Washington University held a memorial last week to honor the centennial anniversary of playwright Tennessee Williams, one of the University’s celebrated former students.

Williams, playwright of works such as “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “The Glass Menagerie,” attended Washington University for one year.

The three-day celebration began with a presentation led by Henry I. Schvey, professor of drama and of comparative literature in the College of Arts & Sciences. Schvey has studied Williams and his works extensively.

According to Schvey, although Williams spent a large portion of his life in St. Louis, he actually hated the city, and his short stint as a student at the University was miserable.

“He lived more of his life in St. Louis than in any other place,” Schvey said. “It was the city he loved to hate.”

The presentation focused on St. Louis’ effect on Williams; the playwright featured many St. Louis landmarks, like Forest Park and the Jewel Box, in his work. The city also houses some of the theaters where Williams’ plays were first produced. Williams is buried in Calvary Cemetery, only 15 minutes from campus.

Although Williams was not fond of St. Louis, Schvey explained that his time in the city was essential to his success as a playwright, comparing his relationship with St. Louis to James Joyce’s with Dublin.

“Williams needed St. Louis to provide him with the anger and the profound sense of outsiderness that provides the heart and the poetry for his plays,” Schvey said.

This “outsiderness” refers to the fact that Williams’ family did not fit into the St. Louis community. His family moved to St. Louis from Columbus, Miss., and was unaccustomed to the less genteel Midwestern town. He was mocked for his Mississippi accent and his mother’s Southern-belle etiquette.

Williams also dealt with instability in his family life. His father was an alcoholic and his parents fought constantly. His family moved nine times while living in St. Louis. This instability led Williams to develop an extremely close relationship with his older sister, Rose.

Schvey said that Williams’ tumultuous family life in St. Louis provided inspiration for one of the playwright’s best-known works, “The Glass Menagerie.”

According to Schvey, William’s feelings of isolation only deepened after his year as a student at the University. He explained that Williams, whose tuition was paid by his grandparents, saw the school as an opportunity to prove himself to his family.

However, Williams left the University with a profound sense of failure after coming in fourth in a playwriting contest for one of his classes.

Schvey explained that although Williams may not have enjoyed his time at the University it was here that he truly developed his passion for writing, as described by his close friend and colleague at the University, Clark Mills.

“He had a fanatical and inexhaustible energy in his writing,” Mills said. “He wrote because it was a fatal need.”

Sophomore Sarah Palay, who is involved with many of the Performing Arts Department’s productions, found the biographical aspect of Williams’ plays fascinating.

“His intimacy with and love for his sister enabled him to create astoundingly relatable characters and relationships,” Palay said. “I think his ability to do this is probably why his plays are so admired and widely read.”

Schvey concluded by saying that Williams’ complex relationship with St. Louis was necessary because his need to escape from his lonely and unstable life there led him to become a successful playwright.

“Tom Williams was imprisoned as a young artist here in St. Louis, and he needed to leave home to grow and become free,” Schvey said. “But without the home to provide contrast, he would have been nothing.”