The Rose Tattoo

This article is about the 1951 play. For other uses, see Rose Tattoo (disambiguation).
The Rose Tattoo
First edition cover (New Directions)
Written byTennessee Williams
Characters
  • Serafina Delle Rose
  • Alvaro Mangiacavallo
  • Man
  • The Strega
  • Father De Leo
  • Doctor
  • Teresa
  • Flora
  • Salesman
  • Miss Yorke
  • Rosa Delle Rose
  • Peppina
  • Salvatore
Date premiered3 February 1951
Place premieredMartin Beck Theatre
Original languageEnglish
GenreDrama
SettingGulf Coast village between New Orleans and Mobile

The Rose Tattoo is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams in 1949 and 1950; after its Chicago premiere on December 29, 1950, he made further revisions to the play for its Broadway premiere on February 2, 1951, and its publication by New Directions the following month. [1] A film adaptation was released in 1955. The Rose Tattoo tells the story of an Italian-American widow in Mississippi who has withdrawn from the world after her husband's death and expects her daughter to do the same.

The setting is a place in proximity to Biloxi. Jacob Adler stated that the story is disconnected from the culture of the Southern United States as the plot "has almost no Southern connections".[2]

  1. ^ [1] Williams, Tennessee. Plays 1937–1955. Mel Gussow and Kenneth Holditch, eds. New York: Library of America, 2000, p. 1033. ISBN 978-1-883011-86-4
  2. ^ Rea, p. 141.