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Sweet Bird of youth (Discuss William's presentation of ... and their…

- - - - Selfishness and blackmail, immoral behaviour
        
        His pursuit of Heavenly is mostly for himself (back to selfish): he is trying to claw back some of the youth and beauty which used to define him. WHAt he has done
        
        in response to his mothers death 'why wasn't i notified'
        his stony heart is obvious in the calm manner in which he responds to the news of his mothers death; he is more concerned with defending his negligent behaviour than in mourning his mother
      - Williams throughout his life experienced the sense of being an Outsider. - an artist, a gay outcast, or a 'mad' neurotic, he was very much set apart from the world around him.
        
        In SBOY, Williams drew from his experiences as an Outsider. He was not a strictly autobiographical writer, but he shaped his own life and emotions into his plays.
        
        The Outsider in Williams play is the one who is particularly sensitive to the horrors of existence; there is something in the
        Outsider's psychological composition that makes reality difficult to endure and the modern world hard to survive.
        
        The notion of the Outsider is closely linked to the discourse of the 'other.' in southern gothic literature, A human subject becomes 'other' when they fail to conform to social norms and As a result they are marginalised and/or alienated.
        
        Chance is forced to live on the Outside because the cultural codes of the American South function against them, HE IS THE PRIMARY OUTSIDER OF THE PLAY. And the princess alienates herself through her embarrassment, she thinks that she fails to conform to the rules of Hollywood.
        
        Southern caste(classes) system
        
        the old aristocratic ideal replaced by money-based status. Part of the new-middle class, who boss Finley is, need wealth to obtain status, achieve through political power or setting up the right marriages for their children. Chance flouts their whole system of values, preaching the gospel of love and art and freedom to love whoever.
        
        Williams has always preached against the status quo, especially the conservative southern cultural system. Moved from Mississippi to St Louis - learned about the snobbery of the middle class and alienation of the misfit. Like Chance, he was also a misfit, with his interest in poetry and sexual differences. In many of his works he describes people secluding themselves and portraying their free spirit, especially Chance, but who ultimately becomes the victim of an angry lynch mod led by these men of power.
        
        Chance becomes this outsider and is essentially expelled from his home town and destroyed by the very dreams that he tries to realise.
        
        Even though he has returned to his hometown to regain his lost youth and his lost girl, his desperate attempts are met with failure and in his hometown finds himself "Lost in the beanstalk country...the country of the flesh-hungry, blood-thirsty ogre
        
        "beanstalk country" represents the whirlwind world of St cloud and beyond, where there are indeed a type of 'monster' like Tom Jr and his father who seek out and commit violent acts against those perceived as trespasser.
        
        But he himself is also a monster, just one that doesn't belong so Chance is forced to live on the Outside because the cultural codes of the American South function against him. He represents the egoistical world of the entertainment. He is out of place here and lost, naively looking for the American dream.
        
        Because Boss Finley thinks his daughter, Heavenly, deserves somebody better than him, Chance feels compelled to go out into the world of Hollywood to achieve fame and wealth at any cost.
        He wanted to be a Romantic hero ( rejection of convention, rejected by society in favour of independence and personal expression, kind of selfish) of the fairy tale and reach his American Dream. but when Chance is unable to make the 'big-time' he is confronted with his own 'smallness' and experiences a debilitating sense of alienation and failure.
        THIS IS HIS FLAW/PREDICAMENT
        [And is this not a failing? Attempting to live up to others’ requirements, rather than attempting self progression for oneself?]
        He pursues materialistic success in order to prove his worth as an individual /(live up to others requirements) to Heavenly and her father, and ultimately, to himself. And this is why in the end
        This is why in the end is metaphorically crucified, he resigns himself to fate as a result of his failure and wrong ambitions.
        "with a sort of deathbed dignity and honesty he resigns himself to fate and allows the brutal youths Tom Jr, Scott and Bud enter the room, and asks us not for" pity, but just for your understanding – not even that – no. Just for your recognition of me in you, and the enemy, time, in us all.”
        He has the last lines, making him Williams messenger, but rather than having him rise up triumphantly, as would be fitting for easter, he has Chance face his doom, a crucifixion of sorts. He asks the audience to recognise that a part of him resides in us as well, that it is human instinct to succeed and be selfish. we desire youth, success, happiness and love but ultimately there are always going to be 'Monsters' (the Finley clan and time) that will prevent us from succeeding.
        In a sense, this displays nobility in the character of Chance as he has accepted his destiny and will stop trying to bring back his youth. We must acknowledge that Williams was created him to evoke empathy in a way.
      - Leading to self-delusion, delusion that he can have fame, that he is still youthful get back with princess.
        I understand. Time does it. Hardens people. Time and the world you've lived in
        “In a life like mine, you can’t just stop, you know, can’t take time out between steps…”.
        once you drop out, it leaves you and goes on without you and you're washed up.
        
