Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Tennessee Williams Week

Please post a discussion question for one or both of the Tennessee Williams texts we've prepared for Thursday's class.

14 comments:

  1. Why did Catharine accompany Sebastian on the trip last summer, rather than Violet?

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  2. What is the significance of Cornelia's obsession for needing to be the Regent and living with an "all or nothing" attitude?

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  3. What is the silence and the unspoken that Cornelia is talking about? and what is the relationship between Cornelia and Grace that cause them to have this silence?

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  4. For "Suddenly last summer," the title phrase is used repeatedly by different persons at different times. Does the meaning, connotations, etc of the phrase change over each time it is used? If so, what could be the need to repeatedly use the phrase?

    --Jesse

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  5. How are truth, memory, and insanity related?

    -Fanny

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  6. In "Something Unspoken" are the roses a metaphor for the relationship between Cornelia and Grace? Healthy from afar, but with hidden thorns?

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  7. What is the significance of the "fabulous gardens" in both of Williams work? In the movie, significant part of the movie is shot in the garden and in Unspoken Silence, the gardens are mentioned twice.

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  8. Why would Sebastian's writing of a poem be so significant to his mother if the poems were not shown to anyone else? What might the poems be about?

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  9. What does Sebastian's fascination with God (displayed by his garden's setup) reveal about his character?

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  10. Why is Violet so adamant that Catherine be lobotomized? Is she afraid that Catherine will reveal something bad about Sebastian's character?

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  11. Do you think that Catherine is actually insane enough to live in an asylum? Is it possible that Violet has exaggerated the situation, and that Violet may even be less sane than Catherine?

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  12. In one scene Catherine wipes her forehead forcefully as if trying to erase a certain memory about Sebastian? Though an unusual action that might justify her place in the asylum, the viewer comes to believe that she is actually sane. Why does it seem that Catherine possesses a split personality if that does not help her cause in proving her sanity?

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  13. In the film, Violet wants to force Catherine into a "silence" by lobotomizing. She believes Catherine to be "insane" and wants to silence her because of that. What is the significance of this silence that Violet wants to force upon Catherine?

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  14. Is there significance in how Catherine rebels against the nun, by extinguishing her cigarette in her palm? Could this be interpreted to have any symbolic meanings?

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