Representation of women in the glass menagerie, a streetcar named Desire, a cat on a hot roof, Orpheus descending, suddenly last summer and a period of adjustmentTennessee Williams has become one of the best-known literary figures in modern America. His plays are often controversial because of his preoccupation with sex and violence and his fearlessness in probing the dark areas of human life. Williams' earlier work often inspired his later plays, and basic character types often reappear in each of his plays. A recurring theme in each of his plays is the role of women. The women presented in Tennessee Williams' plays all suffer from physical or emotional mutilation and seek fulfillment with a companion. An influential factor in Tennessee Williams' writings was his own personal experience. The Glass Menagerie is a play born from the memory of the author. Williams drew heavily on his own family experiences, describing the lives of his mother, his sister and himself. Many aspects of the play resemble some of Williams' past experiences during his childhood. The apartment that Amanda, Laura and Tom Wingfield share is in the middle of the city, among many dark alleys with emergency exits. Tom and Laura dislike the gloomy atmosphere of their living conditions and their mother tries to make it as pleasant as possible. This apartment is almost a mirror image of one of the apartments the Williams family lived in in St. Louis, Missouri (American Writers IV). Amanda Wingfield is a typical Southern belle who fantasizes about her seventeen gentlemen in Blue Mountain. She regularly attends meetings of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), which are important outlets for her social connections...... middle of paper ...... where not having a companion is a shame and a failure. The life experiences of each of Williams' female characters are unique. However, what the characters have in common is an emotional or physical mutilation that they seek to fill by finding a suitable partner.Works CitedFalk, Signi. “Tennessee Williams.” New York: Twayne Publishers, 1961. Griffin, Alice. "Understanding Tennessee Williams". University of South Carolina Press; Reprinted edition. February 28, 2011. Pagan, N. “Rethinking Literary Biography: A Postmodern Approach to Tennessee Williams” Rutherford [NJ]: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. 1993 Tharpe, Jac, ed. "Tennessee Williams: A Tribute". Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1980. “Williams, Tennessee.” American Writers. Volume IV 1985. The canvas. May 27, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctttv120