A Streetcar Named Desire Dialectical Journal

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.

Blanche's relationship with alcohol, constantly mentioned throughout the duration of the play, relates to Williams' theme of escapism; alcohol distorts an individual's perception of what is real, and in Blanche's case it acts as a form

She had invited Mitch to her birthday dinner, but Stanley had already told him all the bad things about her past. This is when she starts to slip. She tries to make conversation and tell jokes with Stanley, but obviously, he isn’t having it. The point where it is evident that she is really slipping is when Stanley says he has a gift for her. “Oh, have you [a gift for me], Stanley? I wasn’t expecting any, I—I wasn’t expecting any. I—I don’t know why Stella wants to observe my birthday! I’d much rather forget it—when you—reach twenty-seven! Well—age is a subject that you’d prefer to—ignore!” (Williams 135). Blanche is thirty years old. This goes back into the fantasy idea. She uses it as a coping mechanism. Finally, there is something going good in her life, and that is roughly

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams uses setting to illustrate various themes and messages as they pertain to the events of the play. The setting plays a crucial role in the story line and the outcome of the play.

“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

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.

“he’s just not the type that goes for jasmine perfume, but maybe he’s what we need to mix with our blood now that we’ve lost Belle Reve.” (Scene 2, Page 45)

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.

She lies to others to hide her past. Blanche’s series of lies did not bring her comfort instead leading her to tragedy. “Mr. Graves is suggested I take a leave of absence”(14) and “ I guess you are hoping I’ll say I’ll put up at a hotel, but I am not going to put up at hotel I want to be near you” (17) and the other lie is Bell Reve was his headquarters! “Honey that is how it slipped through my finger” (22). Blanche is telling these lies to her sister hoping Stall will believe her and accept her as she is now. Blanche is constantly lying to Mitch, who is Stanley’s friend and the only hope for life. “I called her little in spite of the fact she’s somewhat older than I” (60) and “Married? No. No I am old maid schoolteacher” (60). Blanche’s fake

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.

In the excerpt given, the audience will react by understanding how Blanche feels, then afterward be surprised by how she reacts to this. In the scene, Blanche is seen sitting stiffly in a chair and tightly clutching her purse. From this text, the audience will begin to understand that Blanche is feeling uncomfortable and out of her element because she seems nervous. Furthermore, the stage directions state: “suddenly she notices something in a half opened closet. She springs up and crosses to it, and removes a whiskey bottle. She pours a half tumbler of whiskey and tosses it down.” When at first Blanche notices the half open closet, this sparks curiosity because it is currently unknown what is inside. Then when Blanche discovers it was whiskey

In Tennessee Williams' "Streetcar Named Desire," tragedy threads between every character - most poignantly tied in Blanche Dubois. "Tragedy and the Common Man," written by Arthur Miller, argues that true tragedy stems from displacement. When a person loses their place, they lose sight of purpose, ultimately leading to a downward spiral. Rhetorical devices Williams chooses, such as language pointing to location, diction reflecting class and social structure, and the foreboding hysterical levels Blanche reaches strategically reveal and perpetuate the aforementioned tragedy of Blanche Dubois.

I agree that characters in the book A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, use lying and deception to fuel their social status. These lies develop trust and relationship issues and threaten the wellbeing of everyone involved. Blanche, was a high school english teacher in mississippi who was forced to leave her life behind there. With nowhere to go Blanche moves in with her sister Stella and husband Stanley, who has a suspicion about Blanche's past life which lead to some unwanted events.

The play A Streetcar Named Desire revolves around Blanche DuBois; therefore, the main theme of the drama concerns her directly. In Blanche is seen the tragedy of an individual caught between two worlds-the world of the past and the world of the present-unwilling to let go of the past and unable, because of her character, to come to any sort of terms with the present. The final result is her destruction. This process began long before her clash with Stanley Kowalski. It started with the death of her young husband, a weak and perverted boy who committed suicide when she taunted him with her disgust at the discovery of his perversion. In retrospect, she knows that he was the only man she had ever loved, and from this early catastrophe

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.