Stanley Kowalski’s Violence in A Streetcar Named Desire In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, a main theme was domestic violence and how women were not respected before the 1970’s. Beating your wife was considered “family matters” and many people ignored this huge issue. Women were supposed to take care of the situation by themselves or ignore it. Ruby Cohn argues that Stanley is the “protector of the family” and that his cruelest gesture in the play is “to tear the paper lantern off the light bulb” (Bloom 15). Even though critics tend to ignore the ongoing domestic violence occurring in the play, it is a huge issue that even the characters in the play choose to ignore. This issue does not surface because of the arrival of Blanche and her lunacy. While the audience concentrates on Blanche’s crumbling sanity, it virtually ignores Stanley's violence. As Stanley continues torturing Blanche and draws Stella and Mitch away from her, Blanche’s sanity slowly dwindles. Even though she lied throughout the play, her dishonesty becomes more noticeable and irrational due to Stanley's torment about her horrible past. After dealing with the deaths of her whole family, she loses Belle Reve, the estate on which her and her sister grew up. This is too much for Blanche to handle causing her moral vision to be blurred by “her desperate need to be with someone, with ancestors for models who indulged in “epic fornications” with impunity, [Blanche] moves through the world filling the void in her life with lust” (Kataria 2). She also loses a young husband who killed himself after she found out he was gay when she caught him with another man. After that traumatic experience she needed “a cosy nook to squirm herself into because ... ... middle of paper ... ...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).
Her first problem is with the heroine of the play, Blanche DuBois, who, she claims, is "ironically made guilty for her own victimization. No longer fully human, she is simply a metaphor of all that is vile about women. Blanche cannot, then, claim tragic stature or even our sympathy precisely because she is a victim of rape. And as she becomes responsible for her own victimization, Stanley is left to glory in his ascendancy. This aspect of Streetcar arises from the misogyny which colors the play…" (Lant 226). Admittedly, Blanche does flirt with Stanley briefly at the beginning of the play—just as many women playfully flirt with their brothers-in-law. But as her relationship with Stanley deteriorates, she makes it quite obvious to him that she loathes the sight of him. Though the world in which Lant lives may be one in which a woman, playfully sprinkling her brother-in-law ...
Blanche wanted to start fresh when she went to visit her sister but Stanley would not give up on trying to bring her down. Stanley brings it up to Blanche that he has his suspicions about her when he says, “If I didn't know that you was my wife's sister I'd get ideas about you!”. Stanley investigating into Blanche is out of her control as she can not stop him from doing so. Blanche did things in her past but is trying to change her ways and her past is coming back to haunt her. Without Stanley’s countless efforts to bring down Blanche, she would be in a better situation than she ended up being in. Even the first time Blanche saw Stanley she knew he would try to bring her down. “The first time I laid eyes on Stanley I thought to myself, that man is my executioner! That man will destroy me”. Stanley does end up being her executioner and is the main reason for Blanche's downfall. In the end Blanche is left with nothing as everything she cared about is gone. This is the result of Stanley looking into her life and exposing her past. Stanley and his relentless efforts to bring down Blanche is out of her control and caused Blanche’s final
She passionately raves at length about the horrible deaths and her experience of loved ones dying around her; “all of those deaths… Father, Mother, Margaret, that dreadful way!” The horrific visions of bloated bodies and “the struggle for breath and breathing” have clearly cast a permanent effect on Blanche’s mind. She talks of the quiet funerals and the “gorgeous boxes” that were the coffins, with bitter, black humour. The deaths of Blanche and Stella’s family are important to the play as they highlight the desperation of Blanche’s situation through the fact that she has no other relative to turn to. This makes Stella’s decision at the end of the play seem even harsher than if Blanche had just simply shown up on her doorstep instead of going elsewhere.
During early times men were regarded as superior to women. In Tennessee William’s play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Stanley Kowalski, the work’s imposing antagonist, thrives on power. He embodies the traits found in a world of old fashioned ideals where men were meant to be dominant figures. This is evident in Stanley’s relationship with Stella, his behavior towards Blanche, and his attitude towards women in general. He enjoys judging women and playing with their feelings as well.
Firstly, the reader may initially feel Blanche is completely responsible or at least somewhat to blame, for what becomes of her. She is very deceitful and behaves in this way throughout the play, particularly to Mitch, saying, ‘Stella is my precious little sister’ and continuously attempting to deceive Stanley, saying she ‘received a telegram from an old admirer of mine’. These are just two examples of Blanches’ trickery and lying ways. In some ways though, the reader will sense that Blanche rather than knowingly being deceitful, actually begins to believe what she says is true, and that she lives in her own dream reality, telling people ‘what ought to be the truth’ probably due to the unforgiving nature of her true life. This will make the reader begin to pity Blanche and consider whether these lies and deceits are just what she uses to comfort and protect herself. Blanche has many romantic delusions which have been plaguing her mind since the death of her husband. Though his death was not entirely her fault, her flirtatious manner is a major contributor to her downfall. She came to New Orleans as she was fired from...
...d that a majority of blanches stories were a lie. Stanley and blanches relationship mimicked that of Napoleon and snowball in which napoleon felt threatened by snowballs presence and found the only way to maintain control was to exile him. Blanches inability to accept Stanley’s superiority is what leads Stanley to taking irrational measures and raping her. Stanley’s act mixed with the guilt of her lost love ultimately leads up to her mental breakdown which renders her in a state in which she must be institutionalized. In the end it would be Stanley’s behavior that would destroy Blanche and leave Stella questioning her love for him. Stanley had turned Stella against her own sister, abandoning blood in seek a better life with Stanley. In my opinion that is far more detrimental to there well beings than simply doing hard labour on a farm regardless of who’s running it.
