Comparison between the Glass Menagerie and the Streetcar Named DesireTennessee Williams is one of America's greatest playwrights. He constantly shocked audiences with themes such as homosexuality, drug addiction and rape. He freed himself from taboos on such topics, paving the way for future playwrights. Williams wrote about his life. The Glass Menagerie is a very autobiographical work. A Streetcar Named Desire, although intended for a play that anyone can relate to, also contained characters and situations from his life. In both plays, the characters are drawn from his life. This essay will discuss the similarities between The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire, which have similar characters and themes in them. A Streetcar Named Desire is set in New Orleans. The characters are Blanche Dubois, Stanley Kowalski, Stella Kowalski (Blanche's sister, Stanley's wife) and Mitch, Stanley's friend. The show focuses on Blanche and how she falls deeper and deeper into her delusional state, until, finally, a doctor and nurse take her away. The Glass Menagerie is set in St. Louis. The show features the Wingfields. Amanda is the mother and her two children are Tom and Laura. At the end of the show comes a gentleman named Jim O'Connor. This play is basically about Tom's memories of the last time he spent with his family, before he left them like his father did. Since the show takes place in memory, it is dark and some things are very exaggerated. Laura is a cripple lost in her own world, with no hope of ever finding someone to love her. Amanda also lives in her own world, where she is still a Southern belle. She believes that if Laura doesn't get married, then... middle of paper... one in The Glass Menagerie. Many common themes run through both of these plays, often themes drawn from Williams' own life. He was a writer who broke taboos and wrote about depraved people, people going crazy and many other topics that were not considered appropriate at the time. His life was very chaotic. Works cited A Streetcar Named Desire. By Tennessee Williams. Scottish Dir. Whitney. Arlecchino Productions, Olympia. September 1998.2. “Remember Tennessee Williams.” Tom Sullivan. June 21, 2000. http://www.lambda.net/~maximum/williams.html Roudane, Mathew C. Ed. The Cambridge Companion of Tennessee Williams. New York: Cambridge Press, 1997 Williams, Tennessee. “The glass menagerie”. An Anthology of American Literature: From Realism to the Present. By Tennessee Williams. Ed. McMichael, George et. al. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. 1445-