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Tennessee williams streetcar named desire
Explore the extent to which Williams presents ‘a streetcar named desire’ as a tragedy
Fantasy and realism in a streetcar
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Though the “primitive,” rituals described in Schechner’s article diverge from the realism found in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, the same “reactualization” process exists in his work. Williams’ Streetcar focuses on the “mock battle” or complete contest between the generational cultures symbolized by Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski’s characters. Blanche, representative of the fallen southern aristocracy, searches for sensitivity and kindness in the new world of Stanley Kowalski, the modern labor class. In Blanche’s search for safety, the semiotic theatrical qualities of the play become a ritualistic “clash of the titans” as both Blanche and Stanley fight for domination and control over the future generations realized in Stella’s womb. Yet the tragic dethronement of previous generations - represented by Blanche’s exile from the community and her subsequent departure for the asylum – leaves the audience without an Aristotlean catharsis. Rather, the classically regenerative “sacrifice of the hero…is gone; what we have instead is a resignation to general guilt,” (Vlasopolos, 323), as Williams’ titanic “unmasking” dies away rather than resolving the conflict. With such little hope offered in Williams’ dénouement audience members frequently question Streetcars’ resolution, finding no reactualizing forces in the death characters’ masks. However, the answer to this question lies in the mythological characterizations Williams creates in the battle between Stanley and Blanche. By examining the basic semiotic properties Williams foregrounds in both Blanche and Stanley’s titanic characters the audience may understand the moral force actualized in A Streetcar Named Desires as mythic ritual.
Tennesse Williams’ ...
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...colors of men” have already been established in earlier instances in the play. When Stanley first meets Blanche, he is returning from the bowling alley. Though the stage directions do not explicitly state whether or not Stanley wears his bowling shirt in this scene, the bowling alley evokes the images of Stanley’s bowling shirt, “his green and scarlet bowling shirt,” (717). In this case, Stanley’s appearance not only demonstrates his generations definition of masculinity, as an “aggressive, indulgent, powerful, and proud expression of sex,” (Falk, 95), but also as a bright splotch of color in the otherwise “physical grubbiness,” (Brown, 41) of his home. Thus, Stanley’s character, through both his physical gestus and colorful costumes, becomes symbolic of his generations masculine dominance, overwhelming and controlling the environment in which Blanche arrives.
In this passage, Williams’ emphasises the nature of Blanche’s demise through the contrapuntal mode of the scene juxtaposing Blanche’s bathing with Stanley and Stella’s conversation. Williams wrote in a letter to Elia Kazan, who was to direct the film production of the play, that ‘It is a thing (misunderstanding) not a person (Stanley) that destroys (Blanche) in the ends’. This passage is significant as it shows the extent of Stanley’s misunderstanding of Blanche and his stubbornness to ascertain his condemnations to Stella. Furthermore, the use of colloquial lexis shows the true feebleness of Stanley’s claim because his judicial façade is diminished and shows the dangerous influence of claims as he sways Mitch away from Blanche. Stella’s character
Blanche, a fading beauty, uses her sugary charm and soft southern ways to attract men. In comparison, Stanley "sizes women up at a glance, with sexual classifications" to "determine the way he smiles at them" (Williams, Street 29). Course and deliberately aggressive, he is a "survivor of the stone age" (Williams, Street 72). Despite their differences, they both possess a raw sensuality. In their first confrontation, Blanche's thick display of charm angers and attracts Stanley.
Or, as Mary Ann Corrigan later puts it [as does Judith J. Thompson, 38], the Blanche-Stanley struggle is purely an external dramatization of what is going on inside Blanche’s head: “the external events of the play, while actually occurring, serve as a metaphor for Blanche’s internal conflict” [Corrigan, 392]. Critics who share Sharp’s and Corrigan’s views feel that Streetcar is essentially a psychological drama about Blanche’s internal struggle with herself.”
In Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire, main character Blanche Dubois to begin with seems to be a nearly perfect model of a classy woman whose social interaction, life and behavior are based upon her sophistication. The play revolves around her, therefore the main theme of drama concerns her directly. In Blanche is seen the misfortune of a person 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.
