Analysis Of Toys In The Attic And A Streetcar Named Desire

Compare and contrast the imagery of death and decay in the opening sections of ‘The Bell Jar’, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘Hamlet’.

The mother is unsympathetic to Blacks and the Civil Rights Movement. She reminds Julian commonly about his incredible granddad who was the representative and "had an estate and two hundred slaves," then he helps her to

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

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.

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.

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.

The difference between men and women is a very controversial issue, while there are obviously physical differences; the problem is how the genders are treated. It is stereotypically thought that the men do the labor work and make all the money, while the women stay in the house, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. While this stereotype does not exist as much in the 21st century, it was very prevalent in the 1900s. By using many different literary tools such as character development, symbolism, and setting, Alice Munro’s Boys and Girls and John Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums challenge this controversial topic of the treatment of women versus men in the 1900s.

The author, Tennessee Williams, does a phenomenal job of portraying Blanche Dubois as a deceiving, manipulative, arrogant person in his book “A Streetcar named Desire”. Williams first showcases these characteristics during the arrival of Blanche. This introduction not only sets a mood and tone but it gives us our first impression of Blanche. Overall this impression leaves the audience with a sour taste in their mouths and ill feelings towards the new girl. However, don’t be so quick to jump the gun. What if I said Blanche isn’t the villain she’s depicted as in this story?

Stanley first name is “stone-clearing” while his last name in Polish means “blacksmith”. He appears to be a gentleman in front of Stella until Blanche arrives “I pulled you down off them columns and how you loved it, having them coloured lights going! And wasn’t we happy together, wasn’t it all okay till she showed here!” (137). This belief maybe related to the meaning he has the power to consume others. Stella was mistakenly fallen for his charm and manner.

Have you ever felt that men always screw things up? Perhaps it is not men themselves that cause destruction; maybe it is merely the result of the presence of a masculine character. The role of masculinity is an essential aspect in both Bobbie Ann Mason's short story entitled, Shiloh, and in Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, although it functions very differently in each story. In Shiloh, we see the detrimental effects that the male role has even in its absence through the interactions that Leroy has with his with wife, Norma Jean. Contrasting this particular perspective, in A Streetcar Named Desire the destructive manner of the

Julian this nice laid back college graduate. He went to school to become a writer, however at the moment he is unable to find any jobs that have to deal with writing so at the moment he is working a shop that sales typewriters. Julian at the beginning of the story is almost annoyed with is mother that he is being forced to go with her to her YMCA class to help her with losing weight, and that she can’t make up her mind on if she should wear her new hat or even keep it for that matter. Julian is also a loner he doesn’t like to be around or bothered with people “He visualized a place where the nearest neighbors would be three miles on either side” (PG1) throughout the whole story he seems to be in his own world. He likes to think about ways to get back at his mother by becoming friends with African people and bringing them home to stay over, thinking about if his mother was to become ill having an African Doctor take care of her or maybe bringing home an African woman and telling his mother that they are going to get married. Julian and his mother do not see eye to eye on the racial aspect in this story,

Wendy’s father, Mr. Darling, sets the prime example for adult male stereotype. Barrie characterizes him as the breadwinner of the Darling family and a proud businessman. Throughout Barrie’s insight into his character, the reader observes him insist upon respect and obedience from his children and wife; and even the family dog. In one instance, Mr. Darling even boasts to Wendy that his wife, Mrs. Darling, not only loves him, but more importantly, respects him. This attitude as displayed by the character of Mr. Darling as the most prominent adult male influence can be argued to be associated with the male stereotype in many ways. Mr. Darling’s character in the text supports the culturally stereotypical view of the male gender as the

Elia Kazan directed the film A Streetcar Named Desire and produce by Warner Brothers in 1951. The novel was originally written by Tennessee Williams and promoted as a play in 1947 and turned into a film later through out its success . The awards received were the Pulitzer price award in 1948 and was nominated for best motion picture, best writing and screen play. The novel was basically about a former English school teacher named Blanche Dubois (played by Vivien Leigh), who decided to join her sister at her house, Stella Kowalski (Kim Hunter) and her husband Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando) in New Orleans. During Blanche is at Stanley’s and Stella’s home, Blanche is trying to

2). Montogomery explains that the beginning shows the “basic plot line”, as the mother is a burden for the son (para. 7). When seeing the negro woman on the bus, Montogomery points out that Julian thinks his mother will fail to see the “symbolic significance” of the identical hat (Montogomery para. 11). Jeffrey J. Folks points out that O’Connor deliberately uses “uneducated southern poor whites” for a symbolic contrast (para. 6). Montogomery says that when confronting the negro woman and her child, Julian sees an identical relationship between him and his mother. The mother cannot make distinctions, just like a child, especially when giving a penny is like “natural to her as breathing” (Montogomery para. 13). According to Susanna Gilbert, Julian is consistent with O’Connor’s short stories as he is “powerless to change” and the mother’s shock could have been something that enlightens him” (para. 19). It may be intriguing that Julian thinks the mother is to blame yet he promises “Someday I’ll start making money’...he knew he never would” (Gilbert para. 16). Much like the evolutionary vision of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the symbol of the mother’s passing is Julian’s time to ascend, “which give the story its title” (Montogomery para.