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Baby Doll
4x7, 114 pages. Play format. Includes 8 pages of scenes from the movie. Story of a naive Southern girl married to a man twice her age.
114 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
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Tennessee Williams
754 books3,697 followersThomas Lanier Williams III, better known by the nickname Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright of the twentieth century who received many of the top theatrical awards for his work. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee," the state of his father's birth.
Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia
Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, after years of obscurity, at age 33 he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie (1944) in New York City. This play closely reflected his own unhappy family background. It was the first of a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and The Night of the Iguana (1961). With his later work, he attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on short lists of the finest American plays of the 20th century, alongside Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Much of Williams' most acclaimed work has been adapted for the cinema. He also wrote short stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 22, 2014
When I first read the tattered, yellow 1956 paperback copy of Tennessee Williams' Baby Doll that I own many years ago I had thought that it was written as a stage play, as were many of Williams' works, and later adapted to film. I didn't realize until this re-read that this was written as a screenplay. As I did with A Streetcar Named Desire and as I will be doing next with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I first re-read the play and then watched the classic film adaptation. When I read Baby Doll I was disappointed by the ending, which seemed to have been influenced by the mistaken identity ending of Jean Renoir's classic film, The Rules of the Game. The ending that Williams wrote was changed for the big screen, however -- I think for the better. Less dramatic (a bit more subdued), it seems to fit in more neatly in with the other plays in the Tennessee Williams portfolio.
When the film Baby Doll was released in 1956, it was immediately met with fierce criticism by religious groups and conservatives, who disapproved of the overt treatment of sexuality in the play (What does one expect from Tennessee Williams, though, whose works have been described as "sex-haunted"?) and probably more so with a woman's infidelity and unwillingness to conform to the dominant gender role expectations of 1956.
Archie Lee, Baby Doll's husband, is a pathetic character who peeps at his much younger 19-year old wife as she sleeps in a crib and whose marriage has been a long period of waiting for the moment of consummation, as Baby Doll has refused him until her (now very imminent) 20th birthday. Archie Lee is a relic of a world that is deteriorating. He's a racist who finds that integration is pushing its way forward. The ceiling of his old house is crumbling. And his wife is seduced by the Sicilian cotton gin operator who has stepped in and threatened Archie Lee's business enterprise. Something about Archie Lee reminds me of Jason Compson from The Sound and the Fury. He's probably a lousy *fill in the blank* to begin with but he hastens his downfall when he finds that the rotten old world that he has always known is collapsing around him.
This play is not the best by Williams. And the Elia Kazan film is watchable, but nothing spectacular. It is interesting to read/watch today as a testament to how far we have come in the fight against censorship in art, if for no other reason. But even in terms of themes and controversy I think Ibsen stirred the pot much more forcefully than Williams ever did, and a century earlier nonetheless.
When the film Baby Doll was released in 1956, it was immediately met with fierce criticism by religious groups and conservatives, who disapproved of the overt treatment of sexuality in the play (What does one expect from Tennessee Williams, though, whose works have been described as "sex-haunted"?) and probably more so with a woman's infidelity and unwillingness to conform to the dominant gender role expectations of 1956.
Archie Lee, Baby Doll's husband, is a pathetic character who peeps at his much younger 19-year old wife as she sleeps in a crib and whose marriage has been a long period of waiting for the moment of consummation, as Baby Doll has refused him until her (now very imminent) 20th birthday. Archie Lee is a relic of a world that is deteriorating. He's a racist who finds that integration is pushing its way forward. The ceiling of his old house is crumbling. And his wife is seduced by the Sicilian cotton gin operator who has stepped in and threatened Archie Lee's business enterprise. Something about Archie Lee reminds me of Jason Compson from The Sound and the Fury. He's probably a lousy *fill in the blank* to begin with but he hastens his downfall when he finds that the rotten old world that he has always known is collapsing around him.
