“Orpheus Descending” by Tennessee Williams: Using myth and tragedy in a non-realistic way to illustrate the failure of human life

Abstract

In Orpheus Descending the archetypal myth serves as a key structural element which allows to create a personal reworking of the myth without devaluing its essence. However, a careful reading of the play ought to analyze not just the tradition of the myth itself, but also the secular tradition of Greek tragedy given that Williams populates his drama with many of its essential features as described in Aristotle’s Poetics