The politics of reputation

Author Annette J. Saddik researches Tennessee Williams' much-neglected later work (from 1961 to 1983), and argues that it deserves a central place in American experimental drama. Offering a new reading of Williams' career, she challenges the conventional wisdom that his later work represents a failure of his creative powers. By reading through the criticism and comparing this later work with the work of avant-garde dramatists such as Beckett and Pinter, Saddik demonstrates that what has been characterized as a failure is in fact a conscious departure from the essentially realistic forms that had established Williams' reputation. The expectations of both the popular and academic press in this country, however, prevented them from accepting Williams' departure from the more traditional, rather commercial plays presented on Broadway (and made into Hollywood films) that only flirted with anti-realistic devices, to the minimalist explorations of language, character, and action that challenged realistic presentation altogether.