This play is not the best by Williams. And the Elia Kazan film is watchable, but nothing spectacular. It is interesting to read/watch today as a testament to how far we have come in the fight against censorship in art, if for no other reason. But even in terms of themes and controversy I think Ibsen stirred the pot much more forcefully than Williams ever did, and a century earlier nonetheless.
June 28, 2020
Baby Doll is one of the more light-hearted works by Tennessee Williams, which is not to say that it is not savage or cynical. Only that the dark humour is mostly directed at those who deserve it.
Certainly the cotton gin owner Silva Vacarro loses his plant when it burns down, and the fire service are deliberately negligent. Prejudice runs high against Silva because he is Italian by birth, and because his plant threatens to put others out of business.
Still prejudice against immigrants is only a minor theme here. Silva is able to get his cotton produced by his rival, and he effectively takes over the other man’s cotton gin – and not just the man’s business either.
Though it appears in a volume of Williams’ plays, Baby Doll is actually a film script. Elia Kazan claimed to have done most of the work on the script, but the story was based on an earlier one-act play by Williams, so where one writer leaves off and the other begins, I am uncertain.
The titular character, Baby Doll Meighan is a young girl of 19, but already married at her dying father’s request to her suitor, Archie Lee. However the marriage has not been consummated with Baby Doll only agreeing to do this on her 20th birthday – if then.
For she does not feel that Archie Lee has kept to his side of the bargain by looking after her. They live in a filthy unfinished house with only Baby Doll’s aunt to do the cooking (which she does badly). Archie Lee is an all-round loser, and the furniture of the house is in danger of returning to the company from which he bought it, as it is not fully paid off.
Frustrated in his sex life, Archie Lee is also doing badly in business, thanks to Silva’s plant, but this changes when Archie Lee decides to engage in a little arson. While Silva is forced to make use of Archie Lee’s cotton gin, Silva fully realises that Archie Lee is the culprit.
So Silva descends on Archie Lee’s house to get a confession out of his child-like wife, and perhaps take a little more than that from her if he can. What follows is a satisfying tale of revenge. We do not have to fully like Silva to feel pleasure in watching him out-manoeuvre the awful Archie Lee.
The themes sound familiar, but here in a more harmless form. Archie Lee is a feeble Stanley Kowalski (from A Streetcar Named Desire), and Silva is a more fortunate outsider than Val, the ill-fated singer in Orpheus Descending.
A minor Tennessee Williams perhaps, but perfectly executed. What is most surprising today is to learn that the film caused moral outrage, leading to picketing of cinemas and its removal from some.
What upset people was the implied sexual content surrounding Baby Doll. While she is 19, her childish behaviour (she sleeps in a crib) made her seem like the kind of jailbait heroine that would become popular after Lolita.
Nowadays it all seems rather tame. It is even tame next to other Tennessee Williams plays. However stripped of its potentially to morally outrage people, we can see it as an amusingly dark scherzo in the works of Williams.
Certainly the cotton gin owner Silva Vacarro loses his plant when it burns down, and the fire service are deliberately negligent. Prejudice runs high against Silva because he is Italian by birth, and because his plant threatens to put others out of business.
Still prejudice against immigrants is only a minor theme here. Silva is able to get his cotton produced by his rival, and he effectively takes over the other man’s cotton gin – and not just the man’s business either.
Though it appears in a volume of Williams’ plays, Baby Doll is actually a film script. Elia Kazan claimed to have done most of the work on the script, but the story was based on an earlier one-act play by Williams, so where one writer leaves off and the other begins, I am uncertain.
The titular character, Baby Doll Meighan is a young girl of 19, but already married at her dying father’s request to her suitor, Archie Lee. However the marriage has not been consummated with Baby Doll only agreeing to do this on her 20th birthday – if then.
For she does not feel that Archie Lee has kept to his side of the bargain by looking after her. They live in a filthy unfinished house with only Baby Doll’s aunt to do the cooking (which she does badly). Archie Lee is an all-round loser, and the furniture of the house is in danger of returning to the company from which he bought it, as it is not fully paid off.
