“He’s not the type that goes for jasmine perfume, but maybe he’s what we need to mix with our blood” (Williams 1794). Stanley’s wife’s sister, Blanche, has come to live with him and his wife, Stella. Tennessee Williams depicts a man who is a true blue-collared man infatuated with the female gender. In, A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley exhibits his sexuality and his dominance to assert that he is in control of the house. Williams makes Stanley’s dominance evident when he first introduces Blanche to Stanley. During this first encounter, Stanley doesn’t mind at all to make sure that Blanche knows that it is his house that she has come to stay at. As Stanley does take the time to simply ask her, “Do you mind if I make myself comfortable?” He then proceeds to remove his shirt (1787). With this question it has certain to make Blanche a little uncomfortable to meet someone new, her brother-in-law, and then he loses an article of clothing. Stanley does this act by just making himself known to be dominant and in control. Through this male attribute Stanley displays, he is able to do what he wishes in his own house. Through the narrative, Stanley is expressed through roaring noises. He is continuously trying to get his point across to Blanche, whom has a delicate personality, that he is superior to her. When speaking to Blanche, even through the stage directions Williams makes it evident that he is powerful. His voice is described as “booming” and “bellowing” when speaking to Blanche or Stella (1778, 1792). Williams defines this man as not a mellow person to have a conversation with. Through the stage direction, it is evident that Stanley means everything to make himself clear. Stanley is most certainly the alpha male throughout the stor... ... middle of paper ... ... of this reading, Stanley violates all rights of Blanche. As Blanche becomes delusional and slips into a psychiatric personality, she is okay hoping that Stanley will comfort and rescue her. Instead, “She moans. The bottle-top falls. She sinks to her knees: He picks up her inert figure and carries her to the bed. The hot trumpet and drums from the Four Deuces sound loudly” (1837). Stanley has tampered with Blanche’s wishes and rapes her. Through this statement it seems like Blanche has lost all faith in which she was and has let Stanley conquer her with his aggressive dominance. In conclusion, Stanley is a manipulative man who loves to uphold his domination towards others. He uses his verbal, emotional, and physical aggressive behavior to take control of others and depict himself as the “king.” Through the struggles other face before him, Stanley has total control.
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.
The syllable of the syllable. At this point, he is very drunk. Blanche, distracting Stanley by listening to the radio, instigates him to grab it off the table and toss it out the window. Stella, in a state of panic, tells everyone to go home, which angers Stanley so he chases after her and hits her. This type of behavior is not normal of any human being involved in any relationship.
...ices, such an attempt to elicit sympathy for this monster falls short” (Bell 2). Stanley is looked at as the monster of the play which is how he should be viewed. Luck was not on Blanches side through her life which made her make the mistakes she made. Even though her past was not clean, Stanley did not purge her of this. He tried to show her the reality of the world, but through his brutal treatment, only made her sensibility worse. Stanley is a primitive ape-like man, driven only by instinct, who views women as objects and has no respect for others. He is a wife batter and a rapist who is responsible for the crumbling sanity of Blanche who is “the last victim of the Old South, one who inherits the trappings of that grand society but pays the final price for the inability to adapt to a modern world that seeks to wipe grace and gentility out of existence” (Bell 2).
He said “Pig-Polack-disgusting-vulgar-greasy…Remember what Heuy Long said-“Every Man is a King!” And I am the King around here, so don’t forget it! My place is cleared! You want me to clear your places?”(Williams131). This proves that Stanley has a violent and disrespectful character. He claims that he is the man of the house and no one else can take his place even temporarily. Every time his dominance is doubted by someone else he feels challenged and impulsive. Especially with women, he gives them no respect but expects their respect and shows a deep desire for control. This relates to the thesis because he talks and acts with women in a very violent way, which makes them emotionally hurt. This scene is also very ironic because Stanley states that he is not an animal and that he is a hundred percent perfect American but in reality he has an inhuman behavior and he is savage, which is portrayed in the way he talks, eats , and acts with
In one conversation with Blanche, Blanche subtly insults him. He realizes this and thunders “Now let’s cut the re-bop!” (40) and scaring Blanche in the moment. With his loud, booming voice, Stanley is able to cause Blanche to cover her ears in pain and exhibit that he is powerful enough to be able to cause discomfort by merely raising his voice and putting her back in her place. Stanley obviously doesn’t do well with insults to his name because when Stella calls him a drunk animal, “Stanley charges after Stella… There is the sound of a blow… [and] the men rush forward and there is grappling and cursing” (63). It is obvious here that Stanley doesn’t like to be compared to an animal and began to take action to prove that that isn’t what you say to someone like him. However, it is ironic that his reaction is very animalistic in order to convey his strength and the magnitude of his masculinity towards his woman and towards the other men as he shakes them off. Another similar instance is when they were at the dinner table for Blanche’s birthday supper and he exclaims “Don’t you ever talk that way to me… I am the king around here, so don’t forget it” (131)!
Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is a play wrought with intertwining conflicts between characters. A drama written in eleven scenes, the play takes place in New Orleans over a nine-month period. The atmosphere is noisy, with pianos playing in the distance from bars in town. It is a crowded area of the city, causing close relations with neighbors, and the whole town knowing your business. Their section of the split house consists of two rooms, a bathroom, and a porch. This small house is not fit for three people. The main characters of the story are Stella and Stanley Kowalski, the home owners, Blanche DuBois, Stella’s sister, Harold Mitchell (Mitch), Stanley’s friend, and Eunice and Steve Hubbell, the couple that lives upstairs. Blanche is the protagonist in the story because all of the conflicts involve her. She struggles with Stanley’s ideals and with shielding her past.
