Discuss the character and role of Chance Wayne.

Chance Wayne, the protagonist of Sweet Bird of Youth, serves as an anti-hero. At this stage of his life, entering middle age, he seems to have few positive qualities; in fact, some of his earlier decisions wreaked havoc on other people’s lives, especially by transmitting an STD. As a narcissist, Chance believes that things that are good for him must necessarily be good for other people. Living in the past, he reviews his glory days as a teenager whose star once shined bright. However, he has been unable to adapt his dream, which is to succeed as an actor, to his present circumstances. Clinging to the “sweet” ideal that his “youth” once seemed destined to bring him, Chance is blinded to reality. When he comes back home, ostensibly to reclaim his former girlfriend, he is reduced to following, being supported by, and begging from an aging actress. Ironically, her ability, albeit unwilling, to adapt to aging will now likely bring her success. Chance, unable to adapt, will now pay with his manhood and probably his life.

Chance Wayne is the lead character in Sweet Bird of Youth. He has returned to his hometown of St. Cloud after eleven long years in the company of his older lover, Alexandra Del Lago, otherwise known as Princess Kosmonopolis. In many respects, Chance's return represents quite a come down in the world. In his younger days, he was a big deal in the local area. A talented athlete and actor, he seemed destined for great things. But after a spell in the military and a nervous breakdown, he is reduced to the status of a gigolo, the sexual plaything of an older woman who herself is a pathetic shadow of what she once was.
Chance is a prime example of "the artist," a stock character that often crops up in the plays of Tennessee Williams. Like his fellow artists, Chance is used by Williams to explore the myriad tensions between life and art. He wants to be an actor and to make it big in Hollywood, but the real world, with all its inevitable ups and downs, always seems to get in the way. Chance just cannot seem to live in that world. Hanging around with a has-been actress is about the nearest he can get to reclaiming some of the acting talent he keenly displayed in his youth.
Chance is ultimately defeated by the ravages of time, just as art itself will at some point be defeated by life. All manifestations of the aesthetic attitude—whether it is Chance's acting ambitions or his idealized love for Heavenly—will eventually collide with grim reality and invariably end up coming off poorly. The town of St. Cloud epitomizes this reality. This is the location of Chance's youthful triumphs, but now it stands as a sordid reminder of what he has since become.
In Sweet Bird of Youth, as with the works of Tennessee Williams in general, life endures but art eventually fades, and the character of Chance Wayne is an example of this.