Frustrated in his sex life, Archie Lee is also doing badly in business, thanks to Silva’s plant, but this changes when Archie Lee decides to engage in a little arson. While Silva is forced to make use of Archie Lee’s cotton gin, Silva fully realises that Archie Lee is the culprit.
So Silva descends on Archie Lee’s house to get a confession out of his child-like wife, and perhaps take a little more than that from her if he can. What follows is a satisfying tale of revenge. We do not have to fully like Silva to feel pleasure in watching him out-manoeuvre the awful Archie Lee.
The themes sound familiar, but here in a more harmless form. Archie Lee is a feeble Stanley Kowalski (from A Streetcar Named Desire), and Silva is a more fortunate outsider than Val, the ill-fated singer in Orpheus Descending.
A minor Tennessee Williams perhaps, but perfectly executed. What is most surprising today is to learn that the film caused moral outrage, leading to picketing of cinemas and its removal from some.
What upset people was the implied sexual content surrounding Baby Doll. While she is 19, her childish behaviour (she sleeps in a crib) made her seem like the kind of jailbait heroine that would become popular after Lolita.
Nowadays it all seems rather tame. It is even tame next to other Tennessee Williams plays. However stripped of its potentially to morally outrage people, we can see it as an amusingly dark scherzo in the works of Williams.
October 20, 2014
Fantastically dirty. One of my favorite movies, and the play makes great reading on its own. It's less brutal than the play that the story originated in, but there's so much good dialog and story in it that I'd probably read this more often than I'd watch the film, just so I can enjoy the language of it. Highly recommended!
December 30, 2016
Count on Tennessee Williams for writing a smouldering tale of innocence, sex and revenge. Never disappoints!
November 1, 2021
3.5 Stars
This is not by any means one of Tennessee WIlliam's best plays, but its witty like if it were. On the one hand it definetly reads like a Tennessee play: the dialogue is smart, it has symbolism and call backs, and is definetly provocative as far as it portrays the relationship between men and women. On the other hand, its aged very poorly.
Maybe it came across as subversive in the 1950s, but right now it seems exploitative. Baby Doll is a living doll: she might be a player in the game amongst her husband and Silva, but she's foremost an object to be gained. Men love her because of her sexuality and she is as happy to admit as they are that she has nothing between her ears. And this, as well as her childlike naivité, is what makes her attractive to men. It's fetish-y. She is very passive throughout the play.
I'd also like to add a note for racism: old-timey slurs versus Southern Europeans and Black People. The former is more in focus and is strangely overt, like how Stanley Kowalski is criticized for being Polish.
There is an overarching plot, an ongoing symbolism regarding the cotton gin industry. Modernity vs stagnation, monetarily and morally. But the sex that drips from every page is clearly William's focus, and while it's incredibly well written its context feels objectifying and weird by modern standards.
This is not by any means one of Tennessee WIlliam's best plays, but its witty like if it were. On the one hand it definetly reads like a Tennessee play: the dialogue is smart, it has symbolism and call backs, and is definetly provocative as far as it portrays the relationship between men and women. On the other hand, its aged very poorly.
Maybe it came across as subversive in the 1950s, but right now it seems exploitative. Baby Doll is a living doll: she might be a player in the game amongst her husband and Silva, but she's foremost an object to be gained. Men love her because of her sexuality and she is as happy to admit as they are that she has nothing between her ears. And this, as well as her childlike naivité, is what makes her attractive to men. It's fetish-y. She is very passive throughout the play.
I'd also like to add a note for racism: old-timey slurs versus Southern Europeans and Black People. The former is more in focus and is strangely overt, like how Stanley Kowalski is criticized for being Polish.
