Misogny in a Street Car Named Desire

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

It was not just her self that put her in the lime light of being a victim; it is also her new change of environment and people. Stanley is Stella's husband; he is described to be very masculine and aware of his sexual magnetism. “Strongly, compactly built”. He is mostly at ease with people however, if they lack loyalty and affection to him, he will bully them. Especially women, as he believes them just to be easy conflict. It is seen in scene 3 that Stanley has little respect for women. “I said to hush up!” This is addressed to his wife who is seen emotionless and impassive in this play. As for Blanche how is fussy and at edge, she would be very effected by the crude attitude that Stanley presents and so tries to hysterical take Stella away from her husband. Stanley does not forget of this act of interference and makes him all the more determined to be rid of Stella’s “charity case”. The real reason for Stanley’s bulling is that Blanche immediately received all Stella’s attention. “How about my supper huh? I’m not going to no Galatorires’ for supper” This made Stella dominant in power over Stanley and Blanche, something Stanley was not used to. “I put you a cold plate on ice”.

Stella's marriage to Stanley, on the other hand, seems to have given her the happiness and fulfillment, which Blanche has attempted to find in a guilt-ridden life of loneliness with promiscuity. As a result Blanche has become neurotic and alcoholic, slipping increasingly into insanity. Stella, meanwhile, appears to have been thriving in a profane, coarse, but wholly satisfying sexual relationship with Stanley. Thus, superficially, the main contrast between Stella and Blanche seems to be one between sickness and health, perversity and normality, particularly in the sexual relationship. Stella is thriving; Blanche is disintegrating. But a closer examination of these sisters begins to show more complex differences in their characters and situations. Blanche is disintegrating for reasons other than sexual perversity, and Stella is paying a rather steep price for her so-called "normal" life with Stanley.

Although there is nothing wrong with Stella offering her sister a help and let Blanche stays in her place, but the biggest missing component, in this case, is the cause a huge embarrassment, that is Stanley. Stanley is Stella’s husband, they live together with peace and entertainment so far; nevertheless, the involvement of a third person would interrupt or even shatter the situation, and this person is Blanche. Stanley represents the new rising Americans, and we can envision him as urban-hunkey. His lifestyle is full of manhood; he goes to bowling, loves poker party, and we gain the picture of him as an aggressive, dominant and very sexual person. To satisfy Stanley is quite simple, first, his sexual desire would override his other senses, which means his sexual relationship with his wife is extremely important to him; second, Stanley enjoys maintaining stereotypical gender roles in his home and being respect as the head of the household. After Blanche’s visit, both of his old habits are being disturbed because Blanche takes herself as someone who’s more superior which goes against his gender role and she sleeps right across them with only a thin layer of the barrier which also stops his lovely night party with his wife. These reasons caused Stanley being so unsympathetic to the way Stella treats Blanche, which furthermore

Williams uses a different type of savagery in Blanche's character. Blanche is more deceptive and exaggerated than Stanley, trying to hide the effects of her hard life from others through constant bathing, avoiding bright lights and by lying, and from herself, by drinking.

Stella, too, is a major character who lives in a world of hopes and fantasies. Stella’s tears over her sister as Blanche was taken away at the end of play reveals that Stella’s fantasies have been crushed by Stanley’s brutality. Stella calls her sister, “Blanche! Blanche! Blanche!”(142) , as if she does not want to let go of her sister. In spite of the fact that Stanley tried to justify and to relief her, Stella knows that something acquitted and abandoned had banished. She knows that her happy and humble world and her sister’s hopes had gone. Through her fantasy world, she thinks she could keep her sister for ever, but fantasy does not always work and makes life appear as it should be rather than what reality is. Also, Blanche imagines the doctor as a gentleman who is going to rescue her from a life that she imagines it as a life that does not want to accept her. Blanche finishes the play by saying, “Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” (142). Blanche’s irony is demonstrated for two reasons. First of all, the doctor is not a gentleman; he came to take her to a mental health care. Second of all, strangers are not kind to her; they are kind only for trade of sex. Instead, they feel sympathy for her for creating a world where she is the victim. Blanche never perceives stranger’s kindness as something that people take advantage of. Instead, she thinks that Stanley is the one who does not treat her well, although he wanted

Blanche already throws a “low punch” at Stanley’s credibility without him even knowing. She is even more motivated by the fact that he travels sometimes, which could give her many opportunities to sulk to Stella about her problems and slowly disintegrate Stanley’s control of the apartment. Throughout the play, she continues to harp on Stanley's qualities, for instance, pointing out that she has not “noticed the stamp of genius even on Stanley's

Blanche’s unexpected arrival at the entrance of the play is what stirs an even bigger monster in Stanley. Upon her entrance, she immediately causes trouble due to her and Stanley’s differences. Blanche is a southern belle from a very wealthy background. She is very proud of being brought up in the upper class while Stanley is proud that he lead his own life through the working class. This makes him a very rude and animalistic man with a lower level of education. Even their first conversation

DP1: Despite Blanche telling Stella that Stanley raped her, she still decides to remain with him. One of the main reasons of why she remains with him is that she sees how her sister is a liar and both emotionally and mentally unstable. After Stanley tells her of the horrible reputation Blanche has created for herself in Laurel and about her involvement with a 16 year old high school boy, she no longer sees Blanche as the innocent sister that she left at

Tennessee Williams portrays contemporary women at the time when he wrote A Streetcar named Desire, 1945. Women in general were considered less worthy and they did not have a

Unfortunately, when Stella says ‘she’s not in anything she wants to get out of’ (scene IV), Blanche is forced to accept that Stella’s opinions on Stanley are very clouded by her love for

Stella makes a clear choice between reality and fantasy because 'of her relationship with Stanley’. Indeed, this echoes her willingness to overlook Stanley's physical abuse, excusing it as nothing I as serious as you seem to take it. Blanche has a younger sister Stella, who is married to a man named Stanley with who she shares a sexual relationship. She goes under the full control of her husband rather than going to her sister’s side due to having a child in her womb that belongs to him. This is represented in “A Streetcar Named Desire” where Stella uses a quote” But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark – that sort of make everything else seem – unimportant”.

Stella is innately cruel because of the claim that Stella’s sister Blanche made, saying that Stanley raped her in which she does not believe. While fantasy and illusions begin with Blanche, they do not end with her withdrawal in the play. As Blanche leaves with the doctor, Stella is still living in denial of Blanches claim “I couldn’t believe her story” she tells Eunice beforehand. The only way Stella could live with herself and still have Stanley was by telling herself a much greater lie one much greater than anything fashioned by her sister. Stella wants to be with Stanley because she in fear of becoming socially unnormal.

Also when Stanley is losing his poker game with friends, he gets mad at Stella for making a comment and he hits her to try and teach her a lesson. After everything has cooled down, he calls for Stella to come back down for him. And as soon as she comes back down to him, he immediately carries her off to the bedroom because that is his reality of showing his love for her (57, 60). He is lucky to have someone like Stella with him because a lot of women would not put up with just being a sex toy to her husband but would demand respect and better treatment. A good example of this is in the final scene, where Stanley goes out onto the porch after Blanche has been taken away and Stella is just inside holding their baby. She is crying because she is not sure if she made the right choice by sending her sister off to a mental hospital and could use the comfort/care of her husband. Stanley then proceeds to walk over to her, and the first thing he does is attempt to remove her blouse (142). That was one of many examples of how illusion plays a big part in Stanley’s life and really controls his actions.