The play Battle of Angels is by Tennessee Williams. It is actually one of his earlier plays and was followed by The Glass Menagerie. It is about a man named Val whose car breaks down. He ends up in a dressmaker's shop and is the center of attention. Val is given a job by Myra, who works at the dressmaker's shop. Myra is married to Jabe, who is dying. Myra starts to fall in love with Val, which leads Val to attempting to convince Myra to kill her husband. What follows is a story of love, tension, doubt, and romance.
Battle of Angels was produced in Boston in 1940. It ended up as a flop and was unsuccessful. This is partly due to the fact that it talked about female sexuality. This was new for the time and was not immediately received openly. However, Tennessee Williams has learned from this experience and has said that he is happy it was a flop. H
e later went on to make such plays as The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire. This play has quite a bit of significance. It was Tennessee Williams' first play widely released in theaters. Not only that, but it has also eventually been "remade" into the updated Orpheus Descending. It was produced by the Theater Guild. Had it been a success, Tennessee Williams believes it would have made him think he knew everything about making plays.
Battle of Angels' failure had made Tennessee Williams more humble and willing to learn. This led to his successful career as a playwright and has given us great pieces of literature."I'm glad now that the play was not a success," Williams said later. "If it had been, it would have gone to my head and I would have thought I knew all there was to know about play writing."
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