Mental Illness In Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire

Unlike character, characterization can be defined as methods an author uses to create the characters. Two examples an author can use are direct characterization where a character is directly described by the author, and indirect characterization where the character is revealed by their actions, reactions of other characters, thought, and speech. There are a few scenes in the play where the author directly describes a character. One example of major direct characterization comes from scene one in which Stanley is first introduced and described. Tennessee Williams writes, “Branching out from this complete and satisfying center are all the auxiliary channels of his life, such as his heartiness with men, his appreciation of rough humor, his love of good drink and food and games, his car, his radio, everything that is his emblem of the gaudy seed-bearer.” (Williams 84). His description of Stanley gives the reader a picture of how he acts and how he will act throughout the rest of the story. Much of the indirect characterization of the play can also be centered around the heated topic of sensuality. Blanche is an important character whose characterization heavily relies on her actions related to sensuality, and other’s reactions to her actions. “Blanche waltzes to the music with romantic gestures. Mitch is delighted and moves in awkward imitation like a dancing bear.” (Williams 97). This quote shows the relationship between Blanche and Mitch, a potential love interest, after she

Blanche’s financial decline, illuminating her vulnerability, links to Aristotle’s theory that the tragic heroine must fall, allowing the audience to relate to her. Her insecurities – “I won’t be looked at in this merciless glare!” stereotypically reflects the insecurities women feel about their appearance and age. The uses of imperatives and exclamatory sentences suggests Blanche’s obsession over her appearance, a flaw leading her to dismiss her true identity. Her inability to avoid drink and her compulsive lies, demonstrated in her frequent references to Shep Huntleigh’s letters, makes her a more authentic woman than Stella, who is described by Williams as the “gentle, mild and contented one”. Blanche’s loss of identity, dominated by her homosexual husband’s suicide, exacerbates her solitude – “The boy-the boy died. (She sinks back down) I’m afraid I’m – going to be sick!” The fragmented, repetitive speech Blanche uses illustrates her guilt and pain, whilst the physical act of “sinking” highlights the extent of her regret, giving a sense of foreboding for her downfall. Her guilt is also exacerbated by the implied physical act at the end which shocks the contemporary audience, who would not sympathise with homosexuals, evoking pity and reinforcing that “Streetcar” is a tragedy for Blanche.

This essay will describe whether or not Blanches’ unfortunate eventual mental collapse was due to her being a victim of the society she went to seek comfort in, or if she was solely or at least partly responsible. The factors and issues that will be discussed include, Blanches’ deceitful behaviour and romantic delusions which may have lead to her eventual downfall, the role Stanley ended up playing with his relentless investigations of her past and the continuous revelations of it, the part society and ‘new America’ played in stifling her desires and throwing her into a world she could not relate to or abide by.

Blanche’s dependent nature makes her particularly susceptible to the effects of guilt, a vulnerability which Williams creates in order to allow her emotions to become so extreme that they lead to insanity. At the play’s conclusion, she tells the doctor that she has “always depended on the kindness of strangers,” (235) and although insanity has by this point deprived Blanche of her grip on reality, her statement rings true. Indeed, from Blanche’s first moments on the stage, the audience witnesses her dependence on others in both her imposition on the Kowalski household and her constant need for Stella’s attention and assistance. Psychotherapist Nathaniel Branden reports in The Psychology of Self-Esteem that moral independence is an essential element of self-forgiveness; a lack of psychological autonomy contributes to feelings of worthlessness and unquenchable guilt (Branden 165). Consequently, Blanche’s total dependence on others renders her incapable of forgiving herself for the role she played in Allan’s suicide. Instead of accepting her error and moving on, Blanche remains trapped in her emotional anguish, which grows in intensity and destroys her mental health. Williams creates in Blanche this psychological vulnerability because it allows him to imbue her with guilt that is severe enough to lead to madness.

