A Streetcar Named Desire By Tennessee Williams

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

Established as one of the most prolific playwrights of the 20th century, Tennessee Williams used his writing as a form of therapy. The author came from a troubled background consisting of alcoholism, mental breakdowns, and general unhappiness; Williams exploited these unfortunate events and allowed them to motivate his literature. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois’ struggles represent the reality of people’s lives, “an enduring concern of [Williams’] throughout his writing career (Henthorne 1). Blanche captures our focus with her seemingly sincere and fragile nature, but it is later revealed that this is just an illusion within her own mind. She resides in a world of fantasy to shield herself against the harsh threats of reality and her own fears. Blanche’s main objective in the play is to keep herself from falling apart in a world of cruelty through alcoholism and illusion. Through the characterization of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams depicts the coping mechanism of fantasy and its detrimental repercussions by exploring the specific experiences that eventually impede her happiness.

To live in a world of illusion is to live a life of lies.Sometimes people try to escape reality, whether to avoid truths or to avoid their past. A Streetcar named Desire by Tennessee Williams introduces Blanche Dubois as the main protagonist and potential victim of the story. In the story, Blanche leaves her home in “Belle Reve” because it has been destroyed and takes a streetcar to to get to her sister’s (Stella’s) residence. She believes that she will find a new life as well as comfort and acceptance at her sister’s side. Unfortunately she is very wrong about it, in fact, it is the complete opposite. Blanche’s past life was very shameful for her and so in order to forget the tormenting truth, she resorts to living a fantasy life of her own, which causes problems for her later on (self-destruction).

Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is a web of themes, complicated scenarios, and clashes between the characters. Therefore, it might’ve been somehow difficult to find out who the protagonist of this play is if it wasn’t for Aristotle’s ideas of a good tragedy because neither of the main characters, Stanley Kowalski and Blanche Dubois, is completely good nor bad. According to Aristotle’s Poetics, a good tragedy requires the protagonist to undergo a change of status which only happens with Blanche Dubois.

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is not only considered to be the best play written by Tennessee Williams but is also arguably one the greatest plays ever written. The play has a very Shakespearean sensibility with a southern twist while also having an original complexity woven throughout the entire body that became unique as William’s signature artistry. The most important attributes of the play is the construction and motivation of the characters, the juxtaposition of illusion and reality, as well as the relationship between the dialogue and stage directions. The play’s characters are ultimately defined and driven by their gender identity and sexuality, hence the title “A Streetcar Named Desire”. This is evident in the number of

A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee 0portray a play center and revolving around characters and New Orleans. The two settings are completely different we are introduced to Elysian Field where the Kowalski live and then Blanche from Belle Reve a high class society. Stella has written to Blanche “She wasn’t expecting to find us in such a small place. You see I’d tried to gloss things over a little in my letters” (31). Blanche meanwhile travelled to stay with the Kowalski on two streetcars which will ultimately determine her faith she longs for desire but could not bear the sign of death.

Stereotypical gender roles have existed as long as human culture has, becoming a natural part of our lives. Nevertheless, images and depictions of what we perceive to be either masculine or feminine in appearance and behaviour depend on the individual's perception. Within each gender lies a variety of stereotypes and expectations, most notably for men they are often depicted as tough and the family provider. Whereas women are often shown to be soft and vulnerable resulting in their dependence on men. The play A Streetcar Named Desire takes place in the 1950s in New Orleans following World War II, this violent and dramatic play discusses the ongoing struggle between men and women within the American society. The author; Tennessee Williams illustrates this struggle within the usage of the main characters, Stanley and Stella Kowalski, Harold Mitchell and Blanche Dubois. Although gender equality has improved immensely as the decades bypass, certain labels still continue to remain for both genders. In this time period, Tennessee Williams illustrates the expected roles for both men and women, and how these roles influence

As the story progresses, Stanley's barbaric masculinity unveils itself to the reader. Stanley Kowalski is a man's man; he goes to work to provide for his family, goes home to a submissive wife who always has dinner prepared, and spends his evenings hanging out with the boys. However, being the super-masculine character can sometimes have wicked effects. Between card games and drinking, Stanley still finds time to lash out at his wife. In scene three, Stella is pleading with Stanley to call it a night and send his poker friends home, but Stanley is resistant. In a drunken fit, Stanley finds it necessary to strike his pregnant wife in order to get his point across. The outburst is shockingly forgiven almost immediately. Stella explains the episode to her displeased sister Blanche the next day, telling her that it's not a big deal, and that she shouldn't fuss over it. She says, "In the first place, when men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen. It's always a powder-keg. He didn't know what he was doing…" Stanley Kowalski takes the role of masculinity to another level altogether. He serves as the super-dominant barbarian provider who says what he means when he wants to. In spite all of Stanley's flaws, Stella not only loves him, but also appreciates and defends his character.

