| Summary: | 碩士 === 中國文化大學 === 英國語文學系 === 98 === Abstract
This thesis is an attempt to make an inquiry into the economical and psychological effects that cause illusion and disillusion of the three protagonists in Tennessee Williams’ works, namely, Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie (1944), Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955).
The Glass Menagerie is a memory play set in St. Louis during the Great Depression, and it deals with the relationship among a strong Amanda Wingfield, a crippled daughter, Laura, and an imaginative son, Tom Wingfield. Tom Wingfield desires to have an adventurous life, but he is forced by economical need to work in a warehouse to support his mother and sister. Sweet Bird of Youth begins with the protagonist, Chance Wayne, who returns to St. Cloud as a gigolo to a faded film star Princess Kosmonopolis. However, he was once a fine, handsome young man, but was rejected by Boss Finley to marry his daughter, Heavenly. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof focuses on the chaotic relationship among Big Daddy, Big Mama, and their two sons and two daughters-in-law. Brick is the younger son, who turns from football hero to an alcoholic, because his wife has once seduced his friend and later his friend committed suicide.
Tennessee Williams’ strength lies in his ability to create his characters interesting and realistic. Also, he often finishes his play with a humanistic touch to uphold the human dignity. In extreme predicaments, Tom, Chance, and Brick are forced to abandon their illusions. They still struggle to achieve more than their life can offer. However, at the end, Tom left home to be a merchant marine, but his thought never leaves the two women he loves. Chance left Princess and he chooses to stay in St. Cloud to face the callous world and to be near Heavenly. Brick gives up drinking, and his wife is trying to seduce him in the hope of producing an heir for Brick and for Big Daddy’s fortune.
I used the economical and psychological approaches to analyze this play. Richard Schmitt’s Introduction to Marx and Engels: a critical reconstruction (published in 1997) offers helpful economical and psychological information about the society in the 19th and 20th centuries. In psychology, I use Sigmund Freud’s (1856-1939) theory to explain the inner motives of their choices and actions in the plays. His The Interpretation of Dreams (1990) is especially helpful to explain how the unconscious mind influenced by the depressed desires can lead a character to act in a particular way.
|
|---|
