In what ways does Tennessee Williams challenge the conventions of naturalistic theatre in The Glass Menagerie in order to develop his main themes?

Date Submitted: 06/12/2001 20:04:16
Category: / Literature / Biographies
Length: 5 pages (1262 words)
Tennessee Williams describes his play, "The Glass Menagerie" as a "memory play presented with unusual freedom from convention." The glass menagerie combines naturalistic and expressionistic elements as it was written at a point of transition between the two different dramatic periods. In the production notes, Williams describes expressionism in The Glass Menagerie as "a closer approach to truth". By this he meant the truth about life and reality. He uses different expressionistic devices such as …
Is this Essay helpful? Join now to read this particular paper
and access over 480,000 just like this GET BETTER GRADES
…in highlighting the key themes of the play, but I would also agree that they legends and images on the screen would distract my attention from the acting. I don't think that a completely naturalistic play would be more effective as the expressionistic elements in The Glass Menagerie gave it more depth and originality. I found it interesting to work out that there was more than meets the eye with certain parts of the play.
Need a custom written paper? Let our professional writers save your time.