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 the beginning Tennessee Williams formed Stanley and Blanche from the soil of repression and indulgence; he breathes desire into their nostrils causing them to become living souls. In the mist of the Elysian Fields garden was the tree of knowledge of death and redemption. Stanley the merciless predator of Blanche used the knowledge of the death of Belle Reve to expose Blanche’s nakedness. Blanche covers herself with puritanical fig leaves inadvertently exposing the primitive beast like qualities in Stanley. Tennessee Williams infuses Stanley and Blanche with contradictions of opposing class, differing attitudes about sex and the incongruent perspective on reality. Effortlessly these expressions of desire moves like a pendulum back and forth between Blanche and Stanley, the clock stops, ultimately exposing the neurosis of their souls. The author’s emancipation proclamation reveals how their contradictions became complementaries thus transcending the imagery of death into a pious redemption. Emphatically the author’s soul cries out from the grave, “Out beyond right-doing and wrong-doings there is a field I’ll meet you there,” (Rumi).
Isn't it true the relationship between Stella and Stanley is praiseworthy, since it combines sexual attraction with compassion for the purpose of procreation? Isn't it true that as opposed to Stanley's normalcy in marriage, Blanche's dalliance in sexual perversion and overt efforts to break up Stanley and Stella's marriage is reprehensible? Isn't it true that Stella's faulty socialization resulting in signs of hysteria throughout the play meant that she probably would have ended her life in a mental hospital no matter whether the rape had occurred or not?
Adversity can cause an individual to overcome their challenges and strengthen their identity, however, it can also have the opposite negative effect. Adversity can trigger an individual to lose their identity in their attempt to escape from their problems. In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, Blanche DuBois is unable to face adversity, which leads her to lose her individual identity during her attempt to escape reality. Blanche had experienced numerous hardships such as the deaths of many family members and the loss of her young husband, Allan. Instead of overcoming these challenges and becoming stronger, Blanche tried to run away from them.
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.
When discussing the notion that “Love can often lead to the creation of an ‘Outsider’." there are cases in our literary examples that would agree with the statement, and some that would not. Outsiders in Much Ado About Nothing, Pride and Prejudice and A Streetcar Named Desire are created by both love and other themes, whether it be class, power, disinterest or a scandal.
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.
she was told "to take a streetcar named Desire, and then to transfer to one
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?
After two world wars, the balance of power between the genders in America had completely shifted. Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is a harsh, yet powerful play that exposes the reality of the gender struggle. Williams illustrates society’s changing attitudes towards masculinity and femininity through his eloquent use of dramatic devices such as characterization, dialogue, setting, symbolism, and foreshadowing.
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.
“Symbols are nothing but the natural speech of drama…the purest language of plays.” Once, quoted as having said this, Tennessee Williams has certainly used symbolism and colour extremely effectively in his play, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. A moving story about fading Southern belle Blanche DuBois and her lapse into insanity, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ contains much symbolism and clever use of colour. This helps the audience to link certain scenes and events to the themes and issues that Williams presents within the play, such as desire and death, and the conflict between the old America and the new.
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.
In the book named “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams display many perspectives of cultural and morality difference. William shows the vulnerability of the female role in this play Stella and Blanch find happiness through the dependence on men even if they treat them nicely or insult them in anyway. William showcases the setting by institution and attitude in the setting of the postwar American where restrictions are held against women and this is shown through Stella and Blanche’s treatment from men in the play. Blanche and Stella sustain on the men to bring themselves up and create a perfect on self-image in their mind of themselves because they believe what they are told by the men. This idea is stated because they show the stereotypes in the postwar era where the show the domination of their opinion on gender.
A Streetcar Named Desire is a play founded on the premise of conflicting cultures. Blanche and Stanley, the main antagonists of the play, have been brought up to harbour and preserve extremely disparate notions, to such an extent that their incompatibility becomes a recurring theme within the story. Indeed, their differing values and principles becomes the ultimate cause of antagonism, as it is their conflicting views that fuels the tension already brewing within the Kowalski household. Blanche, a woman disillusioned with the passing of youth and the dejection that loneliness inflicts upon its unwilling victims, breezes into her sister's modest home with the air and grace of a woman imbued with insecurity and abandonment. Her disapproval, concerning Stella's state of residence, is contrived in the face of a culture that disagrees with the old-fashioned principles of the southern plantations, a place that socialised Blanche to behave with the superior demeanour of a woman brain-washed into right-wing conservatism. Incomparably, she represents the old-world of the south, whilst Stanley is the face of a technology driven, machine fuelled, urbanised new-world that is erected on the foundations of immigration and cultural diversity. New Orleans provides such a setting for the play, emphasising the bygone attitude of Blanche whose refusal to part with the archaic morals of her past simply reiterates her lack of social awareness. In stark contrast Stanley epitomises the urban grit of modern society, revealed by his poker nights, primitive tendencies and resentment towards Blanche. ...
Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the most popular plays in American history. The play contains this theme of Old South versus New South where old southern ideals and way of life clashes against newly formed ideals of the late 19th and early 20th century. The distinctions between the Old South’s emphasis on tradition, social class, and segregation versus the New South’s emphasis on hard work can be seen throughout the play. It is manifested in the main characters of the play. Blanche DuBois’s civilized and polished nature makes her a symbol of the Old South while Stanley Kowalski’s brutish, direct, and defying nature represents the New South. Tennessee Williams uses the characters of his play to present a picture of the social, gender role, and behavior distinctions that existed between the Old South versus the New South. Furthermore, the two settings provided in the play, Belle Reve and Elysian Fields can also be seen as different representations of the Old versus the New with the way both places are fundamentally different.