#1947 CLUB: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
I have watched with interest as Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings hosted the 1924 Club and the 1938 Club, but was unable because of circumstances to join in. When Simon announced the 1947 Club, I was determined to gain entry (but not so sure I could carry out my plan that I announced that to Simon – sorry, guys).
To find what others have been reading, also published in 1947, visit the Club page.
In the forward to the 2004 edition of A Streetcar Named Desire, Arthur Miller wrote that he vividly remembered the first time he saw the play on stage, before it opened to the public on Broadway in December 1947. How could one forget when the original production featured all the players we have come to so strongly identify with the movie roles of popular culture (except that Jessica Tandy , rather than Vivien Leigh, played Blanch DuBois)?
And yet, it wasn’t the players or their acting skills that Miller commented on, but the writing itself. “On first hearing Streetcar . . . the impression was . . . of language flowing from the soul . . . but remarkably, each character’s speech seemed at the same time uncannily his own.” Miller adds that, “What Streetcar’s first production did was to plant the flag of beauty on the shores of commercial theatre.”
If you know A Streetcar Named Desire only from snatched clips or even just your friends’ impersonation of Brando’s “STELLL- AHHHHH!”, as I had, then you’ve missed the quality of this writing. But even if you can’t attend a live production of Streetcar, you can still access the beauty of this play in the written word – a slim 179-page volume that reads quickly and easily and, thanks to many school curricula, continues to be in print.
But while the reading is quick and easy, the story that unfolds is anything but. Williams’ classic play begins with Blanche DuBois’s arrival in New Orleans to stay with her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche puts on airs of gentility and seems shocked and shaken by Stanley’s frequently aggressive behavior. But Blanche has a secret past that is catching up with her, and the knowledge of it in the hands of her brother-in-law wrecks her last chance at happiness. Not satisfied with that, Stanley also physically assaults Blanche, driving her over the edge of sanity.
Look at the original cast list. Find photos of Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Jessica Tandy and Karl Malden in the 1940s. Then read the play and enjoy the language. You owe it to yourself.
Have you read this? Seen the movie? Attended a live production?
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I have seen the movie and it is permanently branded into my brain. Because of my Big Fat Reading Project, I read 27 books published in 1947 (also the year of my birth.) One of my favorites was The Big Sky by A B Guthrie, one of the best books I have read about the American West just as it was getting settled. My review is here: http://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2006/08/books-read-from-1947-part-five.html
Hi Judy – Have you entered this in the #1947Club event? Simon has a section where he is linking to older reviews. Follow the link in my review.
What great books you had to read for your birth year! Mine is 1954 and I tried a few years ago to find books published then, with little luck.
About a decade ago, I undertook to watch the top 250 classic films on the IMDB site and this took me to Streetcar; it was a great experience (that film and many others on the list) but I’ve never thought of reading the play, and that’s quite an oversight obviously. Thanks for the encouragement to pick it up!
That sounds like a great experience, Marcie. Sadly, the current list is so top-heavy with recent “classics” such as Zootopia that Streetcar doesn’t even make the list.