This book explores the diverse representation of sexualities in Tennessee Williams’s texts and argues for his creative response to the increase, prior to and following World War II, in criminal prosecution of transgressive sexual activity. It expands longstanding scholarly assessments of Williams’s work, using the law as a framework to assess this writer’s role as a cultural, political, and legal force participating in the normalization of diverse sexualities, during his lifetime and beyond.

This book explores the diverse representation of sexualities in Tennessee Williams's texts and argues for his creative response to the increase, prior to and following World War II, in criminal prosecution of transgressive sexual activity. It expands longstanding scholarly assessments of Williams's work, using the law as a framework to assess this writer's role as a cultural, political, and legal force participating in the normalization of diverse sexualities, during his lifetime and beyond.

Tennessee Williams, T-shirt Modernism and the Refashionings of Theater reappraises the received wisdom that Williams’s work fell into decline in the late 1960 as the Naturalism he was associated with, not always through his own choice, was replaced by European theatrical experimentalism and as culture saw a lifting of sexual restrictions. It suggests, instead, that Williams was always experimental, always more Chekhov than Ibsen, a lyrical playwright inflected with the poetry of Harte Crane, and that his late plays are as central to Williams’s reshaping of American theater as those works of the immediate post–World War II era that brought him fame and fortune. Its general aim, then, is to engage the perception that “Tennessee Williams is the greatest unknown playwright America has produced” (David Savran, City University of New York). In many respects the work of Tennessee Williams, after a protracted period of neglect, is primed for reappraisal , reinterpretations and, subsequently, re-stagings. This work is part of that process, academically at very least, but performatively as well as academic reinterest often regenerates theatrical reinterest.

“Ex-Centric Souths: (Re)Imagining Southern Centers and Peripheries” adds a voice in ongoing attempts to chart new routes and to decenter the South in many ways in the hope of exploring Southern identity and multiple Souths. The articles collected in this volume bring to the forefront the translocal and transnational connections and relationships between the South and the circum-Caribbean region; they address the changing nature of Southernness, and especially its sense of place, and finally they investigate the potential of various texts to narrate and revisit regional concerns. Some contributions hold up to view topics ignored and marginalized, while other decontextualize themes and issues central to Southern studies by telling alternative histories.

Inscapes of Intimacy: Exploring the Dynamics of Relationships in the Select Plays of Tennessee Williams is an odyssey into the captivating world of Tennessee Williams' literary brilliance as this thought-provoking analysis unravels the intricacies of human connections within his acclaimed plays, The Glass Menagerie (1944), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), The Rose Tattoo (1951) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955). The book skillfully dissects the complex web of relationships depicted in Williams' plays, through pressing issues like gender and sexuality that forms and informs the conceptual matrix of this study. From the lens of feminism, the exploration of man-woman relationships unveils layers of societal dynamics, while a critical assessment of woman-woman relationships offers a fresh perspective on empowerment and camaraderie. Delving into man-man relationships, the book courageously examines the portrayal of the homosexual psyche, shedding light on Williams' bold and groundbreaking portrayals. As the exploration deepens, the spotlight shifts to the theme of women, sexuality, and strangers, illuminating the transformative journeys of female characters in their pursuit of self-discovery and autonomy. Each chapter offers a profound understanding of Williams' multidimensional characters, evoking empathy and recognition of the human spirit within his plays. The book is not just an academic investigation but a profound encounter with the timeless themes of love, desire, and vulnerability that find expression in Tennessee Williams' plays. Delving into the profound insights of the playwright's works, this book presents a compelling tapestry of emotions, drama, and human spirit, leaving readers with a richer understanding of both Williams' genius and the complexities of human relationships. For scholars, theater enthusiasts, and anyone captivated by the power of storytelling, this book offers a deeply rewarding expedition into the heart of Tennessee Williams' enduring artistic legacy.

The book is a work of non-fiction. The book is a historical analysis of the evolution of a uniquely American constitutionalism that began with the original English royal charters for the exploration and exploitation of North America. When the U.S. Constitution was written in 1787, the accepted conception of a constitution was that of the British constitution, upon which the colonists had relied in asserting their rights with respect to the imperium, comprised of ancient documents, parliamentary enactments, administrative regulations, judicial pronouncements, and established custom. Of equal significance, the laws comprising the constitution did not differ from other statutes and as a consequence, there was no law endowed with greater sanctity than other legislative enactments. In framing the revolutionary state constitutions following the retreat of the crown governments in the colonies, as well as the later federal Constitution, the Revolutionaries fundamentally reconceived a constitution as being the single authoritative source of fundamental law that was superior to all other statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions, that was ratified by the states and that was subject to revision only through a formal amendment process. This new constitutional conception has been hailed as the great innovation of the revolutionary period, and deservedly so. This American constitutionalism had its origins in the now largely overlooked royal charters for the exploration of North America beginning with the charter granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert by Elizabeth I in 1578. The book follows the development of this constitutional tradition from the early charters of the Virginia Companies and the covenants entered of the New England colonies, through the proprietary charters of the Middle Atlantic colonies. On the basis of those foundational documents, the colonists fashioned governments that came to be comprised not only of an executive, but an elected legislature and a judiciary. In those foundational documents and in the acts of the colonial legislatures, the settlers sought to harmonize their aspirations for just institutions and individual rights with the exigencies and imperatives of an alien and often hostile environment. When the colonies faced the withdrawal of the crown governments in 1775, they drew on their experience, which they formalized in written constitutions. This uniquely American constitutional tradition of the charters, covenants and state constitutions was the foundation of the federal Constitution and of the process by which the Constitution was written and ratified a decade later.

Gender Justice and the Law presents a collection of essays that examines how gender, as a category of identity, must continually be understood in relation to how structures of inequality define and shape its meaning. It asks how notions of “justice” shape gender identity and whether the legal justice system itself privileges notions of gender or is itself gendered. Shaped by politics and policy, Gender Justice essays contribute to understanding how theoretical practices of intersectionality relate to structures of inequality and relations formed as a result of their interaction. Given its theme, the collection’s essays examine theoretical practices of intersectional identity at the nexus of “gender and justice” that might also relate to issues of sexuality, race, class, age, and ability.