The Eccentricities of a Nightingale is the stunning portrait of a mesmerizing misfit, Alma Winemiller, of Glorious Hill, Mississippi, circa 1912. Alma Winemiller is the daughter of the Episcopal minister and she has grown up "in the shadow of the church," with a strict and conventional father and a demented, childlike mother. Alma has adored her next-door neighbor, John Buchanan, since their childhood; for his part, John is drawn to "Miss Alma," although he doesn't quite know why. The play traces their tentative coming together over the span of a few months in a single year.
Alma is the "eccentric" figure of the play's title. As an imaginative, highly sensitive individual, she has developed mannerisms and exaggerated behaviors that mortify her father and amuse the townsfolk of Glorious Hill. But there is more to Alma than her quirks. Her imagination fights against the confines of her society. Her ardent eccentricity, which keeps her from fitting into Glorious Hill and from finding conventional romance, is actually the badge of her individuality and ultimately becomes heroic. Indeed, Tennessee Williams declared that the Alma of Eccentricities was his own favorite heroine.
Ultimately, what sets Eccentricities apart from other Williams works is the great mercy the playwright extends to his heroine. We end up rooting for Alma, hoping that somehow, "by the most unlikely chance in the world," her lifelong dream of loving John will come true. And in the end, Williams celebrates the persistence of Alma's hope and the captivating courage of her eccentric soul.
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