PDF file: Drama - Advanced Higher - The Glass Menagerie

Drama 

The Glass Menagerie 

Annotated Bibliography 

Advanced Higher 

8472

Spring 2001 

Drama 

The Glass Menagerie 

Annotated Bibliography 

Unit 3: Special Study 

Advanced Higher 

Support Materials 

HIGHER STILL 

*+,-./

Contents 

Introduction from the Writer 

Play texts 

Other Works by Williams 

Critical works 

Options 

The World Wide Web 

Study guides 

Other sources 

Miscellaneous 

Drama: The Glass Menagerie (AH) 1


INTRODUCTION FROM THE WRITER 

This annotated bibliography lists a large number of books, and other resources, that 

students may find useful when undertaking the Special Study. It also provides a 

source of information for staff. It is one writer’s view of these texts and is offered on 

that basis. 

‘Anybody familiar with the Advanced Higher Drama Support Pack, Unit 3: Special 

Study, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, will find work duplicated in this pack. 

The structure of this pack on The Glass Menagerie follows the same principles. Texts 

which will help the Options in Unit 3 have remained largely unaltered as they possess 

the same relevance regardless of the play studied. Other entries, of course, are 

focused on The Glass Menagerie and Tennessee Williams. 

I am aware that many well-known or well-used texts are missing from this 

bibliography. This is due largely to an inability to track them down or, if found 

electronically, an inability to find the ISBN. Some of these include: 

• Donahue, Francis, The Dramatic World of Tennessee Williams, New York: 

Frederick Ungar, 1964. 

• • Fedder, Norman, J, The Influence of D. H. Lawrence on Tennessee 

Williams, The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton, 1966. 

• • Jackson, Esther Merle, The Broken World of Tennessee Williams, 

Madison, Milwaukee: Wisconsin University Press, 1965. 

• • Tischler, Nancy, M, Tennessee Williams: Rebellious Puritan, New York: 

Citadel, 1961. 

Thomas Lanier Williams was a man of the south - Mississippi born, Missouri 

educated (at least to begin) and eventually adopting the name ‘Tennessee’. He wrote 

poetry, prose and plays, even spending a short spell screenwriting at MGM, before his 

fame was established. 

The Glass Menagerie kick-started the career of Tennessee Williams. It opened in 

Chicago toward the end of 1944 and moved to Broadway for a hugely successful run 

the following year. 

Depending on which critic or practitioner you read or follow, you may find Amanda 

portrayed as the central character of The Glass Menagerie due to the enormous 

influence she casts over all and sundry. 

Or you may find Tom the only character in the play, as the events, told by him as 

Narrator, are merely his memory and the people merely constructions of his partial 

version of events. 

Or you may find Laura described as the luminous, delicate centre of the play; 

reflecting the fears we all feel and observing, like an audience, much of what goes on 

in the play. 


You may even find Jim, the Gentleman Caller, heralded as the catalyst of the play; the 

one character who enables the others to come to terms with reality and either move on 

or accept they will not be moving anywhere. 

If all these critical stances prove anything, and they are by no means the end of the 

critical debate, it is The Glass Menagerie must be a great play.’ 


PLAY TEXTS 

Williams, Tennessee, The Glass Menagerie, Methuen Student Edition, with 

commentary and notes by Stephen J. Bottoms, London: Methuen, 2000. 

ISBN 0413745201 

Generally, these editions are the most pupil-friendly editions available and this is no 

exception. 

Bottoms provides a detailed synopsis of the play which will prove very useful for 

pupils. In the wide-ranging and interesting commentary, Bottoms discusses the 

debate as to the autobiographical nature of the play, earlier versions of the play and, 

perhaps the most valuable headings of the commentary, a section on Williams’ 

theatrical experiments with form and structure (his ‘sculptural drama’ or ‘plastic 

theatre’), and notes for actors and actresses on the playing of the roles in the play. 

This last part of the commentary will be particularly beneficial for those on the acting 

option. It contains a look at all four characters, the job each poses the actor or actress 

and various interpretations over the years. 

This edition also contains Williams’ ‘Production Notes’ which make fascinating 

reading for directors, and concludes with the essay ‘The Catastrophe of Success’ 

which Williams wrote after The Glass Menagerie launched his career into the realms 

of superstardom. 

This is a very good buy and should probably be your number one choice. 

OTHERS 

Williams, Tennessee, A Streetcar Named Desire and Other Plays: Sweet Bird of 

Youth, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie, edited by E. Martin 

Browne, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1988. 

ISBN 0140106391 

Williams, Tennessee, The Glass Menagerie, with Introduction and Questions by 

Maureen Blakesley, Oxford: Heinemann, 1996. 

ISBN 043523319X 

Williams, Tennessee, The Glass Menagerie, with Introduction by Robert Bray, 

New York: New Directions, 1999. 

ISBN 0811214044 

Williams, Tennessee, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie and Sweet 

Bird of Youth, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2000. 

ISBN 0141182563 

A re-issue of an earlier edition. 


OTHER WORK BY WILLIAMS 

There are numerous collections and editions of Tennessee Williams’ plays, short 

stories and other work. I have restricted entries to those I feel are most important for 

this particular unit of work. 

Williams, Tennessee, One Arm and Other Stories, New York: New Directions, 

(rev.) 1957. 

ISBN 0811202232 

Contains what is certainly the initial idea for The Glass Menagerie, a short story titled 

Portrait of a Girl in Glass. 

Williams, Tennessee, edited by Albert J. Devlin, Conversations with Tennessee 

Williams, Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1992. 

ISBN 0878052631 

Also published in hardback and, unusually, cheaper than the above paperback, 

ISBN 0878052623. 

Williams, Tennessee, Collected Stories, London: Minerva, 1996. 

ISBN 0749395818 

Alternatively, try all four volumes of short stories, plus other works, in this collection. 

Williams, Tennessee, Tennessee Williams’ Letters to Donald Windham, 1940-1965, 

edited by Donald Windham, London: Penquin Books, 1980. 

ISBN 0140057285. 

Windham was a long-time friend of Williams and has been a long-time self-publicist 

based on this association. The letters offer a little insight into the man. 

Williams, Tennessee, The Selected Letters of Tennessee Williams, 1920-1945, 

Vol.I, edited by Albert J. Devlin and Nancy M. Tischler, New York: New 

Directions, 2000. 

ISBN 0811214451 

Edited by recognised Williams scholars, this volume was due for publication at the 

time of writing. Volume II, 1945-1983, is scheduled for publication in 2002. 


CRITICAL WORKS 

Adam, Julie, Versions of Heroism in Modern American Drama: Redefinitions by 

Miller, Williams, O’Neill and Anderson. London: Macmillan, 1991. 