        his use of life as a metaphor of racing from time "cant take time up between steps", racing up ladder of life and Time is the inevitable and infinitely strong tide that pushes everything in its way and if you stop swimming you're "washed Up".
        
        This delusion if what life seems to be like
        
        while he perhaps doesn't have a completely unrealistic mindset towards the inevitable process of ageing, and uses it to continue his determination to succeed in his dream of an acting career before it is too late for him, however his self-delusion contradicts his 'insight' here with Princess's comment.
        
        Which you want for yourself. Isn't that what you want?
        
        his selfishness is his ultimate flaw, and this self-delusion that he is good enough to conquer the world.
        
        This delusion is clear to the other characters. Reactions of others towards him reveal he is a fake just like the entire city of St cloud, analysis.
        "put off this false, ugly hardness"
        
        "You are trembling and sweating . . . you see this part doesn't suit you, you just don't play it well, Chance. . . . [Chance puts the reels in a suitcase.] I hate to think of what kind of desperation has made you try to intimidate me, ME? ALEXANDRA DEL LAGO? with that ridiculous threat."
        
        the place he searches for his "American dream" is St cloud -
        represents facade. A cloud, from a distance on the surface looks graceful and beautiful. However, what is a cloud made of? Water vapour: it’s vacuous, empty, lifeless. This is a metaphor for the town itself, it appears to epitomise the gracious lifestyle of the Southern states of America but behind the veneer it is rotten with corruption.
        (also illustrates using Boss Finley, seems friendly and earnest)
        
        Think everyone loves him but Chance is isolated in this society.
        His character is influenced by the facade of the town, and many of the powerful figures of St. Cloud reject him and prevent him from obtaining his greatest desires. Despite this, his character remains strong in the attempt to reunite with the character of Heavenly, his only true love. However, it is clear that he is only reminiscing the illusion of a young love, romanticising it so much that he himself believes there is still something to go back to.
        
        The Mirror opposes self-delusion and represents the harsh and inevitable truth and creates tension between characters. After Alexandra's phone call with Sally Powers, Chance forcibly turns her to the mirror and when she asks what he sees, " I see--Chance Wayne. ."
        
        Caesura, stuttered language, inability to fill in who is when looking at the mirror suggests that he recognises his failure to become a star and artist like Del Lago, and then she parallels him to Franz Albertzart, a man who has failed to make it in movies and is fated to be a "lap dog" for elerdly women. Either be this for Del Lago, of face Tom Junior and his gang of thugs, and be castrated. Chooses this because he deserves it.
        
        Discuss the role and characterisation of Chance and Alexandra del Lago in the Drama
        Discuss their relationship"
        
        the fact that it begins in a hotel sets a scene for temporariness and delusion of a home. Their separation at the beginning with her masked face echoes their separation at the end.
        
        "Partly covered by an eyeless black satin domino"
        "great double- bed'
        
        traditional image of union, esp. marital union, is here a temporary locus for sexual escape, not union. Soon proves an alter for the payment at the command of the princess. "
      - His excessive concern for materialistic things and appearances and naive overly idealist view of the world.
        
        ultimately a tragic character.
        
