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This study aid on Streetcar and Glass Menagerie provides a biographical summary of the author and indicates key events in his life which influenced his work. There are plot summaries for each play, followed by an introduction to each of the main characters and the relationships between them. Following this are short analyses of the structure of each play, focussing on the importance of memory (The Glass Menagerie) and contrasts (Streetcar). The bulk of this study aid, however, is the scene summaries and commentaries. The events of each scene are re-told and I feel this is superfluous as you would already know this from having read the plays. The commentaries on each scene, however, are are somewhat more useful, pointing out, for example, Williams' use of Freudian symbols, and why Blanche DuBois is described as moth-like and wearing white. Relatively in-depth character analyses again give information which is useful to those studying the plays, but I feel more of this would be required to gain a fuller understanding of the texts. These notes are adequate for those requiring no more than fairly basic knowledge and interpretation of the texts concerned; maybe for those doing some last minute cramming!
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