A House Not Meant to Stand: A Gothic Comedy (New Directions Paperbook)
The last full-length play Williams saw through to opening night, A House Not Meant to Stand, was developed from a one-act, Some Problems for the Moose Lodge, and is a gothic comedy containing many familiar Williams themes: eccentricity, hysteria, madness, sexual misconduct, disappointed lives, untimely death, and a once-great southern family fallen on hard times. The central metaphor is announced by the title referring to an elderly couple’s mansion, which, not unlike Poe’s House of Usher, is literally falling apart and also represents the physical and mental decay of its occupants, who cannot cope with their present predicament. At the start of the play, they have just returned from the funeral of the wife’s favorite, a gay son who fled to Memphis to get away from his oppressive family. Like many of Williams’ later plays, this one has moments of pure brilliance but lacks the fluidity, grace, and power of his best work. Still, there is enough of worth in it to interest Williams scholars and fans alike. --Jack Helbig