The Rose Tattoo and Other Plays

by Tennessee Williams

In these three steamy, exotic dramas Tennessee Williams portrays loss, faded lives and passionate love affairs.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Classics, Fiction, The United States Of America

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Thomas Lanier Williams III, better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee," the state of his father's birth.

Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.

Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Kaja · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ⭐️ The Rose Tattoo
3,5/5 ⭐️ Camino Real
5/5 ⭐️ Orpheus Descending

[Santiago Guerra Arrangóiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this book is rated 3.5/5, because, although the three plays are engaging, the first one is the more digestible and fun one. And even if I value the experimental quality of the second one, and the cruel ending and intricate characters of the third one, they don’t compare with the first, which I imagine would the most interesting of the three when being put on stage.

As an additional note—which is entirely my fault as a novice play reader—, it’s hard to follow which character is which only by how they speak and a simple description of their personal attire to begin with. That made the reading confusing, particularly with the ambition and scope of “Camino Real”. The same can be said about the setting description: intricate and detailed at first, but once one reads through it can be easy to forget where is the story taking place.

[David Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these three plays. While The Rose Tattoo is the most digestible (and the headliner), the other two, Camino Real and Orpheus Descending had redeeming value. Camino Real was most difficult but had some interesting points, and I liked Orpheus Descending for the characters and I could relate to Val the guitar player with the snakeskin jacket; and he discovers the dark secrets of the society enters and brings new life to the town and Lady.

[Elliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rose Tatoo is glorious, Camino Real is surreal genius and Orpheus Descending is sublime.

[fh n · Rating 4 out of 5]

classic uoy traumatising read

[catty · Rating 4 out of 5]

only read orpheus descending out of the three for uni but still very very good. tennessee williams is always my number 1 xx