A Streetcar Named Desire Rhetorical Analysis

It is clear from the beginning that Blanche is not a very honest character. She lives in a fantasy world of her own design. One of the very first things she does when she enters Stella’s

and self - pitying ways from the death of her husband and the lies of

A short amount of time has passed after Blanche’s encounter with the stranger following the departure of her to the mental institute, Blanche is wearing her piece of silky white robe. In her bag is a small bottle half full of liquor that she has slipped past the doctor. Whilst Blanche drinks to escape the feeling of regret she sings “Paper Moon” just so the doctor in the front seat of the car cannot hear her. Constantly taking sips of the strong liquor, she hums the song to herself until there is no more liquid in the glass bottle. Blanche looks up into the ceiling and tips the bottle upside down in hopes of the small puddle at the bottom to come out. With no liquor left in the bottle, Blanche frustratingly throws the bottle out of the window

“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

Blanche’s fear of becoming undesirable has caused her to create an illusion in an attempt to revive her youth. Throughout the entirety of the play, Blanche is constantly worried about her appearance and looks for compliments from others. When she is first introduced, “her appearance is incongruous to this setting. She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and earrings of pearl, white gloves and hat, looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in the garden district”

“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.

Williams’ also uses animal imagery to show the subordination of women in a big patriarchal society. During Stanley’s games he doesn’t want any interruption from the women in the household and even when they’re not disturbing anyone he tells them “you hens cut out that conversation in there” (Williams 54). Hens are the female chickens and they are mostly just used to lay the eggs. Stanley calling Blanche and Stella hens shows that he is specifically calling them out because they’re women. He could of chosen to call them another animal but stuck to hens because since he is considered a “rooster”, the hen will always be below. Later on in the play, Blanche describes the poker night as “this party of apes! Somebody growls- some creature snatches

symbolism is embedded in every day literature the symbolism helps convey ideas to the reader. In the book A Street Car Named Desire the most prevalent colors are Blue (Stanley) and White(Blanch), the colors are direct symbolism of the characters traits and personality. Blue is the color that is most often seen with Stanley and can be used to describe him. The color reflects Stanley's state of mind because the color blue means authority and Stanley is very controlling and likes to be in control of everything and every one. The color brings Stanley's state of mind because the color blue means strength, masculinity, and authority which are all characteristics that Stanley wields which can be seen in "you hens cut out that conversation in there!

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 Raw Power of A Streetcar Named Desire         Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named Desire contains more within it's characters, situations, and story than appears on its surface. As in many of Williams's plays, there is much use of symbolism and interesting characters in order to draw in and involve the audience.   The plot of A Streetcar Named Desire alone does not captivate the audience.  

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.

Some novels and plays seem to advocate changes in social or political attitudes or in traditions. Choose such a novel or play and note briefly the particular attitudes or traditions that the author apparently wishes to modify. Then analyze the techniques the author uses to influence the reader or audience’s views. Avoid plot summary.