ASTROLOGICAL IMAGERY AND THE "ETERNAL TRIANGLE" IN THREE PLAYS BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS By Leo A. Fox A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Humanities In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida November 1973 J\ :17 •r I :> ' ASTROLOGICAL IMAGERY AND THE "ETERNAL TRIANGLE" IN THREE PLAYS BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS By Leo A. Fox This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. Robert A. Collins, Department of English, and has been approved by the members of his supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the College of Humanities and was accepted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: f English) (De f (Date) I ~""for ~d Studies) ii ABSTRACT Author: Leo A. Fox Title: Astrological Imagery and the "Eternal Triangle" in Three Plays by Tennessee Williams Institution: Florida Atlantic University Degree: Master of Arts Year: 1973 This thesis examines the major dr~atic characters, in three plays by Tennessee Williams, as representative of the astrological signs of the "earth'' triplicity. With a basic understanding of astrological properties, the characters in A Streetcar Named Desire, The Rose Tattoo, and The Kingdom of Earth can be categorized in triangular relationships symbolized by the astral triplicity. Astrology is explicit in Streetcar and, by inference and association, implicit in the other plays. The astrological grouping explicates the characters' motivations and illuminates the plays' resolutions. i_ii Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter I The Source of the Lmagery 7 Chapter II The Saturnian Nemesis in A Streetcar Named Desire 18 Chapter III Variations on the Virgoan Dilemma 32 Conclusion 46 iv Introduction In criticism of Tennessee Williams there have been numerous attempts to group his major dramatic characters into distinct cata- gories. These classifications, while helpful in revealing recurrent themes and motifs, are generally so exclusive that they preclude all < but a superficial understanding of the personalities. Though most critics agree, with Brooks Atkinson that Williams is more interested 1 in the unconscious motivations of his characters than the story, few have explored this interest. Connnonly critics have grouped Williams' major characters into unique "types." Though valuable, these group- ings fail to probe the "unconscious motivations" of these characters or the effects of their motivations on the other characters in the plays. In approaching Williams' characters it is necessary to be aware of the interdependencies that form the outlines of their relationships. The resultant dramatic form derives from basic trian- gular relationships. This study· will examine the triangular relationships in three of Williams' plays: A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), The Rose Tattoo (1950), and The Kingdom of Earth: The Seven Descents of Myrtle (1967). The relationships in these plays will be examined on more symbolic levels than those of the conventional love triangle. They 1 . Brooks Atk1nson, "Williams' 'Tin Roof'," New York Times (April 3, 1955), p. ix. 1 2 will be shown to incorporate and metaphorically explore the trian- gular relation of the astrological signs Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, a pattern most fully and overtly developed in Streetcar. The twelve signs of the zodiac are divided into four elemental triplicities: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water; the signs of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn comprise the triplicity or triangular relationship of the "earthy" signs. Understanding the significance of the signs and their rela- tion to each other provides insight into the characters and t heir basic motivations. In the past critics have generally analyzed Williams' major characters on only surface levels. Signi Falk, for example, says that Serafina (in Tattoo) is "an uninhibited matron who seems to represent the conviction that lovemaking is the major reason for 2 existence." Falk seems to miss the point that for most of the play Serafina is extremely inhibited and her memories of lovemaking are her existence. The three years that the play encompasses are, for Serafina, years of sexual abstinence and attempted retreat into the dream world of her memories. On a surface level there is jusitifca- tion for Falk's further association of Serafina with the obviously sensuous Stella (Streetcar), but the similarities are at best super- ficial. Serafina's character is, in fact, more closely aligned with that of Blanche DuBois in Streetcar. Like Serafina, Blanche des- perately attempts to maintain a dream-like world of the past, in this 2 Signi Falk, Tennessee Williams (New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1Q61), p. 95. 