ISBN 0333512200 

Adam reconsiders the concept of heroism through other notions, e.g. idealism, 

martyrdom, self-reflection and survival, and also examines the issue of modern 

tragedy as found in these playwrights’ work. 

Adler, Thomas, American Drama 1940-1960: A Critical History, New York: 

Twayne, 1994. 

ISBN 080578957X 

Two chapters cover the work and impact of Williams, the first being the most 

relevant. 

Arnott, Catherine, M, (ed.), File on Tennessee Williams, London: Methuen, 1985. 

ISBN 0413585506 

As with the other titles in the series, you will find a chronology of work and extracts 

from reviews. 

Berkowitz, Gerald, M, American Drama of the Twentieth Century, London: 

Longman, 1992. 

ISBN 0582016029 

Part of the Longman Literature in English series, this is a critical introduction placing 

American drama in its various historical and cultural contexts. Detailed and 

comprehensive and well worth a look. Chapter 4, ‘1945-1960: The Zenith of the 

Broadway Theatre’ is the most relevant section. 

Bigsby, C.W.E, A Critical Introduction to Twentieth-Century American Drama: 

Volume Two: Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and Edward Albee, Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press, 1984. 

ISBN 0521277175 

Part One of a three-volume series, this volume contains more than 100 pages of 

discussion on Williams. Well worth a read. 

Bigsby, C.W.E, Modern American Drama, 1945-2000, Cambridge: Cambridge 

University Press, 2000 (2nd ed.). 

ISBN 0521794102 

An updated survey (of Bigsby’s own Modern American Drama, 1945-1990, ISBN 

0521426677, from 1992) of postwar and contemporary American theatre, dealing 

with the usual suspects - O’Neill, Miller, Williams and Albee - plus Shepard, Mamet 

and others. 

‘Tennessee Williams - the theatricalizing self’ is the essay to look out for. Bigsby 

offers a valuable insight into the historical, political and social context within which 

Williams worked. 


Bloom, Clive, (ed.), American Drama, London: Macmillan, 1995. 

ISBN 0333532872 

An introduction to the subject which takes a look at both the Premier League (O’Neill, 

Williams, Miller) and the lower divisions (Odets, Mamet, Shepard, et al). 

Chapter 4, ‘Tennessee Williams’ by Mark Lilly (pp. 70-81) takes gay critical theory 

as its standpoint. 

Bloom, Harold, (ed.), Tennessee Williams: Modern Critical Views, Broomall, PA: 

Chelsea House, 1987. 

ISBN 0877546363 

A good collection of critical essays on Williams in general, including Thomas L. 

King’s ‘Irony and Distance in The Glass Menagerie’. 

Bloom, Harold, (ed.), Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie: Modern Critical 

Interpretations, Broomall, PA: Chelsea House, 1988. 

ISBN 1555460526 

More critical essays, this time focused solely on the play in question, including: 

• Elmo Howell, ‘The Function of Gentlemen Callers: A Note on Tennessee 

Williams’s The Glass Menagerie’; 

• • Arthur Gantz, ‘A Desperate Morality’; 

• • Frank Durham, ‘Tennessee Williams, Theatre Poet in Prose’; 

• • Roger B. Stein, ‘The Glass Menagerie Revisited: Catastrophe Without 

Violence’; 

• • Nancy M. Tischler, ‘The Glass Menagerie: From Story to Play’. 

Bloom, Harold (ed.), Tennessee Williams, Bloom’s Major Dramatists, Broomall, 

PA: Chelsea House, 2000. 

ISBN 0791052400 

A series titled ‘Comprehensive Research and Study Guides’, this volume takes three 

of Williams’ plays and offers a biography, plot summary, extracts from critical essays 

and a bibliography. 

All are interesting but suffer from the whole premise of the series - that we will be 

satisfied by these snippets. On the contrary, they tend to leave us unsatisfied and 

wanting to read more. 

Boxill, Roger, Tennessee Williams, (Macmillan Modern Dramatists), London: 

Macmillan, 1987. 

ISBN 0333308859 

A super series of books. This one is especially useful for its analyses of play 

productions. 

Broussard, Louis, American Drama: Contemporary Allegory from Eugene O’Neill 

to Tennessee Williams, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966. 

ISBN 0318789949 

A very difficult text to find, though somebody in California is trying to sell a first 

edition hardback for $24.95 plus shipping through www.amazon.com 


Cohn, Ruby, Dialogue in American Drama, Bloomington: Indiana University 

Press, 1971. 

ISBN 0253116201 

A rigorous examination of Williams’ use of language. 

Crandell, George, Tennesse Williams: a descriptive bibliography, Pittsburgh and 

London: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996. 

ISBN 0822937697 

A lengthy look at the collected works, pamphlets, translations, sound recordings, 

magazine and newspaper interviews and/or articles on or about Williams. 

Crandell, George, The Critical Response to Tennesse Williams: critical responses 

in arts and letters, No 24, New York: Greenwood Press, 1996 

ISBN 031293724 

Falk, Signi Lenea, Tennesse Williams, Boston: Twanye, (rev.), 1978 

ISBN 0805772022 

Of some interest for Falk’s categorisation of character types in Williams’ plays. 

Fleche, Anne, Mimetic Disillusion: Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams and US 

Dramatic Realism, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1997. 

ISBN 0817308385 

This is a study which examines the history of US drama and argues that at midcentury 

it turned in the direction of post-structuralism, and more specifically, a poststructuralist 

disillusion with mimicry. Fleche sets out to explore the complexities of 

mimetic and realistic readings of the works, and to develop connections to the 

writings of Derrida, de Man, Foucault, Brecht, Benjamin and even Artaud. Somewhat 

advanced. 

I blame Roland Barthes. 

Griffin, Alice, Understanding Tennessee Williams, Columbia: University of South 

Carolina Press, 1995. 

ISBN 1570030170 

A very useful book which gives an idea of how the plays were received in their 

original productions. The Glass Menagerie begins on p.21. 

Gross, Robert, F, Tennessee Williams: A Casebook (Casebooks on Modern 

Dramatists), New York: Garland Publishing, 2001. 

ISBN 0815331746 

One to look out for - due to be published in July. 

Gunn, Drewey Wayne, Tennessee Williams: A Bibliography, Metuchen, New 

Jersey: Scarecrow Press, (rev.), 1991. 

ISBN 0810824957 

For extensive bibliographical information. 


Harris, Andrew, B, Broadway Theatre, (Theatre Production Studies), London: 

Routledge, 1994. 

ISBN 041510520X 

A twentieth-century history and criticism which looks at the achievements of various 

playwrights, including Williams, O’Neill and Mamet. It also includes a section on the 

process a play goes through from initial manuscript to first night. 

