The construction and the representation of the mother figure in the film production of Tennessee Williams: Typology and case studies | A construção e a representação da figura da mãe na produção do filme de Tennessee Williams: tipologia e estudos de caso

Resumo

The maternal figure has an important presence in the literary and film works of the American playwright Tennessee Williams (1911–1983). This writer, who grew up in a southern environment marked by the religion and social conservatism, had in his own family a source of inspiration to build their characters. In this sense, the influence of his mother, the absence of his father and his sister’s disability, were determinants for the author to develop a special sensitivity to understand personal relationships. The person who exerted a great influence on his development was his mother, Edwina, who was first portrayed in “The Glass Menagerie”, and, subsequently, reflected his character and personality traits that were evident in some of his major works and adaptations. With the aim of reflecting on the important influence of Williams’ mother for the development and representation of their mothers in fiction, the aim of this article was to propose a typology of the parent that are present in his work. To do this, and with reference to Edwina, the article addresses mother-protagonists of some of his most relevant film adaptations, which were adapted in Hollywood between 1950 and 1968, such as “The Rose Tattoo” of Daniel Mann of the year of 1955, “Suddenly, Last Summer” of Joseph L. Mankiewicz of the year of 1959, and “This Property Is Condemned” of Sydney Pollack of the year of 1966, the latter being one of the most important film adaptations of the playwright.