Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1982

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Pearce, Howard D.

Abstract

Light imagery in Tennessee Williams' plays can be seen in terms of a metaphorical circle of light. The characters in Outcry and In the Bar of a Toyko Hotel are living outside of the realm of light, in a darkness that leads to death. In A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche is symbolically slipping over the edge of light into outer darkness that becomes, for her, insanity. Paradoxically she is hiding from and searching for light simultaneously. The characters in The Night of the Iguana, The Milktrain Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, and Vieux Carre move closer to their circle of light, finding hope and acceptance from a compassionate friend. Defined as the "protection of our existence," the circle of light can be found throughout the plays of Tennessee Williams.

Extent

66 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1982.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT14115

Format

pdf

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