Hauptman, Robert, The Pathological Vision: Jean Genet, Louis-Ferdinand Céline 

Tennessee Williams, American University Studies: Vol. 5, New York: Peter Lang 

Publishing, 1984. 

ISBN 0820400378 

Hayman, Ronald, Tennessee Williams: everyone else is an audience, London: Yale 

University Press, 1993. 

ISBN 0300054149 

This biography received mixed reviews, dealing as it does in Williams’ already welldocumented 

childhood and drugs and drink abuse up until his death in 1983. It does, 

however, have reasonably useful criticisms of the plays. 

Kolin, Philip, C, (ed.), Tennessee Williams: a guide to research and performance, 

London: Greenwood, 1998. 

ISBN 0313303061 

This book contains criticism, a history of performances and bibliographical 

references, as well as a review of the vast body of research on the works of Williams. 

There are summaries of critical approaches to Williams’ work covering themes, 

characters, symbols, plots and the problems posed by the plays. Contributions on The 

Glass Menagerie are to be found on pp.34-50. 

Leavitt, Richard F, (ed.), The World of Tennessee Williams, London: W.H. Allen, 

1978. 

ISBN 0491020066 

Another biography, and not a very good one. 

Leverich, Lyle, Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams, London: Sceptre, 1995. 

ISBN 034064978X 

A detailed and very readable authorised biography by the head the board of the Tennessee Williams 

Literary Journal. A second volume of Leverich’s biography of Williams is, apparently, in 

preparation. 

Leverich takes us up to the first production of The Glass Menagerie in Chicago and 

the ‘catastrophe of success’ which changed Williams’ life forever. The influence of 

Piscator, Williams’ use of the term ‘plastic theatre’ and great deal of information on 

the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of this production are included. 

Lilly, Mark, (ed.), Lesbian and Gay Writing: an anthology of critical essays, 

London: Macmillan, 1990. 

ISBN 0333475011 

This anthology of essays by gay/lesbian academics examines a variety of gay/lesbian 

writing. Mark Lilly’s essay on Williams’ The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar 

Named Desire is particularly pertinent. 


Londré Felicia H, Tennessee Williams, New York: Ungar, 1979. 

ISBN 0804425396 

Contains synopses of plays and extracts from reviews. 

McCann, John S, The Critical Reputation of Tennessee Williams: a reference 

guide, Boston: G.K. Hall, 1983. 

ISBN 0816186359 

Martin, Robert A (ed.), Critical Essays on Tennessee Williams, New York: Simon 

& Schuster, 1997. 

ISBN 0783800428 

Contemporary reviews of plays, a biography and a survey of critical work on 

Williams, one of which is titled “A Psychological Reading of The Glass Menagerie” 

(p.65). Three reviews of the 1945 production are also included. 

Murphy, Brenda, Tennessee Williams and Elia Kazan: A Collaboration in the 

Theatre, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. 

ISBN 0521400953 

Though Kazan did not direct The Glass Menagerie, the insights into directing 

Williams should prove fruitful. 

Nelson, Benjamin, Tennessee Williams: The Man and His Work, New York: Ivan 

Obolensky, 1961. 

ISBN 0839211112 

[Published in Britain as Tennessee Williams: His Life and Work, London: Owen, 

1961.] 

A survey of Williams’ work and place in contemporary drama as noted in the early 

60s. 

O’Connor, Jacqueline, Dramatizing Dementia: Madness in the Plays of Tennessee 

Williams, Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 

1998. 

ISBN 087972742X 

Contains thematic chapters on confinement, language, women and the creativity of 

artists, and looks at the plays through psychology and the role played in literature by 

mental illness. 

Pagan, Nicholas, Rethinking Literary Biography: a postmodern approach to 

Tennessee Williams, Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1993. 

ISBN 0838635164 

A rather difficult text, with tiresome page references to Williams’ works, but it 

contains extremely useful analyses of plays. 

Parker, Dorothy, (ed.), Essays on Modern American Drama: Williams, Miller, 

Albee and Shepard, Toronto; London: University of Toronto Press, 1987. 

ISBN 0802034349 


Parker, R B, (ed.), The Glass Menagerie: A Collection of Critical Essays, 

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and London: Prentice-Hall, 1983. 

ISBN 013934828X 

Another good collection of criticism. 

Petersen, Carol, Tennessee Williams, Berlin: Colloquium-Verlag, 1975. 

ISBN 37680378X 

Phillips, Gene D, The Films of Tennessee Williams, East Brunswick, New Jersey: 

Associated University Presses, 1980. 

ISBN 087992025X 

Presley, Delma, E, The Glass Menagerie: An American Memory, Boston: Twayne, 

1990. 

ISBN 0805781277 

A lovely book, if you can get hold of it. The play is placed in its socio-historical and 

theatrical context and offers a very valuable discussion of its themes and techniques. 

Rader, Dotson, Tennessee: Cry of the Heart, New York: Doubleday, 1985. 

ISBN 0385191367 

Another biography by another friend of Williams. Of limited value. 

Rasky, Harry, Tennessee Williams: A Portrait in Laughter and Lamentation, New 

York: Dodd, Mead, 1986. 

ISBN 0396087752 

Rasky worked with Williams in 1973 and offers a little information into Williams’ 

work. 

Robinson, Marc, The Other American Drama, Cambridge: Cambridge University 

Press, 1994. 

ISBN 0521454379 

An alternative history of American drama going back to Gertrude Stein, through 

Williams to Sam Shepard, and concentrating on the experimental aspects of these 

playwrights’ work. 

Roudane [/ accent over the ‘e’], Matthew Charles, (ed.), The Cambridge 

Companion to Tennessee Williams, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 

1997. 

ISBN 052149883X 

This enormously useful text contains 14 essays, including those on minor plays, short 

stories, poetry, biography and a bibliographical survey of major critical statements on 

Williams. 

C.W.E. Bigsby’s essay (pp.29-44), “Entering The Glass Menagerie”, likens Williams’ 

search for a new form of theatre, his ‘plastic theatre’, to the ‘realism’ of Chekhov. 

The comparison (and he cites others in agreement) is with the complex inner truths of 

the characters set against the apparent inactivity in the play. 


Bigsby also stresses the mileage to be had from a close examination of the essay ‘The 

Catastrophe of Success’ (printed in the Methuen Student Edition edited by Bottoms, 

above). 

Nancy M. Tischler’s ‘Romantic textures in Williams’s plays and short stories’ 

(pp.147-166), is extremely good reading on the subject, emphasising the framing 

device of Tom, the Narrator, in Williams’ structuring of the play. 

The difficulties Williams faced with the director Eddie Dowling over the rehearsal 

period of The Glass Menagerie are well documented in Brenda Murphy’s ‘Seeking 

Direction’ (pp.198-203). 