3 case one of affected Southern gentilit~. In Kingdom, Lot's herma- phroditic retreat into Miss Lottie's w-orld of "elegance" is similarly moribund. It is by emotional and psychological similarities rather than apparent sensuality or gentility, that Williams' characters can be most meaningfully categorized. The distinct similarities of Blanche, Serafina, and Lot place them astrologically in accord with the traditional characteristics of the sign Virgo. Robert Jones, though not associating the characters astrologically, provides a fairly accurate description of this type, labeling them "relics of a moribund tradition of gentility . unable to accept the twen- tieth century ... who prefer living in the illusive and legendary 3 world of something that never was.,·, Another group of characters, forming the second elements of the triangles, fall astrologically under the sign Taurus. This group includes Stella Kowalski (Streetcar), Estelle Hohengarten (Tattoo), and Myrtle Ravenstock (Kingdom). Here again Jones' des- cription is helpful though somewhat incomplete. He calls them "healthy uncluttered women ... who seem to have been conceived 4 as attractive earth goddesses whose salvation is their own sexuality." Jones does not indicate, however, the motivations of these characters nor their effect on the other characters. The third group fits Constance Drake's description of Stanley (in Streetcar), who is "born significantly under the sign of 3 Robert E. Jones, "Tennessee Williams' Early Heroines," Modern Drama, 2 (1959), p. 211. 4 Jones, p. 211. 4 5 Capricorn, the goat-symbol of lust." Drake does not, however, explore this parallel. Stanley possesses not only the lustiness symbolized by the Capricornian goat but the methodic ambition, dour humor, and cleverness as well. These Capricornian traits are shared with Alvaro (Tattoo) and Chicken (Kingdom). In spite of the fact that Williams assigns Stanley the zodiacal sign of Capricorn in the text· of the play no critic has gone beyond Drake in observing the symbolic significance of this sign. Blanche's sign, Virgo, has been similarly neglected. Analyses of Williams' dramatic characters have generally centered around Blanche. Louise Blackwell establishes a new cate- gory that places Blanche under the heading of "Women who have learned to be maladjusted through adjustment to abnormal family relationships 6 and who strive to break through their bondage to find a mate." As concise as this categorization may seem, it ignores the fact that Blanche never adjusts to anY' "family relationship"; nor, for that matter, is the family relationship of Stella and Stanley particularly abnormal. Blackwell similarly categorizes Stella under the heading of "Women who have subordinated themselves to inferior persons to attain reality," and Serafina under "Women who have known happiness 5constance Drake, "Blanche DuBois: A Re-evaluation," Theatre Annual, No. 24 (1968), p. 59. 6Louise Blackwell, "Tennessee Williams' Predicament with Women," South Atlantic Bulletin, 2, No. 35 (1969), p. 10. 5 7 but have lost it, and try to overcome the loss." Though a little more accurate than Blanche's "type," these categorizations still fail to explore the motivations or relationships among the characters. Of the several critics who have attempted to establish gTOUl_)ings in or-O.eT to obseTve some ty\)e of \)attern in Williams' plays, Henry Popkin's observation of a recurrent meeting of arche- types is the most accurate. Popkin explains the thematic pattern 8 as the meeting of an Adonis and a Gargoyle. The Adonis is a virile, a nervous older woman (or hermaphrodite). Though perceptive and illuminating, Popkin's analysis fails to mention the important third party or the factors and motivations that bring about this meeting. Popkin himself admits that this classical interpretation is at best incomplete because there is no principle to explain the Gargoyle figure. A more comprehensive system of classifying Williams' characters may be provided by astrological archetypes. In Streetcar astrological grouping is explicit enough to provide a firm basis for the implicit use of this grouping (the earth triplicity) in the other plays . This study is not designed to argue that Williams relied solely on the zodiac for insight to his characters, but it will show that his major characters in the three plays have distinct similari- 7 Blackwell, pp. 11-12. 8Henry Popkin, "The Play'S of Tennessee Williams," The Tulane Drama Review, 4 (March 1960), p. 45. 6 ties most accurately explained by astral associations. Furthermore, the study will indicate that the action and motivations of the characters symbolically represent the associations of the astral earth triplicity. Chapter One The Source of the Imagery To appreciate the recurrent appearance