A Streetcar Named Desire

"Play andFilm" invites students to explore and evaluate one example of major 20th century American drama and to determine how its filmed version has been used to advantage. An even broader understanding of both the play and the film is thus made possible, as students consider the varying stratégies with which playwright and film director address modem concerns.

Students will be aided by detailed scene-by-scene analyses, guided questions and critical com-mentaries as well as by analyses of thematic content and by the sometimes contrasting points of view of director and playwright, drama critic and actor. It is hoped that this will help students to make explicit the reasons that they interpreted moments of the play or the film as they did and to buttress their interprétations with pertinent arguments.

This first volume examines Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire and the film version by Elia Kazan. The book also includes recent work on Tennessee Williams by scholars Henry I. Schvey, John S. Bak, ALessandro Clericuzio and Marie Liénard-Yeterian. Their articles provide fresh perspectives on the playwright and his world-both personal and artistic.