Savran, David, Communists, Cowboys and Queers: The Politics of Masculinity in 

the Work of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, Minneapolis; London: 

University of Minnesota Press, 1992. 

ISBN 0816621233 

This book looks at some aspects of Tennessee Williams’ political and social views, as 

well as the more obvious angles intimated by the title. Not critically well-received 

and possibly not all that relevant, specifically, for The Glass Menagerie. 

Schlueter, June, (ed.), Feminist Rereadings of Modern American Drama, London: 

Associated University Presses, 1989. 

ISBN 0838633595 

Two chapters examine Williams in the light of feminist critical theory. 

Schneiderman, Leo, The Literary Mind: Portraits in Pain and Creativity, New 

York: Human Sciences Press, 1989. 

ISBN 0898854040 

Schneiderman’s thesis is that pain and suffering play a central role in the creation of 

great literature and attempts to prove his point through an examination of the work of 

Williams, Beckett, Pinter and many others. The essay on Williams examines what 

Schneiderman terms the ‘incest-motif’ and ‘fictional love relationships’. By no 

means an easy read (it is somewhat psychoanalytical in theory), but on a rainy 

Saturday afternoon with Motherwell playing away... you never know. 

Shaland, Irene, Tennessee Williams on the Soviet Stage, Lanham; London: 

University Press of America, 1987. 

ISBN 0819161098 

Williams was surprisingly popular in the Soviet Union. Shaland focuses on five 

productions of The Glass Menagerie, which is hugely considerate of her for the 

purposes of Unit 3: Special Study. An extremely valuable resource. 

Singh, Abha, Contemporary American Drama: a study in the plays of Tennessee 

Williams, Arthur Miller and Edward Albee, London: Sangam, 1998. 

ISBN 0861323912 


Spoto, Donald, The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams, 

London: The Bodley Head, 1985. 

ISBN 0370308476 

[Also published London: Methuen, 1990, ISBN 0413642305.] 

Another biography, this one based on Williams’ papers, his mother’s diaries and 

interviews with ‘associates’. Chronologically structured and rather boring. 

Stanton, Stephen Sadler (ed.), Tennessee Williams: A Collection of Critical Essays, 

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1978. 

ISBN 0139036253 

Another good collection of essays. 

Tharpe, Jac L (ed.), Tennessee Williams: A Tribute, Jackson: University Press of 

Mississippi, 1977. 

ISBN 0878050329 

This is a mighty volume of essays - for library browsing only. It is far too extensive 

for purchasing. Among many entries is Joseph K. Davis’ “Landscape of the 

Dislocated Mind in Williams’ The Glass Menagerie”, pp.192-206. 

Thompson, Judith, J. Tennessee Williams’s Plays: Memory, Myth and Symbol, 

New York: Peter Lang, 1987. 

ISBN 0820404764 

A little difficult, perhaps, but an extremely interesting discussion of some recurring 

issues in the plays. 

Tischler, Nancy, M, Student Companion to Tennessee Williams, Westport, 

Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. 

ISBN 0313312389 

This is another title due for publication after this bibliography had gone to press. 

It will have biographical material, a look at Williams’ literary heritage and an 

examination of the major plays through plot, characters, themes and style. The book 

also intends to provide alternative readings of each play from feminist, psychological, 

gay and theological perspectives. 

Van Antwerp, Margaret, A, and Johns, Sally, (eds.), Dictionary of Literary 

Biography, Documentary Series, Volume IV, Tennessee Williams, Farmington 

Hills, Michigan: Gale, 1984. 

ISBN 0810311135 

A great resource for pictures, illustrations, etc., and looks at Williams as a theatrical, 

rather than literary, figure. It is very expensive so might be better obtained through an 

inter-library loan. 

Vannatta, Dennis, P, Tennessee Williams: a study of the short fiction, Boston: 

Twayne; London: Macmillan, 1988. 

ISBN 0805783040 


Williams, Dakin, and Mead, Shepherd, Tennessee Williams: An Intimate 

Biography, New York: Arbor House, 1983. 

ISBN 0877954887 

Another biography, this time by Williams’ brother. 

Williams, Edwina Dakin, Remember me to Tom: the memoirs of Tennessee 

Williams’ mother, (as told to Lucy Freeman), New York: Putnam, 1963 and 

London: Cassell, 1964. 

ISBN 0877954887 

This is another biography, this time by Williams’ mother. It is a better resource due 

to its insights into the family background and also contains many pictures of items 

from the Williams family scrapbooks. 

Windham, Donald, Lost Friendships: a memoir of Truman Capote, Tennessee 

Williams and others, New York: Paragon House, 1996. 

ISBN 1557782407 

Another biography by another friend and collaborator. Of limited use. 

Yacowar, Maurice, Tennessee Williams and Film, New York: Ungar, 1977. 

ISBN 0804469903 

Though clearly film-based, this study may prove useful if used in association with a 

video viewing of the play. 

Zeineddine, Nada, Because It Is My Name: problems of identity experienced by 

women, artists, and breadwinners in the plays of Henrik Ibsen, Tennessee Williams 

and Arthur Miller, Braunton: Merlin, 1991. 

ISBN 0863035175 

This is not easy to get hold of and is of only limited, though interesting, use. A 

psychological look at problems of identity in the plays. 


OPTIONS 

Aronson, Arnold, American Set Design, New York: Theatre Communications 

Group, 1990. 

ISBN 0930452399 

A series of American designers are profiled, with a liberal dose of illustrations. 

Useful for those on the designers’ option. (Theatre Communications Group titles 

listed in this bibliography can be bought in the UK through Nick Hern Books.) 

Auslander, Philip, From Acting to Performance: Essays in Modernism and 

Postmodernism, London: Routledge, 1997. 

ISBN 0415157870 

A survey of the development and changes in acting and performance from the 1960s, 

looking at various practitioners, including Artaud, Brook, Boal and The Wooster 

Group. Very advanced. 

Banks, R.A, and Marson, P, Drama and Theatre Arts, London: Hodder & 

Stoughton, (rev.) 1998. 

ISBN 0340711787 

This is a handy text book, giving a survey of theatrical periods and a guide to directors 

and directing. 

Berry, Cecily, Voice and the Actor, London: Harrap, 1973. 

ISBN 024552021X 

Useful for those choosing the acting option. Berry was the Voice Director at the RSC. 

Berry, Cecily, The Actor and His Text, London: Harrap, 1987. 

ISBN 0245543821 

More application of the methods and techniques, this time directly on the speaking of 

Shakespeare (as well as other, more modern, playwrights). 

Brandt, George W, Modern Theories of Drama: A Selection of Writings on Drama 

and Theatre, 1840-1990, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. 