Everyone has fantasies but most know that is not the true reality. Defining dreams and reality are two different things. Some want to escape the real world and make their own dreams become true, due to seeking happiness. The author portrays Blanche, Stella, and Stanley as characters that are fixated on what they want to believe is the truth; however, the reason being is because they do not want face their fears. Stella and Blanche both desire to make their past non-existent and live in a perfect world, rather than accept the truth and move forward. Stanley does not let his fantasies take over his life as much as the two women. In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar name Desire the three protagonists Blanche, Stella, and Stanley exist in a fool’s paradise by using denial and fantasy to display a public facade in desire to obscure the truth; however, the characters want to escape their undesirable reality through their more desirable fantasy.

In Tennessee Williams’ 1947 play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Stella and Stanley Kowalski live in the heart of poor, urban New Orleans in a one-story flat very different from the prestigious home Stella came from. This prestige is alive and well inside Stella’s lady-like sister, Blanche Du Bois. Over the course of Blanche’s life, she has experienced many tragedies that deeply affected her, such as the death of her gay husband, the downward spiral in her mental health that followed, and most recently the loss of her wealth and therefore social status. She constructs a proverbial lampshade to mask her pain and to control the last part of her world that she is able to, the image she projects into the world for herself and others to see. The

If you take a look at the unstable and chaotic society in America today, he might have had a point. Something to take into consideration is that Williams was homosexual, he might be showing the bad sides of heterosexual men through Stanley’s superficial and ego actions.

A Streetcar Named Desire was written by Tennessee Williams in the late 1940s. The play takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana. A Streetcar Named Desire is a tragedy about a Mississippi school teacher, Blanche DuBois, who travels to New Orleans to visit her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Throughout this play, Williams displays the destruction of Blanche DuBois’ life by alcoholism, her lust for young boys, and Stanley Kowalski. In this play there are distinct differences between Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski’s lifestyles, backgrounds, and personalities. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams portrays two completely opposite ways of life within the characters of Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski. The backgrounds of these two characters play a crucial part in the understanding of the meaning behind this play. Once it is understood where Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski come from, it is much easier to understand the reasoning behind certain events that happen in A Streetcar Named Desire.

     In Tennessee William’s masterful play, A Streetcar Named Desire, the reader meets a middle – aged woman by the name of Blanche DuBois. Blanche lives in her own faerie tale world, one of a young, beautiful debutante, surrounded by admirers, and loved by all whom she encounters. In reality, Blanche is an aging woman who cannot cope with the actualities of life. She makes up wild stories, and when Stanley Kowalski, her brother – in – law, rapes her, the realities of life cause her to drift into absolute lunacy.

Tennessee Williams utilizes the theme illusion as a moving force made up of every action and word delivered from the character Blanche Dubois in his play Streetcar Named Desire. Her ‘Southern Belle’ personality as fragile quickly becomes a metaphor for the fading Southern Belle, displaying a facet of the old America’s culture that was defeated after the Civil War. Being a ‘Southern Belle’ was rejected after Post Civil War and no longer a common image of the modern woman. After America became more modernized, White elite women of the South could no longer focus mainly on their femininity; they resorted to working to attain economic gains.

Like many people in the world, the characters in Tennessee William’s play, A Streetcar Named Desire, are troubled by anxiety and insecurities. Life in New Orleans during the 1940s was characterized by the incredible variety of music, lively and bright atmosphere, and diverse population, while in the midst of the ongoing World War II. Culture was rich and fruitful because the city developed into a “melting pot” of people from all over the world. Due to the wide-range in population, the people of New Orleans adopted an identity like no other. Instead of their identity being entirely pieced together, almost like a puzzle, the people took on one that was shared by the entire community. However, with this being said, people had the ability to use this to their advantage and mask their true selves. This idea translates well into the play A Streetcar Named Desire, and is exhibited through the character Blanche. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams uses the theme of vanity to reveal the importance of appearance, and the insecurities of Blanche and how they influence her actions.