she was told "to take a streetcar named Desire, and then to transfer to one
However, there are also many instances where Stanley, a common working-class man, reveals his desire to be powerful and manly in his relationship with Stella, a woman who is of high class. Stanley is a man from a poor background and is married to a woman with a rich family history. Logically, Stanley may feel intimidated by Stella’s upbringing and feels that it is crucial to oppress her; it is hinted many times throughout the play as Stanley clearly demonstrates he is the one that holds the power by the way he treats Stella. Right from the start of the play, with Stanley’s introduction, he comes “around the corner… [with] a red-stained package from a butcher’s” (4), much like how an animal would bring its kill back home. With this, it is an analogy to a leader, Stanley, of a pack that brings back the food for the others to eat. The reliance of Stanley to bring back home the food broadcasts his will as the almighty alpha male that holds more importance than Stella. Furthermore, Stanley “heaves the meat at her (Stella),” (4) treating her as like a servant and also making a sexual innuendo. This action is one of disrespect and lets Stella know that she is under Stanley. This is an example of Stanley seeing Stella as a slave, a sexual object, under his control. Control is a large factor to Stanley as a husband and as a person. This is apparent when Stella explains that “Stanley doesn’t
“A Street Car Named Desire” is a critically acclaimed play by Tennessee Williams, which emphasizes the sexual desire and tension between characters Blanche Dubois, Stanley Kowalski, Stella Kowalski and Harold Mitchell. Throughout the play, Blanche is so nervous and on edge that a slight disturbance could shatter her sanity. However, Blanches ambition for love and “magic” is what truly affects the other characters in the play and cements the idea that Blanche is a proper lunatic. A street car named desire not only focuses on tense family relationships present in the play but as well as the affects of insanity caused by an individual ambition, which in this case is the desire for love through the protagonist Blanche Dubois. In the play “ A street car named desire” by Tennessee Williams, Williams creates the idea that Blanche’s crazed ambition for “magic” and love is impossible because of her destitute and unforgettable past and her ambition for love leads to her own collapse and downfall.
Stanley is, at first sought to be a dominant, rough individual but William’s use of stage direction implies an opposing thought. For example, Williams describes Blanche’s bed near the bedroom of Stella and Stanley’s, but what is so vital about the position of the bed readers may question. Conclusively, Stanley’s...
Stanley, the protagonist, is a symbol for society’s view of the stereotypical male. He is muscular, forceful, and dominant. Stanley’s domination becomes so overwhelming that he demands absolute control. This view of the male as a large animal is revealed in the opening of the play where Stanley is described as “bestial.” His power and control throughout the play are foreshadowed in the opening stage directions.
From the moment Stanley and Blanche met the contrast between the two characters was apparent, Stanley even points out ‘The Kowalskis and the DuBois have different notions’ (S2:pg.135*). Williams uses the dramatic device of colors to symbolize a distinction between Stanley and Blanche; Stanley wears vivid colors ‘roughly dressed in blue denim’(S1:pg.116*) representing his masculinity and authority he possesses in the Kowalski household, before Blanche arrived, in contrast to Blanche who ‘is daintily dressed in a white suit’ (S1:pg.117*) representing purity and femininity. Blanche wears white at the beginning of the play thinking she will be able to hide her impure behaviour but Stanley saw right her act and knew she would be a threat to his marriage with Stella. The reason being is that Blanche constantly criticizes Stanley making derogatory comments about him calling him a ‘common’ and ‘bestial’(S4:pg.163*) along with conde...
The arts stir emotion in audiences. Whether it is hate or humor, compassion or confusion, passion or pity, an artist's goal is to construct a particular feeling in an individual. Tennessee Williams is no different. In A Streetcar Named Desire, the audience is confronted with a blend of many unique emotions, perhaps the strongest being sympathy. Blanch Dubois is presented as the sympathetic character in Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire as she battles mental anguish, depression, failure and disaster.
2. What causes Mitch and Blanche to take a "certain interest" in one another? That is, what is the source of their immediate attraction? What seems to draw them together? What signs are already present to suggest that their relationship is doomed/problematic?
Since Blanche’s arrival, Stanley has questioned Blanche’s lifestyle, accused her of theft and engaged in other verbal confrontation. As Mitch’s friend, Stanley deems it necessary to share what he has uncovered about Blanche’s deception and misbehavior with Mitch. After not attending Blanche’s birthday dinner, Mitch visits Blanche late in the evening. In this passage, Mitch reveals to Blanche what he now knows about her and tears off the paper lantern so that he can expose Blanche for who she is. This passage suggests that Mitch embodies the same masculinity already established in Stanley. Utilizing dialogue, characterization, and stage directions, Williams reveals the likeness between the two men.
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.
The non-fiction novel A Street Car Named Desire is based after World War 2 in New Orleans. Blanche an English teacher at a high school in Laurel, Mississippi has lost her family estate and is now visiting her sister Stella in New Orleans. Blanche was a known to be in a higher social class than Stella but has now planned an extended stay with her at her apartment in Elysian Fields. Stella lives with her husband Stanley in the apartments along with her good friend upstairs Eunice who looks out for her later in the story.