Steel Magnolias

Steel Magnolias is a play written by American Author,  Robert Harling in 1987. The play is about the bond a group of women share in a small-town southern community and how they cope with the death of one of their own. This play addresses many important feminist themes, which we will discuss in class.


The story is based on Harling's real life experience of the death of his sister, Susan Harling Robinson, in 1985 due to complications from Type 1 diabetes. He changed his sister's name in the story from Susan to Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie.


The title suggests the main female characters can be both as delicate as the magnolia flower, and as tough as steel.

Some of the names of people and places in the play may be difficult to pronounce. Here is a link that has most of the pronunciations as they are intended to sound: http://dialectsarchive.com/steel-magnolias