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Blanche : the life and times of Tennessee Williams's greatest creation / Nancy Schoenberger.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2023]Edition: First editionDescription: x, 227 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780062947178
  • 0062947176
Other title:
  • Life and times of Tennessee Williams's greatest creation
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction : Does Blanche DuBois still matter? -- Portrait of a girl in glass : Rose Williams -- The unbearable whiteness of Blanche DuBois : Jessica Tandy -- "Dreadfully magnificent" : Vivien Leigh -- Kitten with a whip : Ann-Margret -- Moonlight becomes you : Jessica Lange -- A martini at a soda fountain : Patricia Clarkson -- The two Blanches : Cate Blanchett -- The eternal bride : Jemier Jenkins -- Coda : Two obituaries and a handful of poems.
Summary: An analysis of the cultural impact of Tennessee Williams' most enduring character--Blanche Dubois from "A Streetcar Named Desire"--explores how she helped define themes of womanhood, sexuality, mental illness, and the idealized South.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction New 812.54 S365 Available 33111011219504
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A penetrating consideration of Tennessee Williams's most enduring character--Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire--written by the co-author of The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters and Furious Love.

Ever since Jessica Tandy glided onto the stage in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1947, Blanche DuBois has fascinated generations of audiences worldwide and secured a place in the history of literature, theater, and film. One of Williams's greatest creations, Blanche has bedazzled, amused, and broken the hearts of generations of audiences. Before the Covid pandemic, the stage classic was performed somewhere in the world every hour. It has been adapted into a ballet and an opera, and it was satirized in an episode of The Simpsons. The final twelve words Blanche utters at the play's end--"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers"--have taken on a life of their own. Endlessly fascinating, this indelible figment of one of America's greatest midcentury playwrights garners nearly universal interest--but why?

In Blanche, Nancy Schoenberger searches for the answer. An exploration of the cultural impact of Blanche DuBois, Schoenberger's absorbing study examines Tennessee Williams's most enduring creation through the performances of seven brilliant actresses who have taken on the role--Jessica Tandy, Vivien Leigh, Ann-Margret, Jessica Lange, Patricia Clarkson, Cate Blanchett, and Jemier Jemier Jenkins--as well as the influence of the playwright's tragic sister, Rose Williams, the person he was most haunted and inspired by. In examining various Blanches from throughout the decades and their critical reception, Schoenberger analyzes how our perception and understanding of this mesmerizing figure has altered and deepened over time. Exploring themes of womanhood, sexuality, mental illness, and the idealized South, Blanche is an engrossing cultural history of a rich and complex character that sheds light on who we are.

Blanche includes 20-30 color and black-and-white photographs.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-199) and index.

Introduction : Does Blanche DuBois still matter? -- Portrait of a girl in glass : Rose Williams -- The unbearable whiteness of Blanche DuBois : Jessica Tandy -- "Dreadfully magnificent" : Vivien Leigh -- Kitten with a whip : Ann-Margret -- Moonlight becomes you : Jessica Lange -- A martini at a soda fountain : Patricia Clarkson -- The two Blanches : Cate Blanchett -- The eternal bride : Jemier Jenkins -- Coda : Two obituaries and a handful of poems.

An analysis of the cultural impact of Tennessee Williams' most enduring character--Blanche Dubois from "A Streetcar Named Desire"--explores how she helped define themes of womanhood, sexuality, mental illness, and the idealized South.

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