陶洁《美国文学选读》(第3版)笔记和课后习题详解(第20单元 田纳西

第20单元田纳西?威廉斯

20.1复习笔记

I.Introduction to author（作者简介）

1.Life（生平）

Tennessee Williams(1911-1983)was one of the greatest American dramatists. He was born Thomas Lanier Williams but he changed“Thomas”to“Tennessee”in1939.He was born in Columbus,Mississippi,in1911.Several years later,the family moved to the University City neighborhood of St.Louis,Missouri.In1929 attended the University of Missouri,and dropped out in1932because of poverty. He finally earned a degree in1938from the University of Iowa.His first play,Battle of Angels,proved to be such a fiasco that he did not surface again,until1945when The Glass Menagerie won him international recognition.After that he kept writing at the rate of every two years and enjoyed popularity all along.He was also a novelist and a poet.He wrote a novel,two volumes of poetry,and six volumes of prose,including three collections of short stories.

田纳西·威廉斯(1911—1983)是美国最伟大的剧作家之一。他的原名是托马斯·拉尼尔·威廉斯，1939年他把“托马斯”改为“田纳西”。他于1911年出生在密西西比州的哥伦布市。几年后随全家移居密苏里州的圣路易斯城。1929年他进入密苏里大学学习，但是在1932年因贫困被迫辍学。后来又入大学，1938年从爱荷华大学获得学士学位。他的第一部剧本《天使之战》遭遇惨败。直到1945年《玻璃动物园》的上演，他才得以扬名世界。这之后，

他平均两年推出一部新作并且一直广受欢迎。他同时还是小说家和诗人。他著有一部长篇小说，两本诗集，六本散文集和三本短篇小说集。

2.Major Works主要作品

The Glass Menagerie《玻璃动物园》

A Streetcar Named Desire《欲望号街车》

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof《热铁皮屋顶上的猫》

Summer and Smoke《夏日烟云》

The Rose Tattoo《玫瑰纹身》

Camino Real《大路》

Orpheus Descending《俄耳莆斯下地狱》

Suddenly Last Summer《夏日痴魂》

The Sweet Bird of Youth《可爱的青春小鸟》

The Night of the Lguana《鬣蜥之夜》

II.Selected works（选读作品）

◆A Streetcar Named Desire《欲望号街车》

The“streetcar named desire”refers to the Desire Line that the heroine has to take to her younger sister,Stella’s home.The title of this play not only has real source but also has strong symbolic meaning.On the one hand,Blanche,the heroine,takes the“streetcar named desire”to Stella’s home;on the other hand, she gets on the“streetcar”of desire heading for destruction.The trip of the car

insinuates Blanche’s life and spiritual journey.

Blanche herself can do nothing to the Southern decline and becomes poor and frustrated,but she looks down upon Stanly,Stella’s husband,a vulgar worker.Since Blanche came,Stanly has realized that his territory being violated by her,so he tries every means to strike back.He excavates Blanche’s dirty secrets of her past life and prevents her from the attempt of getting married with his friend Mitch.At last, Stanly raped Blanche,who is the victim as well as the seducer of him.Blanche becomes insane.

“欲望号街车”指的是女主人公布兰奇要到妹妹家所必需乘坐的“欲望线”街车。这一剧名既有现实的依据，又有极强的象征意义。一方面，布兰奇乘上了去妹妹家的“欲望号”街车，另一方面她也乘上了欲望的“街车”，驶向毁灭。街车的行进暗示着布兰奇的生活和精神之旅。

布兰奇无法挽回南方的颓败，自己也陷入穷途潦倒的境地，但却鄙视粗俗、行伍出身的蓝领妹夫斯丹利。自从布兰奇来到妹妹家后，斯丹利就感觉到自己的领地受到侵犯，于是想方设法进行反击。他挖掘出布兰奇以往生活的不检点之处，阻止了她想要斯丹利的好友米奇娶自己为妻的企图。最后，斯丹利强奸了既是受害者又是诱惑者的布兰奇，使其精神崩溃。

20.2课后习题详解

1What does the title of the play stand for?

Key:The title of the play stands for the characters’strong desires for wealth, passion,love and vanity,especially of Blanche and Stanley.At the beginning of

the play,Blanche took the streetcar named Desire to her sister’s home,which suggests that she was on the way to destruction and death with her strong desires.The title foreshadows the tragic ending of the characters.

2What is Stanley and Stella’s neighborhood like?

Key:They live in a two-story building on a street in New Orleans which runs between the L&N tracks and the river.This place is poor but has a raffish charm. The houses are mostly white frame,weathered grey,with rickety outside stairs and galleries and quaintly ornamented gables.

3What is Belle Reve?

Key:Belle Reve is the plantation on which Blanche’s family used to live.But, finally it declines and is sold to others by Blanche.

4What does Stanley know about Blanche’s past?

Key:Stanley knows that Blanche lied to Mitch that she was pure,but in fact,she is not.She once stayed in Flamingo after she left Belle Reve,and she was chucked out from it because of her disrepute.She was very flighty and did not take love and relationships seriously.She had an affair with her student and was fired by the school.