More handpicked essays just for you.
Literature review on domestic violence thesis
A streetcar named desire blanche character study
Character of Blanche in a streetcar named Desire
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Literature review on domestic violence thesis
A Streetcar Named Desire Project
The young and beautiful Stella Kowalski-DuBois is carefree and overall a happy woman. But sometimes, things get in the way of her happiness, whether it be her husband, Stanley, going on about how he dislikes her sister, Blanche, or Stanley continuously putting his hands on Stella. The question here is, why does Stella stay with such a manipulative man? Is it Stanley who won't let Stella leave? Or is it Stella who doesn't make an attempt to leave? By Stella constantly forgiving Stanley for hitting her and not attempting to leave, she is allowing Stanley to believe she'll take him back no matter what, making it harder every time for her to escape. Stella is ultimately responsible for the abusive and unstable relationship.
Most people would agree that nobody, man or woman, deserves to be a victim of domestic abuse and treated as if they are worthless. Stella is a victim, but her good heart comes into play even after Stanley hits her. In scene four of A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella explains to Blanche why Stanley hitting her wasn't as big of a de...
He wants her to be truthful and "lay her cards on the table" but simultaneously would "get ideas" about Blanche if she wasn't Stella's sister (Williams, Street 40-41). Their relationship overflows with sexual tension as they battle for Stella. Stanley, the new south, defeated Blanche, the old south. After destroying her chance for security, his sexual assault erases her last traces of sanity. Similarly opposites are found in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
Isn't it true the relationship between Stella and Stanley is praiseworthy, since it combines sexual attraction with compassion for the purpose of procreation? Isn't it true that as opposed to Stanley's normalcy in marriage, Blanche's dalliance in sexual perversion and overt efforts to break up Stanley and Stella's marriage is reprehensible? Isn't it true that Stella's faulty socialization resulting in signs of hysteria throughout the play meant that she probably would have ended her life in a mental hospital no matter whether the rape had occurred or not?
In Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire"(Williams 2008-2075; additional references by page number only.) the characters are extremely physical. The most physical of all characters in the play was Stanley Kowalski. Stanley is considered to be a brutal, domineering man with animal-like traits. The best relationship to illustrate Stanley's brutality is the one between he and his wife, Stella. Stanley treats Stella badly. He beats Stella and is impolite to her in front of other people. He rarely takes her suggestions and often scolds her. Stanley only acts kindly to Stella when he wants to make love with her. There is evidence in scene three of Stanley's brutality. [At the poker game.] STELLA: How much longer is this game going to continue? STANLEY: Till we get ready to quit. ...Why don't you women go up and sit with Eunice? STELLA: Because it is nearly two-thirty A.M.... [A chair scrapes. STANLEY gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh.] STELLA: [Sharply.] That's not fun, Stanley. (to Blanche) It makes me so mad when he does that in front of people. (2026-27) ...Shortly after this incident during the same scene... [BLANCHE turns the radio on. STANLEY stalks fiercely through the portieres into the bedroom. He crosses to the small white radio and snatches it off the table. With a shouted oath, he tosses the instrument out the window.] STELLA: Drunk, drunk animal thing, you!... BLANCHE: [Wildly.] Stella, watch out, he's... [STANLEY charges after STELLA.] MEN: [Feebly] Take it easy, Stanley. Easy fellow... STELLA: You lay your hands on me and I'll... [She backs out of sight. He advances and disappears. There is the sound of a blow, STELLA cries out. BLANCHE screams and runs into the kitchen. The men rush forward and there is grappling and cursing. Something is overturned with a crash.] BLANCHE: [Shrilly.] My sister is going to have a baby! (2031) These are just two examples of Stanley's brutality towards Stella. Near the end of the play, the reader discovers that Stanley has raped Blanche. This is probably considered to be his most brutal act during the play. Stanley doesn't want to let anyone destroy his marriage. When he finds that Blanche is talking bad about him to Stella, he tries his best to "defeat" Blanche by staying with Stella. Blanche would say things such as "He acts like an animal, has an animal's habits!.
Throughout the play there are numerous examples of the power he possesses of her. Williams portrays Stella as a little girl who lives in Stanley’s world. She does what he wants, takes his abuse, yet still loves him. Situations like these may have occurred in the 1950’s and lasted, but in today’s time this would only end up in a quick divorce. The first scene of the play (pg. 14) Stanley has just thrown a piece of meat up to Stella as he turns the corner heading for the bowling ally.
