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Symbols and motifs in a streetcar named desire
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Jerell, It was a pleasure reading your response for this weeks discussion. I agree with your opinion, in which Tennessee Williams portrayed each of the temperaments of the men differently. Williams opened the scene with the men playing poker. This scene showed the men interacting with one another in their “natural habitat” allowing the reader to see the different attitudes of the men. In my opinion, Mitch is seen as compassionate and gentlemen like because he states, “I gotta sick mother. She don’t go to sleep until I come in at night” (Williams 47). On the contrary, Stanley, an insensitive character, replies with, “Aw, for sake of Jesus, go home, then!” (Williams 48). Mitch is more of a gentleman than Stanley due to the fact Stanley drunkenly
Insincere? The definition is not expressing genuine feelings. This was a trait that was possessed by many people in the time period of the 1920’s. The detrimental effects of war and post-war life left many people questioning if genuine people still existed in the world. This was shown by two extremely influential writers of this time period, F. Scott Fitzgerald and E.E. Cummings, whose engrossment in the insincere life of others inspired and influenced them to write on it. F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer of the novel The Great Gatsby, and E.E. Cummings, writer of the poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town”, convey a similar theme in their works through the use of tone, imagery, and motifs. Both selections are about the insincerity and carelessness
Although both forms of poetry came about at the same time, they focus on different things. Allen Ginsberg focuses on social change as a beats writer while Robert Lowell, a confessional poet, is more descriptive about himself and the particular mind frame he is in.
Within Tennessee Williams's story about love and abuse within marriage and challenging familial ties, there lie three very different characters that all see the world in vastly different ways. These members of a family that operate completely outside of our generation’s norms, are constantly unsure of themselves and their station within the binary not only of their familial unit, but within the gender binary that is established for them to follow. Throughout the story of the strange family, each character goes through a different arch that changes them irrevocably whether it is able to be perceived or not by those around them. The only male, Stanley is initially the macho force in the home who controls everything without question. He has no consequences for his actions against his wife and is never held accountable for treating the people around him poorly; this lasts until Blanche arrives. Blanche is an outwardly demure, but spirited young woman who after experiencing untold misfortune breaks mentally and decides to no longer care what others may think of her. She lives her life lavishly and foolishly by having dalliances with younger or richer men who shower her with gifts and attention to get sex from her all too willing form. Her effect on Stanley is one of temptation and challenge; she continually tries to convince her sister that she is too good for the man and in turn fosters a resentment for her in him. Stella acts as the antithesis of Stanley and Blanche’s extreme personalities. She is innocence and purity where they are the darkness that threatens to overtake her life. Throughout, Stella is a pawn that they both try to use against the other to no real avail as she is determined to make the best choice for herself. In th...
Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911. As a successful playwright, his career was greatly influenced by events in his life. He was noted for bringing the reader "a slice of his own life and the feel of southern culture", as his primary sources of inspiration were "the writers he grew up with, his family, and the South." The connection between his life and his work can be seen in several of his plays.
Tennessee Williams uses several literary elements to reveal how characters respond differently to the world. The characterization of Blanche and Stanley is essential, as Stanley is depicted as an insensitive, brutal creature who has no regard for others' emotions. Therefore, he feels no regret as he destroys the relationship between Blanche and Mitch.&n...
In Williams’ Streetcar Named Desire the characters represent two opposing themes. These themes are of illusion and reality. The two characters that demonstrate these themes are Blanche, and Stanley. Blanche represents the theme of Illusion, with her lies, and excuses. Stanley demonstrates the theme of reality with his straightforward vulgar ness. Tennessee Williams uses these characters effectively to demonstrate these themes, while also using music and background characters to reinforce one another.
Thomas Lanier Williams was born on March 26th, 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi. Williams wrote fiction and motion picture screenplays but is primarily acclaimed for his plays. Thomas was the first son and second child of Cornelius Coffin and Edwina Dakin Williams. He was named after his paternal grandfather and insisted to be called Tom by the age of ten. His siblings include an older sister named Rose and a younger brother named Dakin. Williams spent a great deal of time with his sister Rose because she was not very stable, emotionally or mentally. Daryl E. Haley once said that Rose "was emotionally disturbed and destined to spend most of her life in mental institutions." Tom was primarily raised by his mother because his father was a traveling shoe salesman. Edwina Dakin Williams was the daughter of a minister and very over protective of Thomas. She began to be over protective after he caught Diphtheria when he was five years old. His mother was also an aggressive woman caught up in her fantasies of genteel southern living. Amanda Wingfield, a character in his play The Glass Menagerie, was modeled after Williams' mother. Cornelius Coffin Williams, Tom's father, spent most of his time on the road. Cornelius came from a very prestigious family that included Mississippi's very first governor and senator. Mr. Haley also states that Tom's father was "at turns distant and abusive," that is, when he was actually around. Toms father also repeatedly favored his younger brother Dakin over both of his older children. Big Daddy, in Tom's play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, is modeled after his father. Thomas once said, in reference to his parents relationship, "It was just a wrong marriage." From 1923 to 1926 Thomas attended Ben Blewette Junior High, and was at this time that some of his first stories were published in a local newspaper.
