The themes of guilt and atonement have been analyzed in selected writings of Tennessee Williams. Research concerning these two themes has been developed simultaneously with Williams’s concept of the universe and man. Many of Williams’s characters seek a form of atonement or purification for their guilt which has arisen due to their “incompleteness and unnatural desires.” Williams’s basic concept concerning the universe is that it is fragmented, a universe not completed by its Creator. Consequently, Williams envisions man and his nature to be likewise incomplete. It is this incompletion in man which causes him to have “unnatural desires,” labeled as such, according to Williams, because society has made them so. Many of Williams’s characters seek atonement for their desires and sins by one of two forms; (1) violent death, (2) mental laceration. Williams’s characters who choose violent death generally do so because they feel their lives are so corrupted that only something as tormenting as death can cleanse them. The second form of atonement is the open confrontation of one’s sins and true nature to the world with the hope of cleansing one’s conscience. This second form of atonement is the one Williams himself seems to be presently undergoing. He is openly admitting his past
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:WKU/oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-3084 |
| Date | 01 May 1974 |
| Creators | Curry, James |
| Publisher | TopSCHOLAR® |
| Source Sets | Western Kentucky University Theses |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Masters Theses & Specialist Projects |
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