A Streetcar Named Desire Feminist Analysis

In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, the female protagonists of the play, Beatrice and Hero, and Blanche and Stella, are submitted to battles against misogyny. Unlike the stereotypically submissive Elizabethan woman, Beatrice is ready to be ‘a man’ (Act 4.1.315) for the sake of her wronged cousin Hero and duel against ‘Count Comfit’ (Act 4.1.314). Blanche, while fighting against Stanley as ‘he advances’ (Scene Three, page 41) towards, and hurt, Stella, became relatable to a modern day audience when fighting against Domestic Violence. These women challenge the status quo of their eras, whether it is effective or not.
Through personality, Beatrice is seen as a woman with a colourful palette, as shown in her reference to Benedick as ‘Signor Mountanto’ (Act 1.1.28). The Latin derivative, mispronounced deliberately as ‘Mountanto’ (Signor Mountanto, N.D. Available from https://www.digitaltheatreplus.com/study-guides/much-ado-about-nothing/keywords-and-questions/signior-mountanto¬ [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015]), served as a ‘bawdy’ (ibid) euphemistic pun. The pun

implies that Beatrice, hierarchically below Benedick, believes him to be nothing more of a hormonal, fancy fencer. It also presents the connotation that she had been educated at home. Catherine Tate’s portrayal of Beatrice in Josie Rourke’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing shows a relaxed approach in reciting the euphemism, whilst Eve Best in Jeremy Herrin’s adaptation is presented slightly more scornfully. Nonetheless, Beatrice is seen to have been challenging the idea of ‘disobedience (towards being) seen as a crime’ (Elizabethan Women, N.D. Available from http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-women.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015]) through her insulting remark about Benedick.
Such colourful phrases are also seen in Beatrice’s opinion of marriage. The opinion, supported with an extended metaphor of dance, shows a shrew-like image within Beatrice. Alongside dancing, a semantic field of life and suffering can be seen in her opinion. The tripling of ‘wooing, wedding and repentance’ (Act 2.1.64-65) sums up the stages of life which she believes to be nothing more of tedious than ‘a Scotch jig, a measure and a cinquepace’ (Act 2.1.65-66). The tedium felt by Beatrice progresses as she describes these stages. During this time, single women would have been ‘looked upon with suspicion’ (Elizabethan Women, N.D. Available from http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-women.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015]) and thought to ‘be witches by their neighbours’ (ibid). A similar belief was instilled by Leonato when he regards his niece to ‘be so shrewd of thy tongue’ (Act 2.1.17). McEachern states that to be shrewd was to be ‘sharp, critical… penetrating (and unladylike)’ (McEachern, 2007, page 178) and Beatrice is, typically, unladylike in mannerisms when speaking to the opposite sex is concerned. Thus, although being mortal, Beatrice’s attitude towards normality around marriage is that of similarity to what would have been witches in Elizabethan England.
Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire also presents not only a colourful palette, but an experienced knowledge of literary works.

In her first appearance at the Elysian Fields, she displays disgust clearly about the location. Her statement of ‘only Mr Edgar Allan Poe’ (Scene One, Page Eight) being able to ‘do (Elysian Fields) justice!’ (ibid) makes inferences to Blanche being well educated, and as a teacher of English. The incomplete exclamatory sentences also imply that Blanche’s colourful palette is an overwhelming aspect of her discourse. The developed vocabulary is distinct in seeing the role of women post war in America. Blanche would have been one of the many that ‘took on many new roles’ (mibba.com, 2012, The 1940s: An Extreme Society, [online] Available at:http://www.mibba.com/Articles/History/5102/The-1940s-An-Extreme-Society/ [Accessed 15 Dec. 15]) such as

teaching.
Another instance where Blanche’s knowledge of literature is evident in A Streetcar Named Desire is where her first conversation with Mitch leads to an inscription of Sonnet 43 by ‘Mrs (Elizabeth Barrett) Browning’ (Scene Three, Page 37) being recited. Incidentally, the inscription reflects the discourse of Blanche. The hyphenated pauses between ‘better - after - death’ (ibid) reflects the difficulty in Blanche’s speech, particularly where her ‘nerves’ (Scene One, Page Seven) results in an inability to complete her question of ‘Where- where- where is- (Stanley?)’ (ibid). Her lack of ability to communicate with ease contrasts with Beatrice’s quick witted responses, particularly when both females communicate with the male protagonists Stanley and Benedick respectively.

Both protagonists face the challenges of the male dominance in differing situations, despite being centuries apart. Gender Inequality is an issue that is still apparent in many of today’s societies, but it is not to the extent of which Beatrice and Blanche had to experience it. Although indirectly, Beatrice is distraught at the sight of her ‘cousin (who) is belied’ (Act 4.1.146). This stand-alone exclamatory presents Hero’s renouncement as one of being a farce and the underlying anguish within Beatrice.