A Streetcar Named Desire Analysis

In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, gender roles were reflected on gender roles in the American Society in the 50’s. The male gender was predominant while the female gender was considered less powerful. Williams really emphasizes this stereotype, yet he focuses on the females in the play the whole time.

Throughout history empowerment and marginalization has primarily been based on gender. In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, this idea of empowerment is strongly flaunted. Tennessee Williams’ characters, primarily Stanley, Blanche, Mitch, and Stella, conform the expected roles of men and women at the time. Although World War Two temporarily allowed women a place in the work force, they were dismissed from such empowerment when the war came to a close. Characters in A Streetcar Named Desire are accurate representations of the social historical context of that time. The power struggle between Stanley and Blanche conveys dominant ideas about gender such as the primitive nature, aggression, and

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams is a play about a woman named Blanche Dubois who is in misplaced circumstances. Her life is lived through fantasies, the remembrance of her lost husband and the resentment that she feels for her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. Various moral and ethical lessons arise in this play such as: Lying ultimately gets you nowhere, Abuse is never good, Treat people how you want to be treated, Stay true to yourself and Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Tall, dark, and handsome has long been the standard of a desirable man. There is undoubtedly something about a “man’s man” that is intriguing and beguiling. However, there must be a point where too much masculinity becomes a problem. As society continues to praise men with the biggest muscles, the nicest cars, and the most women, it is becoming increasingly hard to draw the line between healthy masculinity and toxic masculinity. In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, toxic ideas about what it means to be masculine ultimately ruins several characters, but most overtly Stanley, Stella, and Blanche, showing that toxic masculinity is a threat to everyone’s well-being, both male and

Tennessee Williams is regarded as a pioneering playwright of American theatre. Through his plays, Williams addresses important issues that no other writers of his time were willing to discuss, including addiction, substance abuse, and mental illness. Recurring themes in William’s works include the dysfunctional family, obsessive and absent mothers and fathers, and emotionally damaged women. These characters were inspired by his experiences with his own family. These characters appear repeatedly in his works with their own recurring themes. Through The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams presents the similar thematic elements of illusion, escape, and fragility between the two plays, proving that although similar, the themes within these plays are not simply recycled, as the differences in their respective texts highlight the differences of the human condition.

“Stella has embraced him with both arms, fiercely, and full in the view of Blanche. He laughs and clasps her head to him. Over her head he grins through the curtains at Blanche.” (Williams 73) A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams exemplifies the theme of a struggle to attain happiness. The play not only portrays this theme in its characters and setting, but through the literary devices of Foil, Imagery, and Intertextuality. Williams took great care in applying each of these literary device techniques to the theme as he presents an intriguing contrast between Blanche and Stanley, vivid images both animalistic and broken, and imploring the use of the Odyssey to further

"A Streetcar Named Desire" is one of the most renowned 20th century American plays and films. The playwright is Tennessee Williams, a respected author whose works artistic and structural merit warrants their study into the 21st century. There are numerous aspects and points Williams makes with his works, including "A Streetcar Named Desire." Out of the richness this text offers, this paper will focus upon issues of mental illness and abuse in the play. No doubt an aspect that makes Williams' characters so vivid are their flaws, weaknesses, and desires. Where a person's character lacks weakness and what a person desires reveal a great deal about that person and provide insight into the choices they make. The paper will discuss aspects of abuse and mental instability in the characters and plot of "A Streetcar Named Desire," and will reference the play directly to underscore any points.

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

In his article “From ‘Tarantula Arms’ to ‘Della Robbia Blue’: The Tennessee Williams Tragicomic Transit Authority John M. Roderick”, Harold Bloom critically analyzes A Streetcar Named Desire, an award winning play written by Tennessee Williams in 1947. The play is set in 1947 in Stanley and Stella’s small, two room flat in New Orleans. After losing the family estate and her job, Blanche DuBois relies on the generosity of her sister and husband, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. The interactions between Stella, Stanley, and Blanche emphasizes the different types of desires and the effects that they have upon the each character. Reading Bloom’s critical article strengthened my understanding of Mitch as a comedic character in the play and challenged my understanding of who the hero of the play is and if the play is didactic.

Tennessee Williams was a well-recognized writer who wrote dramatic plays such as, The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and A Streetcar Named Desire, which resembled his own personal life and experiences. In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche is an unstable and desperate woman who travels to New Orleans in search of a new life and to live with her sister Stella and abusive husband Stanley Kowalski. The story follows her journey over a year as she navigates through the unsophisticated streets of New Orleans living in her own delusions covering the real truth. Tennessee Williams uses symbolism and imagery in A Streetcar Named Desire to convey the idea that appearances can be deceiving, hiding what really lies below the surface

A Streetcar Named Desire is a play written by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1947. The play is about a woman named Blanche who moves in with her sister during a very difficult time of her life. Her sister, Stella, is in an abusive relationship with her husband Stanley who constantly argues with Blanche and sees himself as the king of the household. During the heated arguments between Blanche and Stanley, Stella constantly finds herself stuck in uncomfortable situations where she does not know which side to defend. At the end of the play, Stella is faced with the ultimate decision whether or not she should leave her abusive husband and support her sister or if she should support Stanley and kick her sister out of the house. Stella’s

After the social upheaval of the roaring 20s with women and minorities trying to come into their own. By the time the 50s arrived the white male had returned to their seat of power with an iron fist. It was in this setting Tennessee Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire. A dark, seedy, drama that represented the brutal power struggle between men and women within the more impoverished side of American society as well as society’s idea of masculinity and femininity during that period.

Especially the American south was an epitome for patriarchal society (90). Women were meant to be inferior to men and had to fit into the “good girl” picture, otherwise they were close to shunned by society. The play “A Streetcar Named Desire”, written by Tennessee Williams in 1947, depicts such a patriarchal society. The main conflict is between the protagonists Blanche DuBois and her brother in law Stanley Kowalski, which ends with Blanche being admitted into what seems to be a mental facility. I will argue that the patriarchy, which is especially represented by Stanley Kowalski, is the cause for the mental destruction of Blanche. In order to do so I will first elaborate what is actually meant by the term patriarchy. Then I will try to explain how Stanley Kowalski can be seen as an epitome for a patriarchal man and how he fits into the attributes attached to such. In the second chapter I will try to define the role a woman had in the patriarchal society of the 1950s and to whether Blanche DuBois fits into it or not. Last but not least I will attempt to connect the dots and show how Stanley, as the representation, and the patriarchy itself lead to Blanche’s mental

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.