George Orwell has reputed to have once said “Happiness can exist only in acceptance.”; thus all humans want to be welcomed in some way or another. The idea of acceptance also applies to A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Although these two literary pieces are very different in many ways, the protagonists’ trajectories, as they try to gain acceptance, share very important points in their structure. Both protagonists create illusions to hide their past, they break social restrictions by challenging the status quo, and they are both delusional, refusing to accept reality which later leads them to their demise.
Eugene August describes Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ as a profoundly male tragedy, one in which its protagonist is destroyed by a debilitating concept of masculinity . Masculinity is of course an ambiguous term and araises a gamut of views. Willy Loman, a failed salesman, embodies the deluded values and aspirations that could be said to originate from the American Dream, which infiltrates every aspect of his life. Whilst Willy is influenced by material and consumerist success, reflecting the play’s setting in the increasingly urbanized, cosmopolitan New York, Stanley Kowalski in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ defends imperilled masculinity in his less socially progressive community of Elysian Fields by resorting to primitive male behaviour in order to assert his dominance and territory. Despite the playwrights’ portrayals of masculinity, both suggest that male behaviour is shaped by their society’s concept of masculinity in order to survive.
The Glass Menagerie is an eposidic play written by Tennesse Williams reflecting the economic status and desperation of the American people in the 30s.He portrays three different characters going through these hardships of the real world,and choosing different ways to escape it.Amanada,the mother,escapes to the memories of the youth;Tom watches the movies to provide him with the adventure he lacks in his life;and laura runs to her glass menagerie.
“I don 't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don 't tell the truth, I tell what ought to be the truth. And it that 's sinful, then let me be damned for it!” (Goodread, quotes). This quote comes directly from one of Tennessee William’s most famous novel, A Street Car Named Desire representing William’s way of life. Tennessee Williams is the pen name for Thomas Lanier Williams, born March 26, 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi. He had a troubling boyhood; His father worked as a traveling salesman which required for him to be constant traveling around the world. Because of this,
“Stanley Williams – Murderer, Thief, Philanthropist.” This was how a bibliography website described the occupation of Stanley Williams. It was very bizarre to see those three strikingly different words in the same sentence because they don’t normally belong together. Stanley Williams was not at all what anyone would classify as normal though. He grew up with very bizarre living conditions. Stanley Williams was born on December 23rd 1953 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father left the family early on and forced Stanley’s mother, who was seventeen at the time to raise him. In 1959, he hopped on a greyhound train with his mother and moved to sunny Los Angeles. He started wandering the streets at six shortly after moving because he found his home life boring. He had to quickly learn how to defend himself on the streets and described that he could only either be the predator or the prey. Without strict parental influence, William grew up idolizing criminals, pimps and drug dealers. During his times on the street, he met Raymond Washington. Together, they founded one of the most notorious gangs in the United States-the Crips. Through the gang, he was accused of performing terrible atrocities. He was accused of killing four people through actions supposedly accepted by the gang. It’s sometimes disputed whether or not he killed those people at all. In one newspaper, an author strongly voices his opinion that Williams didn’t even murder the four. The author even says, “This society needed a Black man to kill and they killed him”. (New York Amsterdam News) It’s believed that Williams didn’t even kill the four people he is accused on killing. Many people think it’s the fact that he had a biased, all white jury during his sentence. Although ...
Characters with widely different personalities and beliefs create a number of diverse and tense relationships among characters in the play 12 Angry Men written by Reginald Rose. The opposing personalities of juror number eight, juror number two and juror number three greatly influence the direction and message. The main theme is the differences of jurors, which helps to bring a more human verdict. Due to the fact that
...a significant difference between the two. There is far less physical attraction between Blanche and Mitch and more of a need for companionship, love, and sincerity. As the play continues and we watch how Stanley slowly destroys Blanche, the question "Does physical brute force, such as that of Stanley, overpower and dominate over the non-physical emotional force such as that of Blanche?" This scene and comparison of the two relationships aids this argument.
Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer is a one-act play with a cast of colourful characters ranging from the eccentric Violet to the troubled Catherine. One individual, George Holly, is more minor than others, and as such might get overlooked. However, the Fictional World method of analysis uncovers new insight into his nature. By analysing George’s character in the Social World of the play specifically, we get a better understanding of how traumatic and powerful the climax really is.