Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh Quiz

Take our free Tennessee Williams quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. Take the free quiz now!

How did Tennessee Williams characterize his life? (from The Sudden Subway)

As a constant discovery and revelation of truth.

As "a never-ending contest with the squares of the world."

As a search for sanity and serenity is a life and world filled with madness.

As the struggle of a gay artist to be accepted despite his sexual preference.

What indications were there that Tennessee WIlliams had taken his own life? (from The Sudden Subway)

He'd spoken of death and suicide often, but more frequently in the time leading up to his death.

The toxicology report showed that Williams' body was saturated with intoxicants.

He told his friend John Uecker that because he could no longer write, he wanted to die.

Depression had dogged Tennessee throughout his career and fueled his addictions.

What were the two biggest challenge Tennessee Williams faced at the zenith of his dramatic career? (from Fugitive Mind)

He had trouble getting the drugs he wanted and the partners he craved.

Williams was plagued with self-doubts despite his successes, and the up-and-down nature of hit or flop with his plays tended to undermine his confidence.

Motion picture studios were less enthusiastic about his work, and critics descended upon him like vultures on a piece of dead meat.

He could no longer afford the upkeep of his sister, Rose, and the Screen Actors Guild picketed one of his films.

How was Tennessee Williams' true attitude toward his homosexuality expressed? (from The Heart Can't Wait)

In his unstable, sometimes-bitter, relationships with women.

Ambivbalence: joy and affirmation of his unique identity combined with revulsion at the endless stream of faceless partners.

Through characters in his plays such as Sebastian Venable in "Suddenly, Last Summer" and Tom Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie."

By presenting himself as a normal, heterosexual male.

What was Tennessee Williams' biggest fear about death? (from The Sudden Subway)

That he would deplete his money before he died.

That he would die in an institution like a hospital or nursing home.

That he would have to account for his life.

That he would attempt suicide but fail.