This play is about people who display cruelty and harshness in their treatment to others, especially those who are weak and vulnerable. Blanche Dubois is the central victim of mistreatment even though she had tried to make Stanley the victim. She displays her self as fragile and moth like, dealing out her share of insensitivities that happened during her younger days. Also because of her moth like image, the other characters see her as an easy target to knock down and use her insecurities against her. Her figure and appearance also reveals her vulnerability and delicacy. “Slim figure, face of delicate, fading beauty” All this and her clinging on to material preferences, being reassured by alcohol make her a victim to ours and the other

     This play takes place in New Orleans Louisiana. New Orleans is a very lively town that is known as a party town and for it being a rough town. New Orleans is a town in which inhibition is suppressed and people try to have fun all the time, while not worrying about the little things in life. This is especially true for the French quarter of New Orleans, which is the setting for this play. New Orleans is know for Mardi Gras and illusion, but it is also a city of reality. Blanche does not

One of the roles of this excerpt is to provide the background towards understanding Blanche, and the justifications for her mental state and actions. It is evident that in the past she belonged to a higher class where extravagance was common. But when her family in

of scene 2; she says, "I ought to go [to the sky] on a rocket that

There is a great deal of alcoholism in the play. Blanche DuBois drinks often and drinks in excess. Alcohol abuse further distinguishes Blanche's character because in the 1940s, it was atypical for women to drink so much, and even more rare for women to be so publically alcoholic as Blanche. Those behaviors were stereotypically reserved for women. Blanche is very much aware of her problems and her social isolation. She uses her alcoholism as a way to escape from facing herself directly as well as to escape from other aspects of her reality that she perceives too difficult to bear or change.

"A Streetcar Named Desire" is one of the most renowned 20th century American plays and films. The playwright is Tennessee Williams, a respected author whose works artistic and structural merit warrants their study into the 21st century. There are numerous aspects and points Williams makes with his works, including "A Streetcar Named Desire." Out of the richness this text offers, this paper will focus upon issues of mental illness and abuse in the play. No doubt an aspect that makes Williams' characters so vivid are their flaws, weaknesses, and desires. Where a person's character lacks weakness and what a person desires reveal a great deal about that person and provide insight into the choices they make. The paper will discuss aspects of abuse and mental instability in the characters and plot of "A Streetcar Named Desire," and will reference the play directly to underscore any points.

I would like to analyze a tragic heroine Blanche DuBois appearing in a play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) written by Tennessee Williams. My intention is to concentrate on the most significant features of her nature and behaviour and also on various external aspects influencing her life and resulting in her nervous breakdown. I would like to discuss many themes related to this character, such as loss, desire and longing for happiness, beauty and youth, pretension, lies and imagination, dependence on men and alcoholism.

In Tennessee Williams play “A Streetcar Named Desire” madness continues to get progressively worse in the lives of the main characters Stanly, Stella, and Blanche. Because of low self esteem and her delusional thought process Blanche is most affected by the madness. Blanche’s delusional life style leads her to compulsively lie, live a promiscuous life style, and alcoholism. Blanche tries constantly to deal with her own madness, but her delusional mental state is constantly effect by the people around her. Although she causes most of the problems in her life some of her madness is justifiable. By the end of the play Blanche can no longer fight off the madness and is sent to an insane asylum. Even though most of the madness that occurs

Tennessee Williams' modern day myth shows the struggle between Blanche, Stella and Stanley. A struggle that leads her to go to a mental institution. Blanche pretends to be a woman who has never known indignity, Stanley sees through Blanche’s act and finds out information about her past. Blanche’s illusions have become the struggle with her imagination and realism. Even an optimist thinker like herself would have to face an obstacle. The only time she had a positive life and everything was moving the way she liked was in Blanche's past with her past young husband Allen. Everything that Blanche does and everything that comes out of her mouth is to have that life back, that youth life. That happiness was also an illusion, her husband’s homosexuality had only way to deal with it, and it was by marrying her. An example of Blanche's flirty personality is in her relationship with Mitch. In the beginning of this relationship it is automatically based on physical attraction. When standing under the light Blanche captures his attention by showing her feminine curves. They Both have a problem of their own and are lonely individuals. Blanche with her confusion and Mitch with his ill mother. If Blanche didn't keep secrets and tell lies Mitch would have been reasonable with her but all she had to do was tell him the truth and a line she said, "I don't want realism. I want magic!" (Scene 9, pg.117). Japanese lantern that Mitch ripped off from the bulb represents the fact that its over,

A Streetcar Named by Desire written by Tennessee Williams tells a tale of a character, Blanche who moves in with her sister, involving herself in a volatile relationship between her sibling, Stella and her husband, Stanley. A similar narration, Blue Jasmine, conducted by Woody Allen depict a similar storyline, where a woman, Jasmine, moves to her adopted sister’s home due to the arrest of her wealthy ex-husband. In both stories, characters Blanche and Jasmine relate to another through the development of a mental sickness and the purpose of certain melodies played during the film and play.

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.