Misguided Feminist Reaction to A Streetcar Named Desire Essay

This scene finally comes to a close with a striking final image specified in the stage directions, where Stella 'embraces' Stanley 'fiercely and full in the view of Blanche' who himself 'grins through the curtains at Blanche’. From this, one may infer that even in this early stage of the play, Stella has actively chosen Stanley, exemplified by how she hugs him 'fiercely', as if she is doing this solely to defy Blanche's wishes, and Stanley's 'grin' then implies he is aware of this and is triumphant.

The reader may view Blanche as someone who tried to escape her sordid past in Laurel and wanted to start a new life with her sister, yet due to the continuous investigations from Stanley, was unable to do so. Stanley reveals Blanches’ lies and deceits, commenting on them as her ‘same old act, same old hooey!’ This tells the reader that his research of Blanches’ past is way of stopping her from finding a new life. Blanche attempts to redeem her life by finding love with Mitch, yet Stanley again reveals to Mitch that she was not ‘straight’, resulting in Mitch not wanting to be with her and also contributing to her fate. Stanley, after mercilessly divulging all her truths and bringing her to the edge of her mental capacity, rapes Blanche which brought about her final collapse. The reader may view Stella as someone at blame for her sisters’ fate, as though she shows some moral support of Blanches’ situation and listens to what she has to say, Stella continuously throughout the play neglects to notice Blanches slow mental deterioration and ignores Blanches’ outcries and incessant need for attention. Stella chooses Stanley over Blanche, despite her warnings about him being ‘volatile, violent and sub-human which represents not

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

“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

The point of Stanley aim for power over women, especially over Blanche not his wife Stella. Between with Stanley and Blanche have a lot of thing going on. The audience show unbiased toward to Stanley, getting

The role of women in the 1950 was seen to be repressive and constrictive in many ways. Society placed high importance and many expectations for these women on behavior at home as well as in public. Women were supposed to fulfil certain roles, such as a caring mother, a diligent homemaker, and an obedient wife. The perfect mother was supposed to stay home and nurture so society would accept them. In fact, even if a woman wanted to voice an opinion, her lack of education would not allow it . The play A Streetcar Named Desire is set during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s period where it describes the decline of a fading Southern belle named Blanche DuBois. The women in this play are represented to be dependent and submissive in nature and in addition they are also seen to be manipulative. However, Williams has also portrayed these women to be independent and taking control of the situation. This can be seen through the use of the main characters

Lastly the dependence of men plays an extremely large role in this book. Williams uses Blanche’s and Stella’s dependence on men to expose and critique the treatment of women during the transition from the old to the new South. Both Blanche and Stella see male companions as their only means to achieve happiness, and they depend on men for both their sustenance and their self-image. Blanche recognizes that Stella could be happier without her physically abusive husband, Stanley. Yet, the alternative Blanche

Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire does not employ a variety of dramatic techniques to challenge the audience to explore the idea that the security offered by relationships can decline into a struggle for dominance. Rather, Williams’ uses said techniques to challenge the audience to understand how personal deterioration can lead to the decline in relationships, not through struggles for dominance, but through struggles for the basic conservation of said relationships. This is because the relationships portrayed in A Streetcar Named Desire only provide the illusion of security, seen through the relationship between Stella and Stanley, but provide no real guarantee of security. This concept is effectively explored through Tennessee

Williams’ concern regarding the oppression of women in male-dominated societies is apparent throughout A Streetcar Named Desire. As stated by Nancy Tischler; “as a gay man, Tennessee Williams felt he was particularly sensitive to the status of women- powerless” (57). His portrayal of Stella as a victim of Stanley’s machismo illustrates this sensitivity and is a construct of his unease. At the exposition of his play, Williams establishes Stella’s place in her society through the stage instructions; “she jumps up and kisses him [Stanley] which he accepts with lordly composure.” This portrays Stanley as the lord of the household, implying that Stella is beneath Stanley both figuratively and physically. Stella’s entire identity is centred around her role as Stanley’s wife and she has no means to support herself without him, financially or socially. Once she hears that Stanley has sexually abused Blanche, her reliance on him forces her to choose her manipulative husband over her abused and mentally ill sister. She states “I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley,” emphasising the destruction of independence which is experienced by females in patriarchies. For a contemporary

Social upheaval in many senses was explicit through the beginning of the twentieth century; two world wars had - for a short time - shifted the balance of power between men and women. Women were increasingly employed to fill positions which had previously been considered masculine. This was not to last however, and by the fifties men had reassumed their more dominant role in society. People were finding new voices at this time by taking pre-existing forms and pushing the boundaries to re-voice established literary forms. Tennessee Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire around the time this reversal was occurring in American society. Williams was a homosexual from the deep south of America, and his play is about physical, emotional

This also shows to the audience the impact the rape has had on Blanche- that it has completely severed her already tenuous grasp on reality, accelerating her descent into madness, also showed by her anxious remark of “Why are you looking at me like that? Is something wrong with me?” . Blanche’s helplessness is reinforced as she is “pushed back” by her sister and Eunice whose domineering attitude over the conversation and planning taking place, allows the audience sympathy towards Stella although she has stated that she ‘couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley’ holding no importance to the truth, likening her to her sister; the idea that the truth is of little importance compared to the magic they both chase. Williams accentuates this power change and thus understanding of Blanche’s fate before she herself knows through the conspiring nature of Stella and Eunice in turn creating sympathy for Blanche and

In ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Williams emphasises and explores the roles and representations of both, men and women within the Traditional Period. The playwright highlights the patriarchal and unjust notions of the period through 3 central characters; Stella, a representative of the ideal Traditional gender role; Blanche who contrasts to Stella and pressures the traditional aspects of a woman. And Stanley who is represented as dominant and masculine, symbolising the male dominance and supremacy within society. In the Simpsons episode, ‘Lisa Vs Malibu Stacy’ Lynch represents women as intelligent and independent. The portrayals of women have become less restrictive and women are now able to convey their internal characteristics of independence

The play A Streetcar Named Desire revolves around Blanche DuBois; therefore, the main theme of the drama concerns her directly. In Blanche is seen the tragedy of an individual caught between two worlds-the world of the past and the world of the present-unwilling to let go of the past and unable, because of her character, to come to any sort of terms with the present. The final result is her destruction. This process began long before her clash with Stanley Kowalski. It started with the death of her young husband, a weak and perverted boy who committed suicide when she taunted him with her disgust at the discovery of his perversion. In retrospect, she knows that he was the only man she had ever loved, and from this early catastrophe

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.

Even today the word “feminism” still has a bitter taste to it. Though it basically just means equality between men and women (feminine) still many people refuse to label themselves with it. Some even fail to recognize the problem in the first place since they are not directly affected by it. But for every dollar a man earns a woman still only get between fifty- five and eighty cents (Tyson 85), the phrase “you throw like a girl” is still an insult and while it is fine for a women to dress in men clothes a man in women clothes is often shunned and ridiculed. My personal explanation for this is that our society thinks that it is degrading for a man to be female. It often still seems that our society thinks that women’s sole purpose is to please