A Streetcar Named Desire Analysis

After two world wars, the balance of power between the genders in America had completely shifted. Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is a harsh, yet powerful play that exposes the reality of the gender struggle. Williams illustrates society’s changing attitudes towards masculinity and femininity through his eloquent use of dramatic devices such as characterization, dialogue, setting, symbolism, and foreshadowing.

In a Streetcar Named Desire Williams exposes Stanley’s animalistic features through the confrontation of Blanche & Stella. The transition from the old south to the new south represents the developing evolution that Williams outlines within Scene 4. Stanley is the protagonist of evolution, as he is identified as a prevalent and powerful American man. Although earlier in the play there are signs of Stanley’s beastlike persona whilst he “Heaves the red-stained package”, it is in scene 4 the climax is reached, leading to Blanche ranting about Stanley’s animalistic attributes. However, Blanche ultimately loses and Stanley wins. Therefore, I support Nancy Tischler’s view that A Streetcar a Named Desire is a reversal of Darwin’s vision because

In his plays, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams uses different ways to show in the play of social realism. It show each of individual character and focusing on how particular way of viewpoint contrast with men, and the perspective of looking at women. The play explores struggle of two character Stanley and Blanche, between appearances and reality which made the play’s plot more affected reality. Throughout this play, it show the symbolize of the gender roles and the power of men over women in the 1940’s in New Orleans.

The play A Streetcar Named Desire, was remade into a movie that was filmed in New Orleans. The film takes place in the 1950s with Blanche who moves in with her sister, Stella, and her brother in law, Stanley. The movie is about Blanche’s experience and eventually demise all in New Orleans.

A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams in 1947 is a play that is perceived with the variance between a man and his sister-in-law. Stanley Kowalski immediately captures the attention of the audience through Williams’ excellent portrayal of the intensely strong willed character, furthermore Williams forms Stanley into an exceedingly masculine character who will always have his way or no way and makes his opinions vey clear to those around him “why don’t you women go up and sit with Eunice” this declaration from Stanley shows that he his very sexist, this was very typical of men’s attitudes to women in the 1940’s because the patriarchal society at the time meant that men wanted

Social upheaval in many senses was explicit through the beginning of the twentieth century; two world wars had - for a short time - shifted the balance of power between men and women. Women were increasingly employed to fill positions which had previously been considered masculine. This was not to last however, and by the fifties men had reassumed their more dominant role in society. People were finding new voices at this time by taking pre-existing forms and pushing the boundaries to re-voice established literary forms. Tennessee Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire around the time this reversal was occurring in American society. Williams was a homosexual from the deep south of America, and his play is about physical, emotional

It’s a scene from Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire: Stella Kowalski is yelling at her husband Stanley for his uproarious poker game. Stanley ignores his wife until she sharply interrupts his game and asks everyone to leave. In a fit of rage, Stanley slaps his wife. Stunned, Stella runs away and takes refuge in a neighbor’s house while Stanley’s poker buddies attempt to restrain him.

The play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams starts with basically an introduction of the characters and Blanche showing up to visit the home of her sister Stella. Stella lives with her husband, Stanley in a shabby two-room flat in New Orleans. Blanche is dressed like she is going to “a cocktail party in the garden district” (95), but really, she is down and out. She pretends to be coming to visit, but she has no place else to go because she has lost the family estate, her teaching job and her reputation. She comes uninvited and unannounced and stays for months. The landlord, Eunice lets Blanche into the apartment and Blanche is appalled by the conditions her sister, Stella is living in. When Stella

   Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is considered by many critics to be a “flawed” masterpiece. This is because William’s work utilizes and wonderfully blends both tragic and comic elements that serve to shroud the true nature of the hero and heroine, thereby not allowing the reader to judge them on solid actuality. Hence, Williams has been compared to writers such as Shakespeare who, in literature, have created a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty in finding a sole “view or aspect ” in their works. Because of the highly tragic elements encountered in Streetcar, many immediately label it a tragedy. Nevertheless, the immense comical circumstances encountered in the play

The Elysian Fields are the Greek afterlife or heaven. Going through A Streetcar Named Desire, there is a tug-of-war like shift between a solid heaven-state that Stanley is very comfortable in and the flaky hell-state that Blanche so desperately tries to avoid but brings upon herself in said avoidance. It is interesting to have a character such as Stanley who is defined as an evil character because of his aggression end up the more audience-associated character and the almost-helpless female character be the audience-despised or pitied character after it was all said and done. As a female, I was surprised to associate with Stanley but found myself very much against Blanche’s character because of how she created her own demise.

Individuals always have tried to maintain a good lifestyle, but they sometimes ignore reality while pursuing a goal that is merely an illusion. There is a strong connection between reality and illusion which is that when these two elements are balanced, they can provide a clean pathway in terms of individuals attaining their goals and interests. In the modern drama, “A streetcar named desire”, Tennessee Williams establishes a strong connection between reality and illusion. The author explores the idea of individuals giving up their touch with reality and trying to lead a life which is borderline fairy tale, going on to describe rather dramatic outcomes of the imbalance between these two elements. In this play the protagonist, Blanche DuBois,

Ever had to send a crazy person off to a mental hospital? Well, Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire” will allow people to relate in a way people have never known and will do it all with lights and music!

. Blanche was in love with a young boy when she was a teenager. “He was a boy just a boy, when I was sixteen, I made the discovery-love” (114) Even though it is a love affair, Blanche’s sexual desire began at the very early age and finished as soon as it is started. Blanche has had relationships with many men while she was staying in the hotel in Laurel. “The trouble with Dame Blanche was that she couldn’t put up on her act any more in Laurel! They got wised up after two or three dates with her and then they quit, and she goes on another, the same old line, same old act, and same old hooey! But the town was too small for this to go on forever and as time went by she became a town character” (121). This is telling us that Blanche has premature,

Tennessee Williams’ play, “The Streetcar named Desire,” was introduced to our class. In his play, Williams addresses various issues such as gender roles and homosexuality during the 1947s. The group interactive oral presentations helped me better understand the text of the play, as well as the characters, as to why they are depicted the way they are. In addition, it helped me better understand Blanche’s character. The presentations covered wide range of topics such as symbols, gender roles, biography of Williams and how he incorporated it into the play, and the inspirations included from his other two plays: “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and “Glass of Menagerie.”

Everyone has a desire in life and each one differs from the other. Some wish to be rich or famous, while others wish to be happy or successful. Desire can make an individual become determined to reach their goal, or be their downfall. Tennessee Williams portrays a character in a similar situation, as her desire leads in control which thus leads to the demise of a life full of possibilities and opportunities--of a life that could have been changed by the way one lived their life. In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, the significance of the title is displayed through various literary devices, and the actions and the thoughts the actors express throughout the play.