        "I want this big display. Big phony display in your Cadillac around town. And a wad of dough to flash in their faces and the fine clothes you've bought me, on me."
        "I'm pretentious."
        
        acknowledges it is not genuine, fake, but still goes through with it.
        
        "I was a twelve-pound baby,"
        
        his exaggerated boasting is also a type of self delusion, began from when he was a baby
        
        Experience of the Korean war
        before that he would come home and explain that "that town buzzed with excitement"
        "so I went into the Navy, because a sailor's uniform suited me better"
        
        believed it to be some glorious adventure like those depicted in the films. What he discovers is that he could not cope with the pressures of war.
        
        "so I cracked up, my nerves did."
        
        this debilitating fear that one day "all the excitement and glory of being Chance Wayne would go up in smoke" due to some "hot steel"
        
        Imagine a whole lifetime of dissolving away in one instant
        The contrast of abstract nouns compared with concrete nouns highlight his idealist existence. "dreams and ambitions and hopes" excitement and glory fighting against "arithmetic problems" and hot steel and "smoke' and "blackboards"
        
        reactions have changed, no one "that town buzzed with excitement" because he has no visible battle wounds or medals, and in 1950's military discharges were published in newspapers, so drug and alcohol addiction would be seen badly.
        
        However what the people fail to see is that perhaps while he has overly idealist view, his failure to become a heroic soldier is one of his most endearing qualities. He was born here 'to make love" and "not preach hate", and he is ultimately a victim as a result of his own ambitions which accidentally cause pain and destruction. However, he is open-minded, and perhaps as a result of his war experience, as the armed forces implemented a desegregation policy. He offers a believable reason behind Boss finleys preaching, which is that "Sex-envy is what that is, and the revenge for sex-envy which is a widespread disease"
        In the conclusion he is unable to strike back to Del Lago who verbally cuts him down with the truth of himself nor can he fight off Tom juniors thugs. His fate is sealed.
  - - - Body 1
        
        While she is not, like Chance, an archetypal outsider that has been alienated by society, Creates herself as an Outsider. While She may hold a powerful (however transitory) place within the world of stardom, she possesses a neurotic (anxious) sensitivity to her surroundings that sees her cast out of society.
        
        Williams throughout his life experienced the sense of being an Outsider. - an artist, a gay outcast, or a 'mad' neurotic, he was very much set apart from the world around him.
        
        In SBOY, Williams drew from his experiences as an Outsider. He -was not a strictly autobiographical writer, but he shaped his own life and emotions into his plays.
        
        The Outsider in the Williams play is the one who is particularly sensitive to the horrors of existence; there is something in the
        Outsider's psychological composition that makes reality difficult to endure and the modern world hard to survive.
        
        The notion of the Outsider is closely linked to the discourse of the 'other.' in southern gothic literature, A human subject becomes 'other' when they fail to conform to social norms and As a result they are marginalised and/or alienated.
        
        Williams' most amusing and yet most unsettling depictions of the way the Outsider copes with a reality that is too difficult to endure.
        -wakes up in a state of intense hysteria.
        
        ''removes her eye-mask, sits up staring and gasping wild eyed about her'
        
        As she struggles for breath, she orders Chance to fetch her oxygen mask because she is dying
        
        get the impression that this is a woman who is already, in a sense, dead. "gasping for breath" unliveable, link to later.
        
        While acknowledging that there is something monstrous and predatory about the Princess she is in my opinion an Outsider like Chance, albeit one of a different kind. And the princess alienates herself through her embarrassment, she thinks that she fails to conform to the rules of Hollywood.
        
        *"Flight, just flight, not interrupted until I woke up this morning."
        