There is an overarching plot, an ongoing symbolism regarding the cotton gin industry. Modernity vs stagnation, monetarily and morally. But the sex that drips from every page is clearly William's focus, and while it's incredibly well written its context feels objectifying and weird by modern standards.
November 22, 2016
My favourite of all Tennessee Williams plays!
July 25, 2022
Picked this up on a whim at a second hand bookshop. Im quite a fan of Williams thanks to being introduced to him in high school. This is a little underwhelming in comparison to the works I have read (streetcar and hot tin roof) but the quintessential Williams subtle mockery and vivid descriptions are still there. Nothing particularly memorable by todays standards but a notable mark on American history nonetheless.
May 13, 2020
To be honest, I only read this because a friend of mine is trying to get me to kick off from my book-buying-addiction by making me read 5-10 penguin pockets I still have on my shelve. I was interested in this one because Tenessee Williams is a pretty famous author, and it was written as a screenplay which I really like, but this book was (tho I could’ve kinda predicted that as it’s written in 1955) sexist and racist. Yeah I’m not sure what else to say, I threw this book about 12 times to my wall as I got annoyed by how the main character is portrayed as Dumb, naive, childish and easily manipulated
February 28, 2015
What I liked mostly about this play was the teasing between Baby Doll and Silva Vaccarro. Their playfulness was wonderful and it even amused me sometimes.
Archie was a brute but I understand why Baby Doll had to marry him.
I giggled at the end of the play. The scene of the tree fit perfectly with the young and almost childish connection between Baby and Silva. I wished I played with them, too.
Archie was a brute but I understand why Baby Doll had to marry him.
I giggled at the end of the play. The scene of the tree fit perfectly with the young and almost childish connection between Baby and Silva. I wished I played with them, too.
April 7, 2014
This is such a sexy story. I love the flirting, teasing, mind games that Vacarro plays with Baby Doll. It's an enjoyable story, but the relationship between these two characters is what makes it really memorable for me.
July 10, 2015
Good old southern household drama salted with sicilian persuasion, Mrs. Meagan aka 'Baby Doll' doesn't exactly have a strong character but Silva's more than makes up for the entire cast. Aunt Rose Comfort ... looks like they had an extra seat.
July 11, 2012
Beautiful, vivid and visual text. A joy to read.
October 14, 2014
Boldly provocative and oddly perverted in equal measures, this is a frolic of a play and a fine introduction into the charm and character of Tennesse Williams' work.
August 16, 2020
Baby Doll (1956) by Tennessee Williams is a great classic play.
Set in 1950’s Mississippi, the play tells the story of protagonist Baby Doll’s marriage to her older husband Archie Lee Meighan. She does not want to consummate their marriage. The opening of the Syndicate Plantation has ensured that Archie’s business is going badly and he is therefore finding it difficult to look after Baby Doll and her aunt Aunt Rose Comfort. He sets fire to the Syndicate Plantation and forces Baby Doll to be his alibi. The manager of the Syndicate Plantation Silva Vacarro comes to see them. While Baby Doll is lying to the man, she and Silva also have a sexual chemistry with each other that she does not feel for her husband. Soon, they are left alone together and Silva manages to get Baby Doll to sign an affidavit saying Archie set the fire. Silva is going to go after his mission is complete but Baby Doll asks him to stay which he does.
I really like the play. I think the chemistry between Baby Doll and Silva is very well-written. I think the way she reacts with him as opposed to Archie is so different and therefore shows different sides to her personality in different circumstances. I love the way this play incorporates a lot of feminism in it. The idea of traditional roles of women is challenged as is the view that women can’t have great sexual appetites. This play puts across the idea that women have a right to be in control of their own lives and their own desires. It challenges the idea that the only things a woman is good for are motherhood and marriage and the idea that anything else we aren’t good for or that no other dreams or ambitions would even pass through our minds.
