Tennessee Williams and Italy A Transcultural Perspective
This book reveals for the first time the import of a huge network of connections between Tennessee Williams and his beloved land of election, Italy. America's most thought-provoking playwright loved Italy more than any other country outside the U.S. and w
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Tennessee Williams and Italy
Alessandro Clericuzio
Tennessee Williams and Italy A Transcultural Perspective
Alessandro Clericuzio University of Perugia Perugia, Italy
ISBN 978-3-319-31926-1 ISBN 978-3-319-31927-8 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31927-8
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016947047 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: © Cultura RM / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland
FOREWORD
The importance of Italy on Tennessee Williams’ life and literary aesthetic is unfathomable. And yet, strangely enough, not until now has that influence ever been discussed to any great length in Williams studies, and certainly never by an Italian-born Williams scholar. For this reason alone, Alessandro Clericuzio’s Tennessee Williams and Italy is a regalo di Dio. Arguably, Italy shaped the second half of Williams’ life as much as Mississippi and the South had shaped the first half. Of course, a good deal is owed to his relationship with Frank Merlo, but the New Jerseyborn Sicilian was not the only Italian influence on Williams’ life. It should be recalled that Williams first visited Italy in the summer of 1928, when he joined his grandfather and parishioners of the pastor’s Episcopal church in Clarksdale on their Grand Tour, which included stops in Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice and Milan. In his travelogues, he described the “parched” tongues and “glazed” eyes of US tourists as they stumbled their way through the ruins of Pompeii under the oppressive August sun; the “grinning skeleton“ in Rome’s old Capuchin church; or the impatience of Italian drivers along the Amalfi drive, between Naples and Sorrento, as his party’s chauffeurs “fought over the narrow road, swerving from side to side, honking furiously and howling at eac
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