Stephen Bottoms is Professor of Contemporary Theatre and Performance at the University of Manchester, UK. His previous books include Small Acts of Repair: Performance, Ecology and Goat Island (with Matthew Goulish, 2007), Sex, Drag and Male Roles (with Diane Torr, 2010), and Playing Underground: A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement (2004).Philip C.Kolin, Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi, is recognised as an international authority on the works of Tennessee Williams. He has published seven books on Williams, including The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia, Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire for the CUP 'Plays in Production' series, Tennessee Williams: A Guide to Research and Performance, and The Influence of Tennessee Williams. In addition, Kolin has published more than fifty scholarly articles on Williams and has served as a guest editor of four journals focusing on Williams's works. Kolin also serves on the Editorial Board of the Tennessee Williams Annual Review.Philip Kolin is Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts and Letters and Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi, USA. He has written extensively on the work of Tennessee Williams.PHILIP C. KOLIN is Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His many books include Confronting Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire (Greenwood, 1993), Tennessee Williams: A Guide to Research and Performance (Greenwood, 1998) and The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2003).Katherine Weiss is Associate Dean at California State University Los Angeles, USA. She was formerly Professor of English and Assistant Chair for Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Literature and Language, East Tennessee State University, USA. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin; Califronia State University and the University of Reading, UK (where she earned her PhD), she is chiefly interested in Modern and Contemporary Drama, and Irish Literature. She is the author of The Plays of Samuel Beckett (Methuen Drama, 2012) a stimulating analysis of Beckett's work, encompassing his stage, radio and television plays, and editor of the Student Edition of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth.

Detailed analysis of Williams' most studied plays, together with questions and study aids to assist students.

Detailed analysis of Williams' most studied plays by leading experts

AcknowledgementsA chronology of Williams' life and workIntroduction1. The Glass Menagerie2. A Streetcar Named Desire3. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof4. Sweet Bird of Youth5. Questions for study6. Further reading

A Student Handbook to the Plays of Tennessee Williams provides the essential guide to Williams' most studied and revived dramas. Authored by a team of leading scholars, it offers students a clear analysis and detailed commentary on four of Williams' plays: The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth. A consistent framework of analysis ensures that whether readers are wanting a summary of the play, a commentary on the themes or characters, or a discussion of the work in performance, they can readily find what they need to develop their understanding and aid their appreciation of Williams' artistry.A chronology of the writer's life and work helps to situate all his works in context and the introduction reinforces this by providing a clear overview of Williams' writing, its recurrent themes and concerns and how these are intertwined with his life and times. For each play the author provides a summary of the plot, followed by commentary on:* The context* Themes* Characters* Structure and language* The play in production (both on stage and screen adaptations)Questions for study, and notes on words and phrases in the text are also supplied to aid the reader.The wealth of authoritative and clear commentary on each play, together with further questions that encourage comparison across Williams' work and related plays by other leading writers, ensures that this is the clearest and fullest guide to Williams' greatest plays.