Stanley’s lack of respect for Blanche’s mental fragility mixed with his verbal abuse and cruelty pushes her to the brink of insanity. Stanley does not only verbally abuse Blanche, but he also physically abuses her. The height of this physical abuse comes at the end of scene ten. Stella is in the hospital expected to deliver in the next 24-hours and Stanley comes home form the hospital to a distraught Blanche. Stanley is amicable and overjoyed with the fact that he will soon be having a son, while Blanche on the other hand has no hope in finding love or happiness having lost her opportunity with Mitch due to Stanley telling him about Blanche’s past. Blanche refers to Stanley as “swine” This upsets Stanley and he begins to taunt Blanche, even though he knows of her insecurities about her appearance. “Take a look at yourself in that worn-out Mardi Gras outfit, rented for fifty cents from some rag-picker! And with the crazy crown on! What queen do you think you are?” (10.107). Blanche’s reaction to his comments makes it evident that her remaining spirits are being broken. Stanley immediately looks to completely break her with physical abuse. He approaches her despite her requests for him to stay away. She smashes a bottle on the table and faces him, clutching the broken top (10.140). Stanley states Oh! So you want some roughhouse! All right, lets have some roughhouse!” (10.145) This marks the final step of Stanley’s breaking of Blanche’s mental state. ‘Tiger…! Drop the bottle-top! Drop it! We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!” She moans. The bottle-top falls. She sinks to her knees. He picks up her inert figure and carries her to bed
Also, the repetitive comparison of him to an animal or ape is the perfect image not the id as it is the instinctive part of your psyche. The way this passage leaves the reader is very powerful saying that “maybe he’ll strike you” is a good example of Stanley’s aggressive nature, and when Blanche says “or maybe grunt and kiss you” is a very good example of his sexual nature.
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 does not take notice of his wife’s concern, but instead continues on his original course, asserting his own destiny, without any thought to the effect it may have on those around him. This taking blood at any cost to those around him is foreshadowed in scene one, with the packet of met which he forces upon his wife. It is through actions such as these that Stanley asserts power, symbolic of the male dominance throughout patriarchal society. He also gains a s...
When we are first introduced to Stanley, the audience could perceive him to be slightly argumentative but ultimately harmless. When Stanley first meets Blanche he says “H’llo” which seems to be slightly too informal for a first meeting. Even though it could be seen as a little bit rude it is not an act of aggression. Furthermore, when talking to Blanche he asks lots of questions like “You’re a teacher aren’t you?” and “What do you teach?”
This gradual fall and loss of her sense of reality is truly tragic. Blanche is a person largely driven by the part of her that wants to be liked and be accepted. She cares greatly about how she is viewed and how she looks which is seen throughout the play. Even at the end when she’s living almost completely in the imaginations of her mind she asks Stella and Eunice how she looks before being taken away to an insane asylum. Tennessee Williams, the author of the play, uses all the conflict between Blanche and others, specifically Stanley, to show that fantasy is unable to overcome reality. Stanley and Blanche are both the epitomes of fantasy and reality. Stanley is a man focused on sexual drive, work, and fighting. He is exhibited as animalistic and strongly driven by his desires which is shown when he says, “Be comfortable. That's my motto up where I come from.” Stanley loves and searches after reality which is why he is so set on breaking down the facade he sees in Blanche. Blanche on the other hand is running from her reality and her past. Her fantasy of being high class and chaste is the exact opposite of her reality which is why she wants a life like that so badly. She wants marriage and stability, two things she was jealous of Stella having after arriving in New Orleans. Her fantasy she was building in her new life is shattered when Stanley is able to learn of her past and bring reality crashing down on her. Williams
Stanley’s “animal” and “primitive” nature are central to his identity, which is evident in his work, and of brawling. He doesn't appreciate when Blanche calls him a ‘polack’. He lacks resilience because when Blanche calls him a
Although Stella believes Stanley is ‘as good as a lamb’, his true identity is revealed through both his brutality and dominance he exerts on women, and the references to his animal-like nature used to accentuate this. Williams uses animalistic imagery to display Stanley’s primitive characteristics and this is evident at the start of the play when Stanley is seen throwing a package of ‘meat’ to his wife. This immediate symbol suggests both his role as a provider, as if he is a primitive hunter-gatherer, and has sexual connotations because of the phallic suggestiveness. His association with cavemen is emphasised by Blanche, who mocks him as ‘an ape’, ‘bearing the raw meat home’ and who understatedly complains that he is ‘a little bit on the primitive side’. This ‘little bit’ is an example of an understatement that is used to suggest the opposite, that she finds him remarkably brutish. From Blanche’s criticism that ‘[Stanley] acts like an animal, has animal habits!’, Blanche believes Stanley is putting on a performance, suggested by the word ‘acts’, and from the exclamation we can imply that Blanche has strong feelings of disgust and aversion towards him. This is furthered by her emphasis on his brutality through the repetition of ‘eats like one, moves like one, talks like one’ and the use of a tricolon places attention and emphasis on his actions which embody an animal. Williams therefore uses Blanche’s refusal to accept and normalise brutal behaviour to create conflict and this causes juxtaposition between their contrasting personalities to accentuate
The audience can sense that Williams has intended Stanley to question Blanche and for her to simply return his remarks with what seem like legitimate reasons "Why, those were a tribute from an admirer of mine." The conflict can only be increased because Stanley has not yet been able to dismantle Blanche and find the truth.