Chaste or chased? Interpreting Indiscretion in Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer

• Main Author: Marie Pecorari
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès 2013-06-01
• Series: Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone
• Subjects: art; biography; drama; gothic; homosexuality; reception
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/5553

Suddenly Last Summer dramatizes a hermeneutic problem recurrently presented in Williams’ critical writings: the separation (or absence thereof) between art and life. While the truth about Sebastian Venable’s death seems to be revealed (even if it turns out to be dubious), the possible connection of biography and work remains an unanswered issue, although Violet’s stance hinges on this postulate. Using an outwardly simplistic binary framework, Williams in reality builds a network of chiasmatic connections that cancel each other out and render any definite conclusion ineffective. The efficiency of the aporetic demonstration is reinforced by its strict avoidance of didacticism.