I think Williams wrote the dynamics between Baby Doll and Archie perfectly. Archie clearly wants a very submissive wife and Baby Doll increasingly is anything but. She is a strong woman who gradually begins more and more to know her worth though she always has a little bit of that even at the start but her confidence grows throughout for sure. Unable to control Baby Doll, Archie feels insecure and inferior and their two personalities and perspectives cause a lot of conflict between them. This story has a lot of gaslighting on Archie’s part as he tries to control Baby Doll. To highlight this in 1956 was very brave of Williams to do. Baby Doll is very likeable and strong but she is put down a lot by her controlling, bigoted husband who likes to start fires of his competitors’ businesses. The message is powerful: look at who is saying it and don’t listen. But that isn’t always easy to do especially when one is put down regularly and Williams writes this perfectly with great sensitivity.
An excellent read. A must-read.
Set in 1950’s Mississippi, the play tells the story of protagonist Baby Doll’s marriage to her older husband Archie Lee Meighan. She does not want to consummate their marriage. The opening of the Syndicate Plantation has ensured that Archie’s business is going badly and he is therefore finding it difficult to look after Baby Doll and her aunt Aunt Rose Comfort. He sets fire to the Syndicate Plantation and forces Baby Doll to be his alibi. The manager of the Syndicate Plantation Silva Vacarro comes to see them. While Baby Doll is lying to the man, she and Silva also have a sexual chemistry with each other that she does not feel for her husband. Soon, they are left alone together and Silva manages to get Baby Doll to sign an affidavit saying Archie set the fire. Silva is going to go after his mission is complete but Baby Doll asks him to stay which he does.
I really like the play. I think the chemistry between Baby Doll and Silva is very well-written. I think the way she reacts with him as opposed to Archie is so different and therefore shows different sides to her personality in different circumstances. I love the way this play incorporates a lot of feminism in it. The idea of traditional roles of women is challenged as is the view that women can’t have great sexual appetites. This play puts across the idea that women have a right to be in control of their own lives and their own desires. It challenges the idea that the only things a woman is good for are motherhood and marriage and the idea that anything else we aren’t good for or that no other dreams or ambitions would even pass through our minds.
I think Williams wrote the dynamics between Baby Doll and Archie perfectly. Archie clearly wants a very submissive wife and Baby Doll increasingly is anything but. She is a strong woman who gradually begins more and more to know her worth though she always has a little bit of that even at the start but her confidence grows throughout for sure. Unable to control Baby Doll, Archie feels insecure and inferior and their two personalities and perspectives cause a lot of conflict between them. This story has a lot of gaslighting on Archie’s part as he tries to control Baby Doll. To highlight this in 1956 was very brave of Williams to do. Baby Doll is very likeable and strong but she is put down a lot by her controlling, bigoted husband who likes to start fires of his competitors’ businesses. The message is powerful: look at who is saying it and don’t listen. But that isn’t always easy to do especially when one is put down regularly and Williams writes this perfectly with great sensitivity.
An excellent read. A must-read.
January 11, 2025
Read in one sitting. Depressing.
Baby Doll is at the whim of the men she is surrounded with. Her only 'power' comes from the fact that she is still a virgin, which drives Arthur to madness. There is a constant tension between Arthur's longing to physically possess her, and the fact that they are already married. He repeatedly describes her as 'mine, all mine' which comes across as an attempt to cope with the fact that he does not own her in the way that he would like to.
I didn't know that the work was attached to any controversy until I turned it over and saw that it was banned in the US and Canada; apparently this is because of its overt sexuality which is ironic as Baby never actually has sex. Anyway, it was an interesting read. It was just sad that Baby relied so much on Arthur and he clearly only saw her as his plaything. Even though it's a common dynamic. I also don't understand all the reviews which praise the 'playful' relationship between Silva and Baby. Silva was rapey and he just used Baby in order to get back at Arthur for burning down his gin.
Baby was so well-written. I think that the best way of understanding her is that she chose to sleep in a nursery crib rather than with Arthur; she was defying him by refusing to sleep in the same bed as him, however her nature still remained childlike.