ISBN 0198711395 

Every conceivable aspect of theory on the subject from the past 160 years, by every 

thinker on the subject, from Richard Wagner to Howard Barker, in their own words. 

A very valuable reader. 

Bly, Mark (ed.), The Production Notebooks: Volume 1: Theatre in Process, New 

York: Theatre Communications Group, 1996. 

ISBN 1559361107 

Fascinating diaries of theatrical productions from design and rehearsal stages through 

to performance. 

Bowskill, Derek, Acting and Stagecraft Made Simple, London: W.H.Allen, 1973. 

ISBN 0491007248 

These kind of books tend to receive the worst bashings imaginable in academic and 

practical ‘respectable’ circles. Despite the brickbats, they are never quite as bad as all 

that, and this one is actually rather good, even if currently out of print. 


The first two-thirds of the book is devoted to acting: rationale, attitude, absorption, 

improvisation, breathing, movement, working with a text, etc. The remainder looks at 

the work of a director and a designer. It is intelligently written and full of practical 

exercises. 

Chaikin, Joseph, The Presence of the Actor, New York: Theatre Communications 

Group, 1991. 

ISBN 1559360305 

A widely-respected actor trainer. 

Clurman, Harold, On Directing, New York: Fireside Books, Simon and Schuster, 

1997. 

ISBN 0684826224 

This is the latest reprint of the 1972 volume. 

Cole, Toby, and Chinov, H. K, (eds.), Directors on Directing, (rev.), London: 

Collier Macmillan, 1963. 

ISBN 0023233001 

With contributions from, among others, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Peter Brook, 

Peter Hall, Joseph Papp and Franco Zeffirelli. 

Cooper, Simon, and Mackey, Sally, Theatre Studies: An Approach for Advanced 

Level, Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes, 1996. 

ISBN 0748721215 

A super text book dealing with how to analyse a text, the process of production 

(staging, design, etc.,) and also a worthwhile section on how to approach the analysis 

of contemporary productions. 

Handy for both the analysis of the play and the directing and designing options. (The 

last section is also extremely valuable for Unit 2: Twentieth -Century Theatre: 

Theories of Performance, as it deals with Gordon Craig, Stanislavski, Artaud and 

Brecht.) 

Counsell, Colin, Signs of Performance: an introduction to twentieth-century 

theatre, London: Routledge, 1996. 

ISBN 0415106435 

A good survey of the major figures of the last century, including a look at the 

influences on and work of, among others, Brecht, Stanislavski and Brook. 

Delgado, M. M., and Heritage, P., (eds.,) In Contact with the Gods?: Directors talk 

Theatre, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996. 

ISBN 0719047633 

Particularly useful for those choosing the directing option. The editors have consulted 

major figures about their theory and practice, including Peter Brook, Declan 

Donnellan, Robert Lepage, Peter Stein and Robert Wilson. 


Dennis, Anne, The Articulate Body, New York: Quite Specific Media Group, 

1994. 

ISBN 0896761339 

For those on the acting option. (Quite Specific MG books listed in this bibliography 

are available in the UK through Nick Hern Books.) 

Desrochers, Rick, Playing Director: A Handbook for Beginners, London: 

Heinemann, 1995. 

ISBN 0435086685 

Definitely practical but also definitely for beginners. 

Donnellan, Declan, Acting the Truth, London: Nick Hern Books, 2000. 

ISBN 1854591274 

A new text by the celebrated theatre director. 

Fraser, Neil, Lighting and Sound, London: Phaidon, (rev.), 1993. 

ISBN071482514X 

A good handbook for those on the designing option. 

Giannachi, Gabriella, and Luckhurst, Mary, (eds.), On Directing: Interviews with 

Directors, London: Faber and Faber, 1999. 

ISBN 0571191495 

A good collection of articles by various directors, including: Declan Donnellan; 

Phyllida Lloyd; Gerry Mulgrew and Deborah Warner. 

Gielgud, John, Acting Shakespeare, New York and London: Applause Theatre 

Book Publishers, 1999. 

ISBN 1577833745 

Though clearly aimed specifically at Shakespearean texts, those on the acting option 

will find a wealth of valuable and entertaining ideas from this late master of the trade. 

Grotowski, Jerzy, Towards a Poor Theatre, London: Methuen, 1968. 

ISBN 0413349101 

Apart from being a seminal text regarding modern theatre practice, those students 

choosing the acting option may find something of interest in here. Essays on actor 

training and technique take up most of the second half of the book. 

Harrop, John, Acting, London: Routledge, 1992. 

ISBN 0415059623 

An examination of what acting is, how it is informed by actor training and practice 

from Stanislavski to the present day, and what its purpose is. 

Harrop, John, and Epstein, Sabin R, Acting with Style, London: Longman, (3rd 

edition) 2000. 

ISBN 0205295827 

Another manual of ‘how to’ - the rehearsal process, characterisation, using textual 

clues, etc., and approaches to acting styles of different periods and different kinds of 

plays. 


Hodge, Alison, Twentieth Century Actor Training, London: Routledge, 1999. 

ISBN 0415194520 

Hodge analyses the theories, training exercises and productions of 14 directors. 

Hoggett, Chris, Stage Crafts, London: A & C Black, 1975. 

ISBN 0713615575 

Just in case you are the only Drama Department in the Western World which does not 

have a copy of this, it is the book that tells you how to do everything. 

Holkeboer, Katherine S, Patterns for Theatrical Costumes: Garments, Trims and 

Accessories from Ancient Egypt to 1915, New York: Quite Specific Media Group, 

1993. 

ISBN 0896761258 

You might not do any better than this as a resource for those choosing to design, trace, 

cut out and assemble costumes as part of their option choice. 

Holt, Michael, Stage Design And Properties, Oxford: Phaidon, 1988. 

ISBN 0714825158 

Indispensable for those thinking of choosing the designer option. It contains 

everything from designing, to drawing a groundplan, to making a model set. 

Jackson, Sheila, Costumes for the stage: a complete handbook for every kind of 

play, London: Herbert Press, 1992. 

ISBN 0906969778 

If you thought the title of this book was rather grand and tempting fate, you were 

right... 

Jackson, Sheila, More costumes for the stage, London: Herbert Press, 1998. 

ISBN 1871569540 

(Herbert Press is part of A & C Black.) The sequels are never quite as good... 

Johnstone, Keith, Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre, London: Methuen, (rev.) 

1981. 

ISBN 041346430X 

Another vital book for those choosing the acting option. Johnstone’s book is 

tremendously useful, full of ideas and techniques and methods to unravel an actor’s 

spontaneity. 

Kimber, Kenneth, and Wood, David, Stages in Design, London: Hodder & 

Stoughton, 1995. 

ISBN 0340558520 

A good introduction to design, aimed at 14-19 year-olds, with many assignments, all 

with teachers’ notes. 

