%0 Manuscript essay %A Almási Éva %E Nagyné Dr. Szabó Klára %D 2005 %G English %T The Significance and Use of Themes, Motifs and Symbols in Tennessee Williams' Plays With special focus on "A Streetcar Named Desire", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Sweet Bird of Youth" %U http://diploma.bibl.u-szeged.hu/id/eprint/75649/1/2005_almasi_eva.pdf %X Tennessee Williams' most well known visual aids are motifs and symbols. He uses them to illustrate events, to make the plot more colorful and exciting. The reader has the opportunity to interpret and recognize their meanings in an individual way. The reader must engage not only what appears, but also has to project beyond the obvious to understand the full impact of the symbols Williams uses. This thesis examines these means, analyses them and tries to reveal their meanings in Tennessee Williams' three dramas, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth. These plays are closely related to each other because they were written one after the other and they are similar in central themes and in message. My purpose in this thesis is to find explanation for the symbolism that the writer uses in the above-mentioned plays. With regard to the themes I am going to try to draw a parallel between the historical background and Tennessee Williams' personal experiences, too.