        She is a monster
        
        during the time of this production, old actresses found roles in Hollywood films as horror queens etc. , longer appropriate for ingenue (innocent woman) roles e.g. Sunset boulevard
      - Body 2
        
        The effect the industry has had on her, the need for escape.
        "The sleeping woman's face is partly covered by an eyeless black satin domino to protect her from morning glare."
      - her commanding, powerful presence
        "[Her imperious voice]" "[commanding presence]" "i don't even talk to managers of hotels, i speak to owners" "[Making no room for entrance]"
      - The knowledge that she too faces castration
        
        despite it being easter Sunday, and we are tempted to take Alexandra del Lago's "greatest comeback in the history of the industry" as a "resurrection", Alexandra, after her "very temporary recapture of the spurious glory" does ultimately not believe that her rebirth as a film star will last. This is not explicit in her words though, but her actions in the stage directions.
        
        "recapture of the spurious glory"
        
        recapture, camera, a frame shot, highlights the short-lived aspect of fame . "spurious' denotes something that is not what it purports or appears to be. Highlights the deception of what it promises to be.
        
        "[He turns her forcibly to the mirror.]"
        
        Use of the mirror emphasises the fact that she is a fading beauty and needs to face the harsh truth again because she has been led into an illusion of fame again. The verb 'forcibly' conveys the harshness of the truth and the cruel reality of time and how the character is no longer youthful and in her prime, she is now a no one because she no longer has her youth to rely on. In her line of work you must be young and time is therefore the enemy because it snatches away the one thing needed to succeed, so it must be combatted at all times.
        
        are we perhaps a mirror image of them? LINK TO RECOGNITION IS US.
        
        " I see--Alexandra Del Lago, artist and star!"
        
        The Princess, unlike Chance gradually drifted away from superficial concerns of becoming famous again. However, when she receives positive feedback about her comeback film, she completely forgets all about her newfound resolve to live less superficially.
        
        Williams suggests that fame and the idea of widespread popularity can be hard to resist, even if a person recognises the downsides of living a life dedicated to something fleeting and unfulfilling. None the less, soon she realises the truth.
        
        "the Princess is really equally doomed"
        Just because she has had success in the industry, "she can't turn back the clock any more than can Chance, and the clock is equally relentless to them both.
        [she sits down by Chance on the bed, facing the audience. Both are faced with castration, and in her heart she knows it. They sit side by side on the bed like two passengers on a train sharing a bench.]
        
        very powerful, Williams addresses this great shift in mindset solely through stage directions, and this doubt and lack of faith for the future mist be effectively portrayed through the actors body language and them "sit[ing] side by side on the bed like two passengers on a train sharing a bench.".
        This image of a train bench allows the audience to realise how they are ultimately in the same seat, but She was a big winner in the American sweep stakes who was terrified of losing; he is a big loser who is terrified that he'll never win. She was trying to hide from the memory of achievement; he was trying to manufacture achievements to hide in. The Princess and Chance arc at different stages in their quest to be part of the world of stardom.
        Yet, what links them together as Outsiders is the fact that they are both defeated by the very dreams that sustain their existence, and now they both realise that their time is over and in both they are seeking to hide.
      - Escapism
  - - - His manipulation of religion, exploitation of christianity to fuel his greed for political power
        Tennessee uses the religious references of Boss Finley, who stands for the corrupt pursuit of power in the south, to portray how brainwashed and ruthless he is. In this scene, we are given a brief summary of his "voice of God" speech, which essentially amounts to a manipulated "divine" sanction of his racist demagoguery. He claims that god "called [him]" from "out of the red clay hills" to undertake a "sacred" mission of "shield[ing] from pollution a blood that is not only sacred to [him], but sacred to [God]" . In actual facts, he is only there to use his gift for rhetoric and appealing to the prominent elements of the south - the 'racism', the 'violence', the 'protection of southern womanhood' - to gain political power and enlarge his realm. His actions and violent intentions are completely un-canonical and go against all that protestantism preaches, and he uses the this idea of a "divine" mission, to brainwash everyone who listens to him into thinking that what they are supporting is morally okay since it is approved by God. He uses the idea of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection to his defence when he compares his son's confrontation of his history with Miss Lucy to this execution, "crucified in this way" and we are again reminded of the fact that it is Easter Sunday. His third person view of himself "A man with a mission" as well as the bombastic hyperbolic language alluding to religious imagery "sacred", "he rises""his own offspring" emphasises how he builds him-self up as this illusion of christ-like figure, and not just in front of his son, but the whole city of St Cloud, which is what manipulates them into thinking what he is doing is right.
        
