Humanity Debauched

Suddenly Last Summer Sebastian Venable died a violent death in Spain and afterwards his niece Catharine, who accompanied him instead of his mother Violet, just would not stop saying nasty things about his demise. The only solution was to call in the famous Portuguese psychiatric surgeon Dr. Cukrowicz, offer him a load of money in support of his research, and have him lobotomize Catherine. Or, as the always correct Mrs. Venable shouted in the final moments of the play, “cut this hideous story from her brain.”

And what was this story that so disturbed Mrs. Venable. Simply that the son she idolized as a poet was a homosexual. Bad enough back in the day of the play, 1936, and the place, the Garden District of New Orleans, but add to it Sebastian’s dilettantism, his predatory instinct, and his willful use of his mother (cast aside when she became too old), replaced by pretty Catherine, as a magnet to attract young men, well then, no wonder Mrs. Venable wanted to destroy her niece to protect her son’s, and thereby her own, reputation.

Everything in this play speaks to the baser aspects of human nature, most particularly our unrestrained urges to use and abuse each other. Here, Violet and Sebastian lord it over the people around them. Witness Mrs. Venable’s treatment of her servant and of sister, nephew, and niece; of Sebastian’s use of his own mother; of Sebastian’s sexual use of young, poor boys; of Catherine’s mother’s and brother’s efforts to silence her for the sake of money; and, finally, in the end, of the devouring of Sebastian’s flesh by the symbols of the abused seeking revenge, like meat in the maw of the Venus Flytrap featured in his own garish garden.

If your only acquaintance with Suddenly Last Summer is the film, you will certainly want to read the play for yourself and, if available, a staged performance. There are significant differences between the two.

Finally, on the subject of lobotomy, readers will be interested to know that the procedure was quite popular from the time of its invention by António Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist, in the 1930s, for which he received a Nobel in 1949, through the 1950s. Additionally, Tennessee Williams had an older sister, Rose, who was diagnosed as schizophrenic, then lobotomized. She spent the rest of her life in a mental institution.
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Humanity Debauched

Suddenly Last Summer Sebastian Venable died a violent death in Spain and afterwards his niece Catharine, who accompanied him instead of his mother Violet, just would not stop saying nasty things about his demise. The only solution was to call in the famous Portuguese psychiatric surgeon Dr. Cukrowicz, offer him a load of money in support of his research, and have him lobotomize Catherine. Or, as the always correct Mrs. Venable shouted in the final moments of the play, “cut this hideous story from her brain.”

And what was this story that so disturbed Mrs. Venable. Simply that the son she idolized as a poet was a homosexual. Bad enough back in the day of the play, 1936, and the place, the Garden District of New Orleans, but add to it Sebastian’s dilettantism, his predatory instinct, and his willful use of his mother (cast aside when she became too old), replaced by pretty Catherine, as a magnet to attract young men, well then, no wonder Mrs. Venable wanted to destroy her niece to protect her son’s, and thereby her own, reputation.

Everything in this play speaks to the baser aspects of human nature, most particularly our unrestrained urges to use and abuse each other. Here, Violet and Sebastian lord it over the people around them. Witness Mrs. Venable’s treatment of her servant and of sister, nephew, and niece; of Sebastian’s use of his own mother; of Sebastian’s sexual use of young, poor boys; of Catherine’s mother’s and brother’s efforts to silence her for the sake of money; and, finally, in the end, of the devouring of Sebastian’s flesh by the symbols of the abused seeking revenge, like meat in the maw of the Venus Flytrap featured in his own garish garden.

If your only acquaintance with Suddenly Last Summer is the film, you will certainly want to read the play for yourself and, if available, a staged performance. There are significant differences between the two.

Finally, on the subject of lobotomy, readers will be interested to know that the procedure was quite popular from the time of its invention by António Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist, in the 1930s, for which he received a Nobel in 1949, through the 1950s. Additionally, Tennessee Williams had an older sister, Rose, who was diagnosed as schizophrenic, then lobotomized. She spent the rest of her life in a mental institution.
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The movie version came to Germany in spring 1960, G-rated sixteen years and over. I just had turned sixteen, but my best friend was still fifteen, and even being sixteen, his parents would not have allowed him to see the film. I do not remember, if I understood the horrible cannibalism story correctly, but I still know, that, for a long time, my friend was deeply offended by my selfish going it alone.

Williams wrote sheer poetry on the page. This one filled with memorable characters and scenes. ( )

I found this play to be incredibly interesting despite its very short length. The play is mostly dialogue-centric, and there is very little action. It has a slightly eerie quality to it, which is the only reason I could imagine someone disliking it. ( )