I think Stella wanted to stay married to Stanley because of many of the same reasons nobody got divorced in the late 1940’s. In these years all family households were a two parent household. The way marriage was suppose to work was once you got married you must stay married no matter how miserable it was because of the societal pressure. Divorce was known to carry a stigma. If Stella was to leave Stanley it would be hard for her to get a decent job since women could only have certain jobs. If Stella was to leave Stanley the lifestyle she is use to would be gone because money for her would be hard to get. In these years if you were to get divorced you were looked down on since you were expected to be married and have kids. In Stella's case she
The character Stanley represents the theme of reality. Stanley Kowalski is the simple blue-collar husband of Stella. His actions, reactions, and words show reality in its harshest most purist form. His actions are similar to a primitive human. For example he doesn’t close the door when he uses the restroom. This rudeness represents the harsh reality that Blanche refuses to accept. Moreover, when he was drunk he hit Stella. This attack on Blanches sister could be a symbolic “wake up” slap to the face of Blanche.
The two important female characters in the "poetic tragedy"(Adler 12), A Streetcar Named Desire, are Stella and Blanche. The most obvious comparison between Stella and Blanche is that they are sisters, but this blood relationship suggests other similarities between the two women. They are both part of the final generation of a once aristocratic but now moribund family. Both manifest a great deal of culture and sensitivity, and because of this, both seem out of place in Elysian Fields. "Beauty is shipwrecked on the rock of the world's vulgarity" (Miller 45). Blanche, of course, is much more of an anachronism than Stella, who has for the most part adapted to the environment of Stanley Kowalski. Finally, both Stella and Blanche are or have been married. It is in their respective marriages that we can begin to trace the profound differences between these two sisters.
Stella, Stanley's wife in the play, is a passive woman. She is displayed this way through how she responds to the people and situations around her. When she is beaten by Stanley, she understands that his drunkenness takes hold of him and he has no control over his actions. She knows he never means her harm and his intentions are good.
She struggles with Stanley’s ideals and shields her past. The essential conflict of the story is between Blanche, and her brother-in-law Stanley. Stanley investigates Blanche’s life to find the truth of her promiscuity, ruining her relationships with Stella, and her possible future husband Mitch, which successfully obtain his goal of getting Blanche out of his house. Blanche attempts to convince Stella that she should leave Stanley because she witnessed a fight between the two. Despite these instances, there is an essence of sexual tension between the two, leading to a suspected rape scene in which one of their arguments ends with Stanley leading Blanche to the bed.
... ignorance; and this was the undeniable tragedy that caused her downfall in the end. Stanley was angry when Blanche told Stella that she did not like him, but he never gave her a chance. Stanley despised her from the beginning. Neither Stanley nor Mitch was intelligent enough to comprehend that not everything is black and white. They perceived her as a deceitful whore. Stella chose her violent husband over her sister. Also, Mitch could not overlook her mistakes. Mitch focused on her flaws which blinded him from seeing the beauty and love Blanche had to offer. Blanche wanted their love, but each of their individual flaws sunk her deeper into a hole. The people around Blanche were unwilling to change and develop an open-minded way of dealing with her situation. Blanche needed kindness and affection, but nobody was able to give it to her when she needed it the most.
Stella Kowalski’s character, parallels to Stanley’s and represents the ego in the play. herself from her hometown and start a life in this vigorous world made by Stanley. she stands for the ego who wants to create a balance between desires and ideas, between body and soul, heart and mind to have a normal life. Blanche is the only one who wants to warn her of what she does. Loving Blanche, she also dislikes her and at the same time fears her. She hopes Blanche marry Mitch for her sister’s sake and for herself too. Actually she wants to get rid of
In contrast, Stella is overly mild-tempered and always striving to please. Generally, she is able to adapt to all situations. This ability to adapt proves to be useful, as both her husband and her sister, Blanche, have such strong personalities. From the beginning, it is apparent that Stella often plays the peacemaker. She was able to foresee that Stanley and her visiting sister would clash. In hopes of avoiding any confrontation, she warned them both to be on their best behaviour. Stella is soft-spoken, speaking only when it is needed, and expressing her grief only when it overwhelms her, whereas Blanche is the opposite: an outspoken woman, with many opinions.
Stella represents an important part in this drama by providing a contrast to how life can change people when they go down different paths. In Contrast to her sister, Stella is bound to love. Although she fell in love with a primitive, common man, she most definitely loves him. Stella desires only to make Stanley happy and live a beautiful life together. She wants to find peace between her sister and her husband yet instead she finds conflict afflicting her on both sides. Blanche uses her dilutions and tries to sway Stella away from Stanley yet Stella takes all these slanders and belittles them. Stella does this because she loves Stanley and since she is pregnant with his baby.
Stanley (Stella's husband) represents a theme of realism in the play; he is shown as a primitive, masculine character that is irresistible to Stella and on some levels even to his "opponent" Stella's sister Blanche.
After all, who else could deal with a sibling like Blanche? Stella was extremely tolerant of her sister. She was sensitive to both Blanche and Stanley's needs. She knew deep in her heart that Stanley loved her. This allowed Stella to care for her husband despite the fact that he abused her when she was pregnant with their child.