Thematic Comparison Of The Glass Menagerie And A Streetcar Named Desire

In Tennessee Williams’ plays Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire, several characters suffer by lying and by being unaware of reality. Both plays demonstrate and signify the themes of illusion vs. reality and mendacity through past trauma, alcohol abuse, and through strained family and marital relationships. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Brick is an example to all of these factors through his past with his friend skipper, his abuse of alcohol, and the lack of love he shows for his wife, while in A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche encounters similar problems as Brick with her past trauma and her alcohol problem. The two plays share many similarities

The text from A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie, both written by the renowned author Tennessee Williams, deal with the topics of life's pressures, and the desire to succeed in everything we do. Oftentimes, people place unrealistic expectations upon us and set the bar higher than we can achieve, or even want to reach. People end up developing mechanisms to deal with these stresses and tensions that have been created (Billington 2016). We find other unhealthy habits and vices to supplant the reality we are trying to escape, that hopefully will take away this pain and suffering we are experiencing. In both of these plays, the characters are not able to live in their present realities. Two of the main characters are closely listate.

Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams’ dramatic play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, earned him fame and praise on Broadway in the 1950s. However, Williams’ other works such as Camino Real, A Street Car Named Desire and “…The Glass Menagerie opened on Broadway…” put his name out in the world of drama (Biography.com Editors, 2015). Born as Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911, he was raised in Mississippi mostly by his mother due to his father, a salesman, favoring his job and drinking over family. The marriage between his mother and father was in distress and his home was “…a tense place to live;” in consequence their marriage was a factor in Williams taking up writing (Biography.com Editors, 2015). Williams studied journalism in college, later graduating from the University of Iowa and moving to

Williams wrote about his life. The Glass Menagerie is a very autobiographical play. A Streetcar Named Desire, although meant to a play that anyone can relate to, also contained characters and situations from his life. In both plays, the characters are drawn from his life. The other relationship

Tennessee Williams used his life experiences to write many successful plays. One of his most successful plays is A Streetcar Named Desire. In this play Williams relates the characters closely to his father, mother, and sister. William’s father was a gambler, a drunk, and very aggressive. Williams’s mother was a Southern Bell and looked down upon people that were not like her, and his sister was suffering from psychological disorders. Stanley is like William’s father, Blanche is like William’s mother and sister, and Allan, Blanche’s dead husband, is like Tennessee Williams. Suchitra Choudhury says that “Tennessee Williams’ plays are acknowledged to be substantially constituted of violence and victimization. . . . Williams’s

“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

    Tennessee Williams allows the main characters in the plays, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie, to live miserable lives, which they first try to deny and later try to change.  The downfall and denial of the Southern gentlewoman is a common theme in both plays.  The characters, Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire and Amanda from The Glass Menagerie are prime examples.  Blanche and Amanda have had, and continue to have, many struggles in their lives.  The problem is that Williams never lets the two women work through these problems and move on.  The two ladies are allowed to destroy themselves and Williams invites the audience to watch them in

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is not only considered to be the best play written by Tennessee Williams but is also arguably one the greatest plays ever written. The play has a very Shakespearean sensibility with a southern twist while also having an original complexity woven throughout the entire body that became unique as William’s signature artistry. The most important attributes of the play is the construction and motivation of the characters, the juxtaposition of illusion and reality, as well as the relationship between the dialogue and stage directions. The play’s characters are ultimately defined and driven by their gender identity and sexuality, hence the title “A Streetcar Named Desire”. This is evident in the number of

"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.

In “A Streetcar Named Desire” Tennessee Williams reflects upon the conflict of reality versus illusion through the characterization of Blanche, Stella, and Stanley. In the play, Illusion is defined by a character’s hope or wish of how reality could be, or in some cases they ignore reality. Blanche, Stella, and Stanley choose to live a desired life of illusion and ignore reality.

For my final essay in literature, I decided to take on the task of comparing and contrasting the two poems: “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “A Doll’s House.” Inside the great works of writing, there frequently exist parallels between characters, settings, and topics. A particularly fascinating case of parallels among characters exists between Nora in Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and Williams' " A Streetcar Named Desire. " In this paper, the parallels between these characters will be displayed, not just in the outward appearance and conditions of both, yet in addition as far as normal topics, imagery, and more keeping in mind the end goal to give a balanced bit of research and assessment of these unpredictable protagonists.

The article is about the small and fragile role of women in the play. In the years that Tennessee William wrote his plays, everything seems to be mostly dependent on men. In “The Glass Menagerie,” Amanda and Laura Wingfield depend on Tom for their survival or in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Blanche DuBois always depends on the male strangers. However, these women do not want to acknowledge their state of exile and continue to struggle for a piece of dignity and social standing even when the battle seems lost. The article describes the details of the plays very well and convincible; however, the information about gay men or lesbian should not be mentioned in this article if its title is “Tennessee William’ women in a man’s

Tennessee Williams, the playwright of A Streetcar Named Desire, dedicates to giving his artwork life through the stage directions. What makes stage directions; in general, so vital to a play is the fact that they are the key to the “mind” of the play, as well as the authors. While viewers may not realize the little details of the play while watching it, such as a red shirt or a blue window, those minor details make much of the structure of the play what it is and the overall message that it bears. From the moment we enter the play to the point where everything comes to an end, Williams conveys his message through literary elements mostly found in the stage directions. He mainly uses different types of imagery, such as visual and auditory, as

Tennessee Williams’ play, “The Streetcar named Desire,” was introduced to our class. In his play, Williams addresses various issues such as gender roles and homosexuality during the 1947s. The group interactive oral presentations helped me better understand the text of the play, as well as the characters, as to why they are depicted the way they are. In addition, it helped me better understand Blanche’s character. The presentations covered wide range of topics such as symbols, gender roles, biography of Williams and how he incorporated it into the play, and the inspirations included from his other two plays: “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and “Glass of Menagerie.”

Have you ever submerged yourself into a word of illusion to escape from the cold hearted reality of the world? This theme of escaping from reality and into illusions is explored throughout the play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. What exactly is the difference between illusion and reality? An illusion is a deceptive idea or belief whereas reality is the actual state in which the world actually exists. In A Streetcar Named Desire, the characters seem to divulge into their own fantasy when encountered with a harsh reality. This concept is explored through each character’s desire in indulging in illusions versus their reality.