book provides a chronological record of the response to Williams's work. An introductory essay overviews his development as a dramatist and discusses some of the major themes in his works, while a chronology highlights the principal events in his life and career. Sections of the book are then devoted to his major plays. For the most significant plays, each section typically reprints several reviews and an extensive critical essay. The volume concludes with a selected bibliography of work by and about Tennessee Williams.