The "soft people" in Tennessee Williams plays

Ruhr-Uni-Bochum
Englisches Seminar

Hauptseminar: Modern American Drama

Topic of the written paper: The soft people in Tennessee Williams’ plays

Hausarbeit

von

Maritta Schwartz

SS ’93

Table of contents

1. Table of contents ... 2

2. Introduction ... 4

3. The character categories in Williams’ plays ... 4
    3.1 Southern Belle ... 4
    3.2 Rebel dreamer-failer ... 5
    3.4 Naive, healthy yea-sayer ... 5
    3.5 Brutal and coarse man ... 5
    3.6 Average American ... 5

4. The image of the world in Williams’ plays ... 6

5. Characterization of the category of soft people ... 7
    5.1 The inner selves of the soft people ... 7
        5.1.1 Soft people and their need for help ... 8
        5.1.2 Soft people and other characters ... 9
    5.2 The outward appearance of soft people ... 9

6. Specified analysis of different “soft people” ... 10
    6.1 Laura ... 11
    6.2 Tom ... 15
    6.3 Blanche ... 18
    6.4 Brick ... 25

7. Comparison ... 34
    7.1 Illusion and mental disposition ... 34
    7.2 Abuse of alcohol ... 35
    7.3 Dispel of problems and lying ... 35
    7.4 Isolation ... 36
    7.5 Youth and time ... 36

8. Conclusion ... 36

9. Bibliography ... 38
    9.1 Literature used for the paper ... 38
    9.2 Further reading ... 38

2. Introduction
In this written paper I am going to deal with the topic of soft people in Tennessee Williams’ dramas. First I will give a general introduction to the quality of soft people. It will be explained what kind of characters are described with this term. A general characterization of them, of the other characters and the general idea and image of the world which is created in Williams’ dramas will be given. Afterwards the results will be specified at the examples of four characters belonging to the category of soft people. At the end of this paper I will give a personal evaluation of the conception of the soft people.

3. The character categories in Williams’ plays
Francis Donahue1 gives a very helpful listing of character types in Tennessee Williams’s plays. She differentiates between five different character types. Two of them are subcategories of the so-called soft people. The other character types represent the soft people’s antagonists in Williams’ dramas.

3.1 Southern Belle
The first type Donahue lists is that of the fragile, pathetic Southern woman (Belle) who is marked by a gentle soul and the inability to cope with her problems of living. The typical Southern Belle was brought up according to the traditions of the Southern States of the USA, a tradition which is dead at the time the plays are set. Therefore the characters of this type all try to live in the past and they crack up when confronted with the stress of their everyday life. The Southern Belle belongs to the category of soft people. Examples for figures belonging into this category are Blanche and Laura.

3.2 Rebel dreamer-failer
The second variety of soft people Donahue calls the rebel dreamer-failer type. Characters belonging to this category are revolting against the demands put on them by society or their family. As the term ‘failer’ implies, their rebellion usually fails in some way or other. Like the Southern Belle they are dreamers who (want to) live in a world of illusions. Examples for this category are Brick (Cat on a hot Tin Roof) and Tom Wingfield (The Glass Menagerie).

3.4 Naive, healthy yea-sayer
The third character type is the naive, healthy yea-sayer of the universe. An example for this category is Stella who despite her traditional Southern education chose a life with her brutal, uneducated husband and who finds compensation for her husband Stanley’s brutality in his sexual potency.

3.5 Brutal and coarse man
Stanley, on the other hand, belongs to the fourth category of character types. He represents the brutal and coarse type of a man, a male animal dominated by sexual potency and marked by physical strength. Another character fitting into this category is Big Daddy who was reckless in his craving for power and accumulating richness (Cat on a hot Tin Roof).

3.6 Average American
The last character type is the average American who conforms to the dictates of society. Mitch (A Streetcar named Desire) and Jim O’Connor (The Glass Menagerie) belong to this category. In comparison to other characters in the plays they appear to be rather uninteresting. Concerning the aspect of strength or weakness they are in between the soft (and weak) people and the strong characters in Williams’ plays.

[...]

1 Donahue, Francis, The Dramatic World of Tennessee Williams, New York, 1964.