Will there be other playwrights and poets in Tennessee Williams' genre?

Question:Tennessee Williams, born Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26, 1911, has been categorized as a "southern gothic" playwright, but "A Streetcar Named Desire", in particular, strikes me as being a lament of the decline of a romantic/aristocratic Southern tradition, and its replacement by a less gracious and often meaner modern culture as personified in Stanley Kowalski, a role that Marlon Brando seems to have permanently put his own stamp on whatever actor may perform it and made me see Brando as "Stanley Kowalski" every time I saw his picture. Surely his historical and social perspective-- a perspective stemming from his life in the "New South" (the South that emerged after the Civil War), a modern South that slowly strangled the Old South's lingering folkways, mores and ideals to death after the quick execution of the Plantation economy in the Civil War-- transcends any mere literary categorization such as "romantic", "Gothic", etc. As even the so-called "New South", the segregated, industrializing South in which Williams grew up, has become a discredited and embarrassing concept to people growing up after the Civil Rights era. Sadly, Williams is so old-hat now that his appeal seems to be nostalgic, a condition that he surely would have deplored. I remember him saying on TV before his death that he expected to write more plays that would lead to a resurgence of interest in his work, but I think his day has passed permanently. What do you think?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Tennessee Williams, born Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26, 1911, has been categorized as a "southern gothic" playwright, but "A Streetcar Named Desire", in particular, strikes me as being a lament of the decline of a romantic/aristocratic Southern tradition, and its replacement by a less gracious and often meaner modern culture as personified in Stanley Kowalski, a role that Marlon Brando seems to have permanently put his own stamp on whatever actor may perform it and made me see Brando as "Stanley Kowalski" every time I saw his picture. Surely his historical and social perspective-- a perspective stemming from his life in the "New South" (the South that emerged after the Civil War), a modern South that slowly strangled the Old South's lingering folkways, mores and ideals to death after the quick execution of the Plantation economy in the Civil War-- transcends any mere literary categorization such as "romantic", "Gothic", etc. As even the so-called "New South", the segregated, industrializing South in which Williams grew up, has become a discredited and embarrassing concept to people growing up after the Civil Rights era. Sadly, Williams is so old-hat now that his appeal seems to be nostalgic, a condition that he surely would have deplored. I remember him saying on TV before his death that he expected to write more plays that would lead to a resurgence of interest in his work, but I think his day has passed permanently. What do you think?

I don't think his day has passed. He wrote great plays. This is the first time I have been informed that he wrote in a genre that dealt with such a narrow scope. Ignore the genre nonsense and read the plays as if you knew nothing about the new/old South. They hold up very well indeed.

I had the pleasure of working on a production of "The Glass Menagerie" in stock. This had never been one of my favorite plays. The production and performances were brilliant and gave me even greater respect for the writer who could create such memorable characters.

I don't think that day has passed permanently at all. Seems to be *quite* a resurgence in his work, actually. In New York anyway. Many of his plays, even more obscure ones, have been brought back in recent years, and actually in the last fifteen years.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is currently a big hit on Broadway, and got great reviews. He is still current in every way. Suddenly Last Summer was on TCM this afternoon, how current and today do you want.