Baby Doll is at the whim of the men she is surrounded with. Her only 'power' comes from the fact that she is still a virgin, which drives Arthur to madness. There is a constant tension between Arthur's longing to physically possess her, and the fact that they are already married. He repeatedly describes her as 'mine, all mine' which comes across as an attempt to cope with the fact that he does not own her in the way that he would like to.
I didn't know that the work was attached to any controversy until I turned it over and saw that it was banned in the US and Canada; apparently this is because of its overt sexuality which is ironic as Baby never actually has sex. Anyway, it was an interesting read. It was just sad that Baby relied so much on Arthur and he clearly only saw her as his plaything. Even though it's a common dynamic. I also don't understand all the reviews which praise the 'playful' relationship between Silva and Baby. Silva was rapey and he just used Baby in order to get back at Arthur for burning down his gin.
Baby was so well-written. I think that the best way of understanding her is that she chose to sleep in a nursery crib rather than with Arthur; she was defying him by refusing to sleep in the same bed as him, however her nature still remained childlike.
September 17, 2022
Williams is my favourite playwright, which pushed me to read this work despite it being the script for a film, which turned out to be quite controversial. Blurred undertones of sexuality caused this script to be condemned by the church, while it was quite well received by the film industry. I was also surprised to learn that the baby doll dress gets its name from this work by Williams. Baby Doll represents the image of the young bride, though she has an estranged relationship with her newly wedded husband, Archie Lee, whom she refuses to sleep with. When the couple fall on hard economic times, Archie goes to extreme lengths to regain stability, pushing the seducing Baby Doll into the arms of an enemy. A short and silly read!
January 10, 2021
I’ve read a lot of Tennessee Williams but had not read this screenplay. Based on a couple of his one act plays, I find his writing to be brilliant. “Most people enter this world without instruction.” And I love how he describes a rose as “a poem”. Not his best story, but still amazing.
April 16, 2024
Le Sud profond, son âpreté, la dureté des rapports humains, les femmes victimes expiatoire...
July 30, 2024
Ik heb dit gelezen op het strand terwijl ik steeds switchte tussen zwemmen en zonnen, pure perfectie
March 10, 2025
Don't do revenge?
July 2, 2022
boy does this man have characteristics he loves to write about
August 21, 2021
One of the points I like most about this story is the flawed nature of the three characters: The oily creepiness of Silva Vaccaro, the Sicilian gin owner, the passive-aggressive manipulative Baby Doll, and the pathetic, gullible Archie Lee Meighan. In combining these three weirdos on putting them on one plantation, it makes for a fabulously memorable story. Auntie is a minor character, yet delightful in her part as a lousy cook and slight distraction from the three main characters. And, of course, the Mississippi setting is just right.
This is one of my favorite stories by Tennessee Williams.
💥 Recommended.
🟣
This is one of my favorite stories by Tennessee Williams.
💥 Recommended.
🟣
February 14, 2023
المسرحيه ترجمتها للعربيه الأستاذه :زينب موسى تحت أسم "الزوجه العذراء" عن دالر الثقافه الحديثه (ممكن في الخمسينات او الستينات ..) و أعتقد ديه الترجمه العربيه الوحيده لها حتى الأن ! وكان ليا الحظ الجميل أنها تقع تحت إيدي بمحض الصدفه ..كل أعمال تينيسي ويليامز مهمه ،وديه تحديدا شارك في كتابة السيناريو ليها العبقري إيليا كازان ...كان ليا الحظ الجميل أيضا أني أدرس مسرحياته في أول ترم ليا في الكليه وده غير حياتي ونظرتي كتير ،،عبقريه لن تتكرر في الاداب والمسرح الأمريكي خاصة ،وبحسني على ميعاد معاه بالصدفه بأكثر من شكل ...أتمنى أشوف الفيلم
February 22, 2015
A very disturbing play. Not for the school library.
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