A Streetcar Named Desire Gender Roles Essay

The most ostentatious of the group, Stanley is a flawed man that is forced into the role of husband and father by the women around him. Stanley enjoys avoiding his real life and problems by socializing with his other equally macho friends playing poker and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol which in turn makes him stereotypically violent towards his wife. Stanley’s actions to Blanche as well are possessive and domineering as he looks through her things and criticizes the gifts she has garnered from the various suitors she had. “After Stanley's rummaging around in the trunk, Blanche exclaims: "It looks like my trunk has exploded" (38). When he violates that space - "Stanley crosses to the trunk, shoves it roughly open, and begins to open compartments" (41) - he betrays Blanche's intimacy. Rapaciously investigating the love letters, "He rips off the ribbon and starts to examine them, Blanche snatches them from him, and they cascade to the floor." Furious, she shouts: "Now that you've touched them, I'll burn them" and then starts scooping "the floor, gathering

In addition to segregation, dominance is seen once again when Stanley is unable to prevent Mitch’s desertion of the game. His violent outbursts are desperate attempts to exert his dominance. “Stanley gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh.” it becomes apparent that his threatening words are not enough, and he begins using violence as a physical means of controlling Stella and frightening Blanche.

The description of Stanley’s personality pictures him as an animalistic and primitive male. There are several references to animals such as ‘Animal joy’ and ‘feathered male bird among hens’, this quote in particular describes Stanley very well. ‘Feathered male among hens’ is evidence that Stanley is often the leader of the group and maintains dominance as the pack

Stanley seems to be what we would consider a typical man: he works to support his wife, whom he loves dearly; he gets together with his friends to play cards or go bowling, and he seems to think of himself as the “king of his castle”. However, he is also seen as being animalistic in nature, as he, too, is ruled by passionate instinct. We can think of him as being animalistic because his reaction to various situations -- for instance, his reaction when Stella breaks up his card game (I, iii, 57) -- is often intense, violent, and very instinctive in nature.

Women are marginalised in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ through their economic status, their mental health and their place as a woman in the society of 1940s. They are held as possessions for admiration and housework. Neither of the men in the play treat them as they should be treated, and see them as nothing more than a housemaker and a child bearer. Also, it is made prominently clear by Williams that no woman would be able to survive without a man at that time. However, at some occasions, Williams portrays that women can prove to be challenging if undermined.

I think Williams uses this symbol to illustrate Stanley's character as an aggressive hunter, he "heaves the package at [Stella]" showing his attitude to his wife. Williams uses animal imagery associated with Stanley to emphasise Stanley's basic, animal like, territorial character. Stanley is "bellowing" (P2) to Stella, which creates an image of a bull and intensifies the picture of an aggressive animal with "animal joy in his being… implicit in all his movements and attitudes" (P16). Williams uses the metaphor of "a richly feathered male bird among hens" (P16) and a "gaudy seed bearer" in his stage directions to describe Stanley as he enters his apartment. I think this

He likes to possess and control everything around him, he almost ‘owns’ Stella, and he has changed from her days at Belle Reve, pulling her “down off them columns and how [she] loved it”. But the arrival of Blanche, and her aristocratic ways annoys Stanley, as Stella begins to revert to her old ways. Blanche encourages her to stand up to him, and continually stresses the difference in their levels, although Stanley is not ashamed that he “was common as dirt”. Therefore, the only way that he can overcome Blanche and restore his authority is to beat her and triumph over her physically, which he eventually does. Although ironically, it is the effect of Stanley and his actions on her mind that finally provokes her downfall.

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

This creative use of allegory by Williams significantly supports the theme of sexual intimacy and desires of the play due to its impactful sequence of literal events connoting the protagonist’s life. (322)

Finally, Stanley rapes Blanche because “he has tried and tried to keep her down to his level” (Kagan 26) but she cannot go there.  The rape is his way of getting her there.  In the powerful scene where Stanley loses total control of his actions and strikes the person whom he has sworn to protect, love and cherish, William's shows Stanley's lack of control and hatred of the new threat in his life, Blanche.  What makes this scene so important to the topic is the way that the three characters react once the party has broken up.  Blanche is in her usual state of panic; Stella has retreated upstairs, while Stanley stumbles around calling out 'Steeelllaaa' in a drunken sweaty animal-like manner.  Surprisingly Stella answers her mate's calls and embraces him, the two of them exchanging words of compassion and kisses.  Stanley then picks up Stella and carries her off to his den to make love, which is Stanley's way of apologizing.  Stanley has to be the dominant male figure in all his relationships, not only with Stella and Blanche, but with his friends as well.  He is a leader and instantly rises to the challenge whenever his status is threatened.

is true in the extreme for Stanley, he does what he wishes and disregards the consequences. It is not a motto he actually employs towards the remaining characters; thinking only of himself, he does not care if anyone else is "comfortable" or not. Through dialogue such as this, Williams asserts to the reader/audience the fact that Stanley inherently fails to take into account the repercussions his own requirements and desires have on others. He is in total control and the only person endowed with power; therefore the only person he takes into consideration - and the only person his wife is allowed to take

With his overly masculine and domineering personality, Stanley is a prime example of a top ranking alpha male. If his authority is challenged, he responds violently to reinforce his position as the superior being. Williams depicts Stanley as an extremely macho man who enjoys ‘heartiness with men, his drink and food and games, his car, his radio, everything that is his, that bears his emblem of the gaudy seed bearer’(Sc. 1, P. 16) and is the commander of his household. Additionally,

In contrast to Stella, Blanche has very little submission to men, especially Stanley. Her inability to do so leads to her rape. Blanche’s continual fights with Stanley only made him hate her more. From the very beginning their relationship was rocky and only intensified with time. Particularly after making rude remarks about Stanley including “madman” (64), “common”, “bestial” (71), and “animal” (72), Stanley develops a despise for

Stanley's search for power and dominance and for reaffirming women as the weaker sex is exhibited in different ways. The play begins with Stanley carrying a package of meat which he throws to Stella (CITE). This act establishes Stanley as the dominant male in the. It is one of many instances in which symbolism is used to display the sexual proprietorship that Stanley has over Stella. His description in the first scene serves to

Williams uses the men’s clothing to portray power, a statement which contrasts to Blanche’s delicate ‘white’ clothing. ‘[Stanley, Steve, Mitch, and Pablo wear colored shirts, solid blues, a purple, a red-and-white-check, a light green, and they are men at the peak of their physical manhood, as coarse and direct and powerful as the primary colors.]’. This description allows the image of the men to be presented as vivid and virile. Both playwrights suggest that physical and sexual dominance over women leads to an improved perception and status of men.