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Tennessee Williams : The Great State Of Mississippi Gained

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Tennessee Williams The great state of Mississippi gained quite a treat on March 26, 1911 and that treat was a baby named Thomas. A native of Columbus, Thomas Lanier Williams would grow up to become one of the most well-known playwrights in theatrical history. Williams did not attend school regularly due to frequent and severe illness as a child. He was homeschooled for most of his life but did graduate from high school in 1929 ( Weales,7 ). The illnesses that he suffered from included diphtheria which caused his legs to be paralyzed for almost two years. Because he rarely left the house, it would not be unusual to find a young Tennessee in a pile of books in his grandfather’s library. Williams’ father was not often home because his career caused him to travel, therefore, the playwright spent the first decade of his young adulthood with his grandparents. When he was twelve years old, Williams’ family moved to St. Louis . Throughout the course of his childhood and young adulthood, Williams’ parents struggled to hold their family together. Finally, his parents separated for good in 1947 ( Falk, Chronology ). The instability in his family was both marital and medical. The psychological disturbances that appeared in many of his family members were great influences on his writings. Thomas L. King, in his journal “Irony and Distance in The Glass Menagerie” discusses the impact of

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