| This project focuses on Tennessee Williams's use of a particular type of female character that I call the moth lady. From his early poem, "Lament for the Moths," Williams used moth imagery in his works to develop this character. Like the moths in the poem who are attracted to a flame that will ultimately destroy them, so, too, are the moth ladies; these ethereal creatures are attracted to the earthly but are eventually destroyed by a world that neither understands nor accepts them.; The first chapter emerges with an examination of Tennessee Williams's dual-gender and the sensitivity of the artist who was able to draw women characters exceedingly well. Chapter Two defines the characteristics of the moth lady and examines several short works that employ this type of character, such as Lucretia Collins (Portrait of a Madonna) and Mrs. Hardwicke-Moore (The Lady of Larkspur Lotion). The next chapter focuses on the fully-developed moth ladies, Laura and Amanda Wingfield (The Glass Menagerie). The fourth chapter addresses the characteristics of Blanche DuBois, a supreme example of a moth lady, while the fifth chapter examines Alma Winemiller (Summer and Smoke and The Eccentricities of a Nightingale) and Hannah Jelkes (Night of the Iguana ).; After discussing moth ladies in various other forms, the sixth chapter deals with two of the few men who fall into a role resembling a moth lady. One man is Sebastian Venable, the son of Violet Venable in Suddenly Last Summer. Sebastian has many of the characteristics common to Williams's female moth ladies as does Tom Wingfield, the son and brother in The Glass Menagerie. Both men, like Blanche, act as a voice for Williams himself.; The study concludes by arguing that Tennessee Williams's moth imagery is one of his most explicit attempts to describe the plight of the artist in an unfeeling world. |