        Very ironic. The hyperbole of his language also mirrors how the idea of having power and status has taken over his life, and now that he is clearly losing it as people "pull the roof down on him" he is left with nothing but feeling of metaphorical death.
        
        Irony of this christ-like image due to his concealment of his real self
        
        "A man with a mission, which he holds sacred, and on the strength of which he rises to high public office--crucified in this way, publicly, by his own offspring"
        "It's a curious thing, a mighty peculiar thing, how often a man that rises to high public office is drug back down by every soul he harbours under his roof. He harbours them under his roof, and they pull the roof down on him. Every last living one of them."
    - - desire to be just like his ruthless Father
        Leader of a gang of thugs under Boss Finley's name to commit acts of violence that are motivated by racism, pride and apparently "sex envy". The clubs are sadistic and immoral and randomly pick out black men and castrate them in order to
        " show they mean business about white women's protection in this state. "
        Regardless of the ambition behind it, it is not to "protect" white women but the threats, including those to Chance, are tied to their own emasculation. The Finley empire is challenged, and the two have to resort to violent and desperate means. They are envious of those gaining power and having corrupted his sister, Chance represents the encroaching threat to Tom Jr's power. He doesn't have control over his little sisters behaviour and with his masculinity in jeopardy, he resort out lashing out at those he perceives as having power over women.
        
        Tom Junior enters from steps, pauses, and then gives a low whistle to Scotty, Bud, and third man who enter and stand waiting, Tom Junior comes down bedroom steps and stands on bottom
        
        final implied act of violence and castration. His sexuality has been the center of his pride. Te most intense pain comes to the one who cares most about beauty, joy and pleasure.
        
        Castration has "complete moral justification"
      - strong southern slang and dialect and often leaves off endings to words, which, for an education audience signalises barbarism. (Even though they do know how to manipulate it to perpetuate their racist ideologies.)
        
        "Just keep your ruttin' voice down."
        he says to chance - doesn't respect his elders. WIlliams Aligns the way he speaks with her rowdy temperament
        "ruttin" - profanity, harsh consonants "r" "t"
        The "youth for Tom FInley club " "picked out a nigger at random and castrated the bastard to show they mean business about white women's protection in this state."
        "Im gonna git you a driver" "cant get you no driver"
        See act 2.1
      - been the subject of many scandals, and without the help of his father's corrupt methods, would not have been to college
        
        Has gotten newspaper coverage for "drunk drivin", "a stag party" that cost his dad "five thousand dollars to hush it up!"
      - Despite the supposed justice he seeks for his sister, doesn't really care about her wellbeing
        
        "She's lyin' out on the beach like a dead body washed up on it."
        Seems to be simply nasty and like his father seeking out the worst in everyone - what a brother would say about a sister for whom he doesn't respect.
        However, i believe the metaphorical image of "dead body" coincides with her actual state and inability to reproduce and it is out of anger and need for revenger on Chance Wayne for infecting her and he uses this metaphor as he has
        Scudder’s ‘botched operation’ in mind.
        Nonetheless, this anger may not originate from a sense of protection for her, but perhaps his ambitions are motivated by his own loss of pride as he has been shamed as well for Heavenly's sexual relationship with Chance. For him, she has contracted a "whores" disease and thus tainted the Familys reputation. Furthermore, his wish to be and act like him father is most likely also a reason he is acting like this.