The Story Archive

Sweet Bird of Youth

Tennessee Williams · 1959 CE · Play · Modern / American · Contemporary

A drifter past thirty brings a faded film star to the Gulf Coast town he grew up in, keeping her supplied with hashish and oxygen against the hour she works out how far she has fallen. He has come back for the girl he left behind, whose father runs the town and has told his men what to do if he is seen. Grown out of a one-act called The Enemy: Time, and staged on Broadway by Elia Kazan.

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Attributes

Genre
TragedyPsychological
Theme
Fame & GloryVanity & BeautyLoss of InnocencePower & CorruptionMemory & Time
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
Fallen WomanAnti-HeroVillain / Tyrant
Plot structure
Exile and ReturnTragic Reversal
Symbol / motif
The ClockThe ScreenThe Mask
Conflict
vs Selfvs Societyvs Person
Mode / tone
TragicIronicRealist
Culture / tradition
Modern / American

Closest analogues