Krasner, David, Method Acting Reconsidered, London: Macmillan, 2000. 

ISBN 033391547X 

It is a pity part of the reconsideration was not to drop the awful term ‘method’, but 

American Cultural Imperialism spreads its wings wide and we are powerless under its 

span. However, this book will be a serviceable text for those on the acting option. 


Leacroft, Richard, The Development of the English Playhouse, London: Methuen, 

1988. 

ISBN 0413606007 

An illustrated survey of theatre buildings in England from medieval to modern times. 

This is a thoroughly researched, important work, and should prove particularly useful 

for designers. 

Lewis, Robert, Advice to the Players, New York: Theatre Communications 

Group, 1990. 

ISBN 1559360038 

Another actor’s handbook. 

Linklater, Kristin, Freeing the Natural Voice, New York: Quite Specific Media 

Group, 1978. 

ISBN 0896760715 

Of obvious use for those on the acting option. 

McCafferty, Michael, Directing A Play, Oxford: Phaidon, 1988. 

ISBN 0714825131 

A handy little book, very accessible and with specific, short, chapters on casting, 

directing business, etc. 

Mackey, Sally, Practical Theatre: A post-16 approach, Cheltenham: Stanley 

Thornes, 1997. 

ISBN 0748728570 

A wide-ranging text book, dealing with acting, directing and designing (and other 

aspects of theatre), and specifically written for this level of student. With chapters on 

acting, directing and designing (as an added bonus, there is also one on devising, 

interestingly, for Unit 1 of the Advanced Higher Drama), this is a tremendously pupil 

and teacher-friendly resource. Though geared toward qualifications and syllabuses in 

England, like its companion publication (see Cooper and Mackey, above), it can be 

easily adapted for use in Scotland’s post-16 drama curriculum. 

Neelands, Jonothan, and Dobson, Warwick, Drama and Theatre Studies at A/S 

Level, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2000. 

ISBN 0340758600 

Due for publication in May 2000. It will contain exercises and introductions to 

theorists and practitioners, useful for the options offered in Unit 3: Special Study. 

Neelands, Jonothan, and Dobson, Warwick, Theatre Directions, London: Hodder 

& Stoughton, 2000. 

ISBN 0340758619 

Though perhaps better used on Unit 2, this companion to the above text by the same 

authors will be useful for actors and directors on Unit 3. 

Owen, Mack, The Stages of Acting: A Practical Approach for Beginning Actors, 

London: Addison Wesley Longman, 1993. 

ISBN 0065006321 


Payne, Blanche, and Winakor, Greitel, and Farrell-Beck, Jane, The History of 

Costume: From the Ancient Mesopotamians through the Twentieth Century, 

London: Addison Wesley Longman, 1992. 

ISBN 0060471417 

Peithman, Stephen, The Stage Directions Guide to Directing, London: 

Heinemann, 1999. 

ISBN 032500112X 

A general overview of the director’s role; how a director shapes and steers a 

production; offering insights by established directors and actors on a variety of topics, 

including selecting a show and staging big shows with small casts. 

Pilbrow, Richard, Stage Lighting Design: The Art, The Craft, The Life, London: 

Nick Hern Books, 1999. 

ISBN 1854592734 

A little expensive, perhaps, but absolutely first rate. 

Redgrave, Michael, The Actors Ways and Means, London: Heinemann, 1979. 

ISBN 0435187627 

A series of talks given by Redgrave in the 50s at the Drama Department, Bristol 

University. Reveals less than a budding actor would probably like about the art of 

acting (books by actors about acting usually do, sadly), but an enjoyable read, 

nonetheless. 

Richards, Thomas, At Work With Grotowski On Physical Actions, London: 

Routledge, 1995. 

ISBN 0415124921 

An account by Grotowski collaborator, Richards, which will be of interest to those 

opting for acting in this Unit. 

Rodenburg, Patsy, The Actor Speaks: Voice and the Performer, London: 

Methuen, 1997. 

ISBN 0413700305 

Another top voice specialist for those on the acting option. 

Rosenfeld, Sybil, A Short History of Scene Design in Great Britain, Oxford: 

Blackwell, 1973. 

ISBN 0631145206 

Schneider, Rebecca, The Explicit Body in Performance, London: Routledge, 1997. 

ISBN 0415090261 

Feminist Performance Art examined in close-up, if you will. 

This book examines, specifically, that strain within Feminist Performance Art which 

uses the body itself as the stage on which to ‘unfold’ the hierarchical structures which 

oppress women in society. 

For those looking at performance concepts for an audience today, this book allows 

students to examine and experiment with new, fresh and challenging ideas. A difficult 

but hugely interesting book on the subject. 


Simonson, Lee, The Art of Scenic Design: A Pictorial Analysis of Stage Setting and 

its Relation to Theatrical Production, New York: Greenwood Press, 1973. 

ISBN 0837164818 

Hugely opinionated (Simonson does not care for Edward Gordon Craig but has a great 

deal of time for the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Adolphe Appia) but very thorough. 

Smith, Ronn, American Design 2, New York: Theatre Communications Group, 

1990. 

ISBN 1559360186 

Another series of profiles of American set designers with good illustrations. 

Spolin, Viola, Theatre Games for Rehearsal: A Director’s Handbook, Evanston, 

Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1985. 

ISBN 0810140020 

and 

Spolin, Viola, Improvisation for the Theatre: A Handbook of Teaching and 

Directing Techniques, Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, (3rd 

ed.) 1999. 

ISBN 0810140098 

Two classic texts from the American guru. 

Stafford-Clark, Max, Letters to George, London: Nick Hern Books, 1997. 

ISBN 185459317X 

Great insights for those on the directing option from the erstwhile leader at The Royal 

Court Theatre. 

Stanislavski, Constantin, An Actor Prepares, London: Methuen, 1937. 

ISBN 0413461904 

Stanislavski, Constantin, Building A Character, London: Methuen, 1950. 

ISBN 0413367207 

Stanislavski, Constantin, Creating A Role, London: Methuen, 1981. 

ISBN 0413477606 

The books by the actor-director who changed a profession. 

Strasberg, Lee, Strasberg at the Actors Studio: Tape Recorded Sessions, Hethmon, 

Robert H, (ed.), New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1991. 

ISBN 185459317X 

Not everybody’s cup of tea, certainly on this side of the Atlantic, but the words of 

Method acting’s most famous proponent are worth listening to by any student of 

acting at least once. 

Styan, J.L, The Elements of Drama, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 

(rev.) 1963. 

ISBN 0521092019 

Always a critic who maintained a keen eye on the theatrical implications of a drama 

text, Styan offers ideas on the creation and interpretation of meanings through the 

various languages of theatre. 


