Tennessee Williams's playwriting career, already spanning more than four decades, has been marked by the highest acclaim, as well as the kind of critical controversy that is generated only by one whose achievements have been widely recognized and lauded. This recognition of achievement has taken many forms, most notably four New York Drama Critics Circle Awards and two Pulitzer Prizes. His choice to explore his basic themes through what have been labeled degenerate characters and sordid situations has created controversy. Because of his Southern roots, he is more closely tied in theme to twentieth-century Southern fiction writers than to other dramatists of the period. His concern with isolation, the difficulty of communication, and the solitary search for values in a chaotic world--as well as the frequent use of Southern settings and characters--links him to writers like William Faulkner and Carson McCullers. Though his work was preceded by the...