Blanche’s immoral and illogical decisions all stem from her husband's suicide. When a tragedy happens in someone’s life, it shows the person’s true colors. Blanche’s true self was an alcoholic and sex addict, which is displayed when “She rushes about frantically, hiding the bottle in a closet, crouching at the mirror and dabbing her face with cologne and powder” (Williams 122). Although Blanche is an alcoholic, she tries to hide it from others. She is aware of her true self and tries to hide it within illusions. Blanche pretends to be proper and young with her fancy clothes and makeup but is only masking her true, broken self.
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.
Stanley plays a major role in the downfall of Blanche, as he coordinates it with no repentance. He begins by searching for the negative incidents of Blanche's past, and frequently initiates conversation with her, which makes Blanche believe that he is aware of her unhealthy past. This causes her to act insecure; as she believe her act has been broken. During his initial confrontation with Blanche after learning about the loss of Belle Reve, he says "Don't play so dumb. You know what (Williams, 41)." Stanley uses his some of his new found acquired knowledge and confidence, to make Blanche act uncomfortable. He does this in order to observe changes in her reactions, and find the truth about her stay. Soon after, Stanley acquires the takes of young Blanche, and goes on to spread them to the two closest people to Blanche, one of whom eventually turns on her (Mitch). Additionally, on her birthday, Stanley continues to mistreat her, and presents her with a gift, which makes Blanche feel both scared and insecure; bus tickets back to Laurel. Stanley, knowing her past is aware of Blanche's reputation in the small city, and intentionally buys these tickets to further harass her deliberately. He is aware, that these bus tickets will also signal that she has overstayed her welcome at his home. Following the tragic incident with Mitch, Blanche becomes extremely battered emotionally and Stanley inflicts more damage upon her. In an attempt to please, Blanche lies further about a lover named Shep Huntleigh, who is supposedly rich. Stanley, knowing that Blanche would be using these false lovers as her salvage decides to play along with her act and says, "Well this lover of yours, he better be the smart kind (Williams, 83)." Stanley is aware of Blanche's fibs about these lovers, and begins to ask and make peculiar comments, to which Blanche can, no
A Streetcar Named Desire is a play of multifaceted themes and diverse characters with the main antagonists of the play, Blanche and Stanley infused by their polarized attitudes towards reality and society ‘structured on the basis of the oppositions past/present and paradise lost/present chaos’(*1). The effect of these conflicting views is the mental deterioration of Blanche’s cerebral health that, it has been said; Stanley an insensitive brute destroyed Blanche with cruel relish and is the architect of her tragic end. However, due to various events in the play this statement is open to question, for instance, the word ‘insensitive’ is debatable, ‘insensitive’ can be defined as not thinking of other people’s feelings but Stanley is aware of what he’s doing understanding the mental impairment he causes Blanche.
Later on in the scene Stanley goes through Blanche’s belongings in a very careless manner as seen when he “pulls open the wardrobe trunk” and “jerks out an armful of dresses.” He becomes increasingly violent with his actions as he “hurls” and “kicks” Blanche’s
Next,Tennessee williams introduces the theme of violence to the reader in his play A Streetcar named desire between relationships with the characters Stanley,Stella,Blanche, and all the men Blanche discovers throughout the play. The role of domestic violence really hits a peak in the play because most of the violence takes place in a home between partners and spouses. Rape and Suicide are also forms of violence in the play. For example, Blanche a southern belle from Laurel,Mississippi is affected by violence more than any character in the play.She is affected when her late husband shoots himself after Blanche confronts him with his sexuality. “It was because-- on the dance floor -- unable to stop myself-- i suddenly said-- “i saw!” “I know!”
One of the first major themes of this book is the constant battle between fantasy and reality. Blanche explains to Mitch that she fibs because she refuses to accept the hand fate has dealt her. Lying to herself and to others allows her to make life appear as it should be rather than as it is. Stanley, a practical man firmly grounded in the physical world, disdains Blanche’s fabrications and does everything he can to unravel them. The relationship between Blanche and Stanley is a struggle between appearances and reality. It propels the play’s plot and creates an overarching tension. Ultimately, Blanche’s attempts to rejuvenate her life and to save Stella from a life with Stanley fail. One of the main ways the author dramatizes fantasy’s inability to overcome reality is through an explorati...
Blanche who had been caring for a generation of dying relatives at Belle Reve has been forced to sell the family plantation. Blanche is a great deal less realistic than Stanley and lives in illusions which bring upon her downfall.
Throughout, the story no explicit lines of good vs. evil are construed, in other words, no character is either completely good or bad, they simply represent conflicting philosophies that are divided by contradicting personal desires and needs. Interestingly, the resolution of struggle is finalized when Stanley subdues Blanche, shockingly, this is not out of context with the theme. That is to say, Blanche is not completely unwilling, she has her own desires that draw her to Stanley like a moth to the light, a light she avoids, yet yearns for. She had no issues, rejecting the more powerful statue of Mitch’s sexual advancements, however when it came to Stanley, she offered no threats, rendered no calls for help, and by their previous dialog acknowledged his