Todd, Susan, (ed.), Women and Theatre: calling the shots, London: Faber and 

Faber, 1984. 

ISBN 0571130429 

A bright, wide-ranging collection of essays by actors (Harriet Walter, Maggie Steed), 

a director (Pam Brighton), designer (Di Seymour), stage manager (Meri Jenkins), 

writers (Catherine Hayes, Bryony Lavery, Liane Aukin) and writer/director (Ann 

Jellicoe) about women’s experiences of working in theatre. 

Vaughan, Stuart, Directing Plays: A Working Professional’s Manual, London: 

Addison Wesley Longman, 1993. 

ISBN 080130623X 

Wu, Duncan, Making Plays: Interviews with Contemporary British Dramatists and 

Directors, London: Macmillan, 2000. 

ISBN 0333915615 

It does exactly what it says in the title. A useful insight on offer to those choosing the 

directing option. Rather unbalanced, however, by an absence of female interviewees. 

Zarrilli, Phillip, B, Acting (Re)Considered: A Workbook for the Actor’s 

Imagination, London: Routledge, 1995. 

ISBN 0415098599 

This looks at theories of acting, of actor training and the use of the body in 

performance. Zarrilli has used the work of numerous figures in his reconsideration, 

including Meyerhold, Artaud, Copeau, Brecht, Suzuki and Fo. 


THE WORLD WIDE WEB 

One of the dangers of the world wide web is also one of its great strengths: that 

anybody can say whatever they please about anything at all. It is an unregulated mass 

of opinion, some wonderfully academic and scholarly, some woefully shoddy and 

infantile, most in between. Democracy in action. 

Websites have a habit of changing addresses, changing names, changing content, 

suddenly appearing out of nowhere or disappearing completely: it’s a little like 

watching a professional production of Waiting for Godot... you’re never quite sure. 

This is the nature of the Internet; thus it is, this bibliography offers some sites as 

examples of what existed at the time of going to print. 

United States, Canadian and Australian educators all love sharing information or 

blowing their own trumpets, depending on your point of view. British academia 

maintains an almost eerie silence, as if it is ‘uncool’ to broadcast its ideas; the 

academic equivalent of driving a metallic green Ford Capri. 

Much of what exists is not linked to any academic institution. This need not 

necessarily prove a danger, though usually is. Blast off into cyberspace but don’t 

forget your codswallop detector. There is a great deal of waste product out there, but 

there is also a great deal to admire and enjoy. 

http://www.olemis.edu/dept/english/ms-writers/dir/williams_tennessee/ 

The Mississippi Writers Page, run by the English Department of the University of 

Mississippi, with this particular one focusing on Tennessee Williams. It has a 

biography, pictures (one being the 32-cent postage stamp of Williams from 1994!) 

and bibliography - plays, fiction, poetry, film scripts, letters, etc. It is fairly slight but 

does have a good links section to other sites. 

http://www.csutan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/williams.html 

PAL is ‘Perspectives in American Literature: A Research and Reference Guide’ an 

ongoing online project by Paul P. Reuben. The site is run by the Department of 

English at California State University Stanislaus (CSUS). This page houses ‘Chapter 

8: American Drama’, which refers to Williams. 

http://www.nt-online.org/home.html 

Education workpacks are now beginning to be published online by the Royal National 

Theatre. Two are available, so far, as Adobe Acrobat Reader pdf files (one being on 

The Merchant of Venice) and others as plain web pages. New titles and back issues 

will eventually be added to the site, so it will be worth popping in every now and then. 

http://www.etsu.edu/haleyd/index.htm 

Dr Darryl Erwin Haley of East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. 

The site contains his essay ‘A Phenomenon of Theoretical States: Connecting Crane 

and Rilke to Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie’ from 1995, which is a long 

but rather interesting paper. It draws heavily on many of the titles in the ‘Critical 

Works’ section, above - Bloom, Thompson, Rasky, et al - and is not as dense as its 

title might suggest. Worth reading. 


http://www.etsu.edu/haleyd/disshome.html 

This is Darryl’s edited version of his dissertation ‘”Certain Moral Values”: A Rhetoric 

of Outcasts in the Plays of Tennessee Williams’, submitted to the University of 

Alabama in 1999. 

Darryl also has a good links page, one of which will take you to a teachers’ pack on 

The Glass Menagerie. 

http://channel.cyberiacafe.net/episodes/webstage/episode2/educ.htm 

There is a series of rather feeble questions on each scene of The Glass Menagerie in 

this teacher’s pack but also a very interesting design page. This site (thank you for 

spotting it for us, Darryl) has been left behind by the Donmar Warehouse production 

of 1995 with Ben Walden (Tom), Claire Skinner (Laura), Zoe Wanamaker (Amanda) 

and Mark Dexter (Jim). 

http://www.nerdworld.com/trees/nw9839.html 

Follow the route at this address to get to http://www.nerdworld.com/cgibin/jump.cgi?9839&http://www.jackfritscher.com:80/tennessee/ 

If you don’t mind entering a place by the name of ‘nerdworld’, you will find 

Tennessee Williams resources here. You can access a whole book, an academic 

dissertation titled ‘Love and Death in Tennessee Williams’ by John J. (or ‘Jack’) 

Fritscher, first published by Loyola University Library in 1967. 

http://shs.starkville.k12.ms.us/mswm/MSWritersAndMusicians/writers/Willliams.htm 

l 

The Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project of Starkville High School site. 

Biography, reviews, pictures. Fairly basic. 

http://hipp.gator.net/index.html 

The home of The Hippodrome State Theatre of Gainesville, North Florida, which is 

very proud to be the region’s only professional theatre. Click ‘Curriculum Guide’ and 

then ‘The Glass Menagerie’ (there is also one on A Streetcar Named Desire). 

What you will find in this guide are: 

• ‘A Note from the Dramaturg About the Author’; 

• • a ‘Timeline’; 

• ‘• Insights: The Fate of a Classic by Dr Ralf E. Remshardt (Assistant Professor 

of Theatre, University of Florida) which praises The Glass Menagerie’s 

radicalism; 

• ‘• Artistic Impressions: Scenic Designer James Morgan’ (who looks distressingly 

like Dougie Donnelly) which discusses design in general and The Glass 

Menagerie in particular - its colours, textures, influences on the director and 

designer of El Greco, and the use of a ‘picture frame’ to aid the idea of the play 

being Tom’s ‘memory’. A very good, though sadly rather short, guide. 

http://www.mtsu.edu/~english/ 

The homepage of the English Department at Middle Tennessee State University, 

Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This institution publishes ‘The Tennessee Williams Annual 

Review’ published by Robert Bray. Essays to be published in this have included 

George W. Crandell’s ‘The Cinematic Eye in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass 


Menagerie’; Gilbert Debusscher, ‘”Where Memory Begins”: New Texas Light on The 

Glass Menagerie’; Bert Cardullo ‘The Blue Rose of St.Louis: Laura, Romanticism 

and The Glass Menagerie’. 

