Essay about Comparison of a Street Car Named Desire and the Piano Lesson

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.

While Willy and Blanche have different images of the American Dream, both strongly reject the unfolding changes occurring in their realities in order to maintain the delusion of their personal dreams. Willy’s defiance to change is

The American Dream, the idea that anybody can be successful through hard work and dedication, has been a driving force in the American history. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby and Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun express the notion that the Dream itself is defined differently to different people. The American Dream is not the same for everybody, it is instead an idealistic achievement that changes based on who is driving themselves towards the Dream. Success through the Dream, therefore, is defined by the Dreamers themselves. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby achieves materialistic wealth, but that wealth is not enough to fulfill his definition of the Dream. Gatsby’s idea of success is to gain respect from others and to receive love back from the women he loves - Daisy. A Raisin in the Sun’s Walter Younger, on the other hand, desires wealth, and struggles utilizing the Dream’s ideals to attain said wealth. His definition of success revolves around a stable income that would allow him and his family a comfortable lifestyle where money is not as big an issue. Both Gatsby and Walter’s experiences and the polar differences in their Dream’s definitions reveals that the success of one’s Dream is based heavily on the person themselves and not measurable by tangible aspects such as wealth or respect.

In his plays, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams uses different ways to show in the play of social realism. It show each of individual character and focusing on how particular way of viewpoint contrast with men, and the perspective of looking at women. The play explores struggle of two character Stanley and Blanche, between appearances and reality which made the play’s plot more affected reality. Throughout this play, it show the symbolize of the gender roles and the power of men over women in the 1940’s in New Orleans.

Considering each character individually, it is obvious that Miller wanted to make a point that dreams are whatever we want them to be. The American dream is more or less just an outline or blueprint, and the individual determines the specific goals they themselves would like to achieve. Such thoughts applied to all characters in the play, Miller’s most extreme case being Willy Loman. A working man, a husband, and a father of two, Willy was traditional in his belief that a man in America could be prosperous and successful, but only if he was viewed

Throughout The Piano Lesson, Bernice is constantly getting into arguments with her brother over a piano that holds carvings of her family history. This piano is a very

What insights into the American Dream are offered through the novella Of Mice and Men and the film American Beauty? In your essay you must consider the influences of context and the importance of techniques in shaping meaning.

When one thinks of the American Dream, it is often associated with a lifestyle especially for middle and upper class Americans, and it is simply a dream for anyone of the lower class. However, both Douglass and Crane introduce works that reflect characters who seek the American Dream despite the oppression that comes with being in the lower class. In both works, readers see otherwise vulnerable characters with the determination to obtain to the ideal “American” dream. By choosing to reflect characters who are driven to obtain the American dream despite the oppressive consequences that come with being apart of the lower class is bold on the part of both authors because they suggest that

The Atlantic and Aspen Institute conducted a survey with Penn Schoen Berland to study how people viewed the American Dream in 2015. “72% said they are living the American Dream or expect to in their lifetime, 85% are happy with their lives overall, 72% are happy with their jobs, 86% are optimistic about the future, and 67% feel financially secure” (Feloni). One of the most memorable explanations of the American Dream was delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. for human equality. That said, the American Dream can be symbolized however the protagonist portrays and interprets it. Everyone’s opinion is a reality in their own eyes. This is factual in Arthur Miller’s play, “Death of a Salesman”, and Booker T. Washington’s speech, “The Atlanta Exposition.” The theme of both works uses a pathos approach to depict the obstacles they had to overcome in order to reach what they defined as the “American Dream.” The protagonists shared similarities as it relates to social acceptance, but their stories part different motifs of business success, monetary value, human equality, and compromise in an antagonist American Dream.

Compare and contrast the ways in which the American Dream is presented through Walter Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘ A Raisin in the Sun’ and Willy Lehman in Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of the Salesman’

Boy Willie, however, wants to release the past and sell the family piano so he can have a new start in life and forget the painful past. "The Piano Lesson" is both unique to the plight of African-Americans and universal in its depiction of the human condition (Gale, 2000, p249). The sibling rivalry, past history versus present time and future, storytelling and gender relationships all cross both unique and universal boundaries. To illustrate, even in today's society there are sibling rivalry that pit brother against sister, brother against brother or sister against sister together to the point of bitter battle. In addition, there are still people in today's society that have difficulties in resolving painful past experiences with the present and future. In regards to gender relationships, there are still a lot of mysteries in the realm of love between two people. Bernice is the African-American way, staying true to her roots and not parting with the heritage. Although she finds this painful, she will not part with her heritage. Her heritage is “tangible in the presence of the piano itself” (Sparknotes, 2014). Therefore, even though the theme of this play surrounds itself around African-Americans, the situation can easily be applied to all races and time periods.

It is already known by the whole family that Bernice refuses to part with the piano, and Boy Willie’s new plan for the piano does not change her mind. Bernice believes that the piano symbolizes her family’s history and the struggle that they

At most times, the American Dream resembles an ideological puzzle more than a fully realizable image. Within the confines of her fantastical, theatrical world Lorraine Hansberry attempts to fit a few of these pieces together and, in the process, ends up showing exactly how everything doesn't just snap-together all nicely. The problems in her play, A Raisin In The Sun, deal primarily with the basic nature of humans and their respected struggle's to "make it" in America.

Each character in the novel has their own interpretation of the ‘American Dream – the pursuit of happiness’ as they all lack happiness due to the

Compare how the authors of Death of a salesman and “street car named desire explore the conflict between truth and illusion