With the recurring topic with femininity within A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams opens up a narrative regarding the role in which women are either forced to or choose to conform in society and uses the play as a social commentary on the outcome of women who go against the societal norm. Femininity in modern times is difficult to clearly define. Traditional assertions of femininity were related to the domestic sphere, as women we are limited to the realm of childbirth and other homely duties. In addition to this role as mothers, women were considered objects for men to exert power over in a sexual sense as well as in general. As time progresses, women are finding new ways to identify within the scope of femininity and pushing gender boundaries. Women have found power within their femininity and much of this newfound agency can be attributed to the feminist movement, which represents female empowerment. Blanche and Stella demonstrate two different types of femininity in the play. Although, both of the women are very dependent on men. They both define themselves in terms of the men in their lives. They think as though the only route to happiness and fulfillment, is a relationship with men. Blanche had a tragic marriage in the past which as she grew up led her to seek emotional desire through relationships with men. She feels as though she can not be alone, she depends on a man. Even though Blanches first marriage ended pretty badly, she sees marriage as her
In Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams explores the internal conflict of illusion versus reality through the characters. Humans often use illusion to save us pain and it allows us to enjoy pleasure instead. However, as illusion clashes with reality, one can forget the difference between the two. When people are caught up in their illusions, eventually they must face reality even if it is harsh. In the play, Blanche suffers from the struggle of what is real and what is fake because of the difficult events of her past. Blanche comes to her sister Stella seeking aid because she has lost her home, her job, and her family. To deal with this terrible part of her life, she uses fantasy to escape her dreadful reality. Blanche’s embracement of a fantasy world can be categorized by her attempts to revive her youth, her relationship struggles, and attempts to escape her past.
This 1950's theatrical presentation was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Tennessee Williams. It is about a southern bell by the name of Blanche Dubois who loses her father's plantation to a mortgage and travels to live in her sister's home in New Orleans by means of a streetcar called Desire. There she finds her sister living in a mess with a drunken bully husband, and the events that follow cause Blanche to step over the line of insanity and fall victim to life's harsh lessons.
From the very title of the novel and beginning poem Levi implores us to consider the essence of what it is to be human, presenting to us the thought-provoking question, if this is a man? Levi this way allows us to engage on an emotional level with the events of the holocaust and examine our own consciences, and as he details in his preface ‘furnish documentation for a quite study of certain aspects of the human mind’, and accuses society of subconscious reasoning that ‘every stranger is an enemy’. In explicit stripping the prisoners depicted in the text of their humanity, making this uncomfortably apparent to us as we are consistently encourage to draw comparisons, or rather contrast, with our own lives and hence are perhaps
The author, Tennessee Williams, does a phenomenal job of portraying Blanche Dubois as a deceiving, manipulative, arrogant person in his book “A Streetcar named Desire”. Williams first showcases these characteristics during the arrival of Blanche. This introduction not only sets a mood and tone but it gives us our first impression of Blanche. Overall this impression leaves the audience with a sour taste in their mouths and ill feelings towards the new girl. However, don’t be so quick to jump the gun. What if I said Blanche isn’t the villain she’s depicted as in this story?
In Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois is thrust into a series of unfortunate events and undergoes drastic changes in an effort to come to terms with her completely changed life. Through these events, Blanche happens to be the only remaining individual left to take care of the once valuable and prestigious family belongings, and her psychological mind spirals out of control in her attempts to restore the family’s honor. In addition to experiencing loneliness and feeling isolation from humans, Blanche faced many new challenges in stressful situations, which contributed to her poor decision making skills and inevitable negative outcomes in most of those situations. Through the characterization of Blanche DuBois, Williams’ intends to display the power of significant experiences in one’s life, which serves as a warning of how the effects of significant experiences on individuals should not be underestimated. Unfortunately, in Blanche’s case, abandonment by her sister was the perfect example of an individual underestimating the result of their actions, as this action was the initiation point of the events that would eventually lead to her unfortunate fate. Specifically, Williams’ focuses on portraying the disastrous effects of human isolation, which is often the result of an individual’s mindless actions. Human isolation plays an important role in the outcome of the play, as Blanche is known to have been abandoned at a young age, and her
In the classic fairytale of Cinderella, the main character is trapped in an abusive household. However, Cinderella’s self-perception of optimism and hope, enables her to believe that ultimately, her life will naturally improve with these attributes. True to her convictions, Cinderella gets her happily ever after by going to the ball where the prince falls in love with her. Cinderella is saved from her evil. On the other hand, Cinderella can be viewed as a victim who does nothing to enable herself to escape her abusive reality, insteads helplessly waits for fate to intervene. She does not confront the situation nor independently strive to improve her circumstances. Correspondingly, how individuals act when faced with conflict is strongly influenced by their self-perception. It is possible to become confused between reality and illusion, which is determined by their level of self-awareness. In Tennessee Williams’ play, A Streetcar Named Desire, the character of Stella struggles between the control of her husband and sister. Throughout the play, this conflict is demonstrated as she struggles with becoming aware of her abusive household and the contrast to the fairytale illusion she desperately clings to. Ultimately, Stella’s choice to maintain her illusion, rather than confronting her reality, is due to the self-perception of her need to depend on others and desire for idealism, which overall controls her fate.
A Streetcar Named Desire is focused almost completely on its three protagonists: Blanche, Stella, and Stanley. It could be suggested that this play was influenced by Williams’ own upbringing: his sister Rose was mentally ill, and Williams’ was a doting older brother. Potentially, Blanche was inspired by Rose and that this play uses his unique perspective to comment on the treatment of the mentally ill. Williams may be using Stella’s conflict to highlight this.
A Streetcar Named Desire Analytical Essay Michael Song Kleiber, 10F Drama 2016 The play A Streetcar Named Desire is a creation by Tennessee Williams. And in this play, Williams formed a complex web of conflicting emotions, which caused a great amount of tension between the characters. The play takes place right after World War II in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In A Streetcar Named Desire, men are the social groups represented with these roles alpha, beta, omega. Males are portrayed as a big part in Tennessee's book, which shows the respect and rights they hold. The men are shown this way to give off their looks and personality. The way things are set up in the book shows the understanding of each male characters and where they stand.
A Streetcar Named Desire is very thought-provoking play. It brings up a wide variety of social issues that are still a problem today. These issues help make the play relatable to life outside of the theatre. From the directing to the costumes, this play was very intriguing.
The role of women in the 1950 was seen to be repressive and constrictive in many ways. Society placed high importance and many expectations for these women on behavior at home as well as in public. Women were supposed to fulfil certain roles, such as a caring mother, a diligent homemaker, and an obedient wife. The perfect mother was supposed to stay home and nurture so society would accept them. In fact, even if a woman wanted to voice an opinion, her lack of education would not allow it . The play A Streetcar Named Desire is set during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s period where it describes the decline of a fading Southern belle named Blanche DuBois. The women in this play are represented to be dependent and submissive in nature and in addition they are also seen to be manipulative. However, Williams has also portrayed these women to be independent and taking control of the situation. This can be seen through the use of the main characters
Marius Juston Mrs. League Honors American Literature, 1st Period 14 February 2018 A Streetcar Named Desire The societal choices of women In his play A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams explores his ideas about women in society.
Tennessee Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire in 1947. During this time period we as Americans have just won World War II and were celebrating that. Tennessee Williams uses all that is taking place around him to write what would be know as one of the best plays of all time. This particular play shoved the real world back in our faces as we celebrated the victory. There were several themes from A Streetcar Named Desire, but social class conflict is shown throughout the whole play in multiple ways.
In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, the representation of male and female characters are based on gender stereotypes, which represent a patriarchal society. The way in which Tennessee Williams portrays the main characters: Blanche, Stanley and Stella, by using gender stereotypes demonstrates the patriarchal society`s value, norms and beliefs of the 1940s.
This is from how it impacts the characters and how it exposes characteristics of them throughout the story. Along with exposing the good and evil within each character and who has a bigger impact on the plot of the story. This theme also impacts certain actions within the story as well as amplify important actions within the story that readers should focus on when reading the play. Even though there are many themes throughout the play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” this theme is one that is well developed within the story and is one that should be taken from the story when one reads the