You can subscribe to this publication by contacting Dr. Robert Bray, English Dept., 

Box 70, MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Alternatively, by email: 

rbray@frank.mtsu.edu 

http://blues.fd1.uc.edu/www.amdrama/ 

‘American Drama’ is published twice yearly. You can read the abstracts of each 

article it has published on this site. For subscription inquiries, contact: American 

Drama, Dept. of English, ML69, University of Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0069; or 

email: american.drama@uc.edu 

http://mitpress.mit.edu/journals 

‘The Drama Review: the journal of performance studies’ is published quarterly and 

the latest editions can be read online, both abstracts and full text versions (with Adobe 

Acrobat reader), if you subscribe. You can reach it through this site, the MIT/Press 

Journals site. Alternatively, write to: Circulation Dept., MIT Press Journals, Five 

Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142-1407, USA; or email: journalsorders@mit.edu 

[or journals-info@mit.edu]. 

http://www.nt-online.org/home.html 

Education workpacks are now being published with more regularity by the Royal 

National Theatre. Many are available as Adobe Acrobat Reader pdf files, others as 

plain web pages. New titles will be coming along, so it is worth popping into this site 

from time to time to see what is new. 

Williams’ Baby Doll, is available, as is Miller’s All My Sons, Chekhov’s The Cherry 

Orchard, three Shakespeares and many more. 

http://www.bemorecreative.com/one/243.htm 

This is an Ask Jeeves site with many links to Williams-related sites. 

http://www.courtneycollinsstudio.com/index.html 

The Homepage of the Courtney/Collins Design Studio, designers of stage sets, lights, 

etc. It contains production stills from shows and computer-rendered storyboards. 

http://www.members.aol.com/nebula5/costume.html 

‘The Costume Page: Costuming Resources Online’; and lots of them, too. 


STUDY GUIDES 

Debusscher, Gilbert, The Glass Menagerie: Tennessee Williams, York Notes, 

Harlow, Essex: Addison Wesley Longman Ltd, 1982. 

ISBN 0582039657 

A thoroughly good companion for the study of the play. Debusscher’s emphasis is, of 

course, on the ‘Eng.Lit.’ aspect of the play (as the continual references to the ‘reader’ 

of the play testify) though this should not put off anybody as this study fixes very 

firmly on theatrical elements such as costume, set, lighting and sound. 

It contains a detailed summary, notes and glosssary on every scene and a commentary 

which discusses structure, the narrative device, the set, the characters, religious 

symbolism and a very good summation of critical views on the play’s ‘tragic’ quality. 

The section on the set is particularly valuable, revealing just what the play might have 

looked like if Williams’ quasi-Brecht/Piscator influences had not been heavily edited 

by the director Eddie Dowling. 

Ehrenhaft, George, Tennessee Williams: The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar 

Named Desire, Barron’s Book Notes, New York: Barron’s Educational Series 

Inc., 1985. 

ISBN 081203516X 

An analysis of plot, style, form and structure, with a biography, further reading and 

‘sample’ tests. Less useful than the York Notes or, indeed, the Methuen Student 

Edition. 

Rathbun, Gilbert, L, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, Monarch Notes, 

New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1998. 

ISBN 0760710481 

Contains the usual stuff: biography, historical context, plot summary, character 

analysis, major themes, critical receptions, sample questions and answers and further 

reading. 

Roberts, James, L, Williams’ Glass Menagerie & Streetcar Named Desire, Foster 

City, California: Cliffs Notes, 1972. 

ISBN 0822005336 

Nelson, Benjamin, The Major Plays of Tennessee Williams, Monarch Notes, 

London: Macmillan, 1990. 

ISBN 0671006509 


OTHER SOURCES 

FILMS 

The Glass Menagerie, 1950, Warner Brothers film - directed by Irving Rapper. With 

Gertrude Lawrence as Amanda, Arthur Kennedy as Tom, Jane Wyman as Laura and 

Kirk Douglas as Jim. 

Some critics thought Jane Wyman miscast; most critics will tell you this a gem 

because it is an all-too rare capturing of Gertrude Lawrence on celluloid. 

The Glass Menagerie, 1966 CBS Television version - directed by Michael Elliott. 

With Shirley Booth as Amanda, Hal Holbrook as Tom, Barbara Loden as Laura and 

Pat Hingle as Jim. 

The Glass Menagerie, 1973 ABC Television version - directed by Anthony Harvey. 

With Katherine Hepburn as Amanda, Sam Waterson as Tom, Joanna Miles as Laura 

and Michael Moriarty as Jim. 

Many critics think this the best of all the filmed versions of the play. 

The Glass Menagerie, 1987 Cineplex Odeon film - directed by Paul Newman. With 

Joanne Woodward as Amanda, John Malkovich as Tom, Karen Allen as Laura and 

James Naughton as Jim. 

Again, this was received as faithful to the play but strangely un-cinematic, which may 

be profitable criticism for theatre students. 

RECORDINGS 

Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie, (abridged), Harper Audio, New York: 

HarperCollins, 1991. 

ISBN 1559941766 

An audio cassette recording, performed by Jessica Tandy, Montgomery Clift, Julie 

Harris and David Wayne. 

Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie, (Unabridged) Caedmon Audio, New 

York: HarperCollins, 2000. 

ISBN 0694523755 

The above recording transferred to CD. 

This recording also offers Williams himself reading selections from the play and his 

poetry. 

Tennessee Williams, Tennessee Williams Reads The Glass Menagerie and Others, 

Harper Audio, New York: HarperCollins, 1996. 

ISBN 1559941057 


Leverich, Lyle, Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams, read by Michael Mitchell, 

Newport Beach, California: Books on Tape, Inc., 1996. 

ISBN 0736635491 


MISCELLANEOUS 

The Tennessee Williams Newsletter, a biannual publication concerned with 

developments in criticism of Williams. From 1979-1982, it was edited by Stephen 

Sadler Stanton at the University of Michigan; from 1982 to the present day, it has 

been edited by Jerrold A. Phillips at Northeastern University. 

The Tennessee Williams Literary Journal is published annually (since 1989) and deals 

with all things Williams-related. It can be contacted at: 

4517 Cleary Avenue 

Metairie 

LA 70002 

Macmillan have recently launched a great academic service whereby titles are always 

in print. They will run off single copies to order of anything they have published. At 

present, they seem to be the only company to do this. 

Macmillan Distribution, Customer Services, Brunel Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 

RG21 6XS. Telephone 01256 302699, or Fax 01256 364733, or email: 

mdl@macmillan.co.uk

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