The Raw Power of A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named Desire contains more
within it's characters, situations, and story than appears on its surface.
As in many of Williams's plays, there is much use of symbolism and
interesting characters in order to draw in and involve the audience. The
plot of A Streetcar Named Desire alone does not captivate the audience. It
is Williams's brilliant and intriguing characters that make the reader
truly understand the play's meaning. He also presents a continuous flow of
raw, realistic moods and events in the play which keeps the reader
fascinated in the realistic fantasy Williams has created in A Streetcar
Named Desire. The symbolism, characters, mood, and events of this play
collectively form a captivating, thought-provoking piece of literature.
A Streetcar Named Desire produces a very strong reaction. Even at
the beginning of the play, the reader is confronted with extremely obvious
symbolism in order to express the idea of the play. Blanche states that
she was told "to take a streetcar named Desire, and then to transfer to one
called Cemeteries". One can not simply read over this statement without
assuming Williams is trying to say more than is written. Later in the play,
the reader realizes that statement most likely refers to Blanche's arriving
at the place and situation she is now in because of her servitude to her
own desires and urges. What really makes A Streetcar Named Desire such an
exceptional literary work is the development of interesting, involving
characters. As the play develops, the audience sees that Blanche is less
proper and refined than she ...
... middle of paper ...
...st into a reality which is not his own, yet somehow seems familiar.
This realistic fantasy Williams creates with his brilliant use of symbolism,
intriguing characters, and involving action in the play causes the reader
to connect fully with the setting, characters, conflicts, and emotions
within.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adler, Thomas P. A Streetcar Named Desire: The Moth and the Lantern.
Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990
Kernan, Alvin B. "Truth and Dramatic Mode in A Streetcar Named Desire, In
Modern Critical Views: Tennessee Williams." Ed. Harold Bloom. New York:
Chealsea House Publishers, 1987
Quirino, Leonard. "The Cards Indicate a Voyage on A Streetcar Named Desire,
In Modern Critical Interpretations: Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named
Desire." Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1988
In Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams uses the suicide of Blanche's husband to illuminate Blanche's insecurities and immoral behavior. When something terrible happens to someone, it often reveals who he or she truly is. Blanche falls victim to this behavior, and she fails to face her demons. This displays how the play links a character’s illogical choices and their inner struggles.
Each of us has innate desire to understand the purpose of our existence. As Hermann Hesse illustrates in his novel Siddhartha, the journey to wisdom may be difficult. Organized religion helps many to find meaning in life but it does not substitute careful introspection. An important message of Siddhartha is that to achieve enlightenment one must unite the experiences of mind, body, and spirit.
While the idea of attaining enlightenment can be taught, the method or path of attaining that enlightenment cannot be taught or passed along. For most of his life, Siddhartha tries to achieve enlightenment through the rejection of his desires, thus becoming a Samana. Soon enough, however, Siddhartha realizes that the path of the Samana is not the right one for him, and soon after he starts to study the doctrine of the Buddha. Yet Siddhartha soon starts to see flaws within the Buddha’s doctrine:
Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha discusses the life and spiritual journey of Siddhartha, a Brahmin contemporary of Gautama Buddha. Siddhartha’s name, a portmanteau of the Sanskrit words for “achieved” and “what was searched for,” invites comparison to the Buddha himself, who went by the same name when he was a prince. Unsatisfied with his spiritual state as a Brahmin, Siddhartha immerses himself in various other life philosophies. In his pursuit of enlightenment, he becomes a Samana, meets Buddha, and attempts a citified materialistic lifestyle, but these options all leave him unfulfilled. It is not until Siddhartha begins a simple life alongside secluded river that he is spiritually satisfied. Siddhartha is a bildungsroman in its appreciation of the protagonist’s spiritual journey to maturity and enlightenment, and his reuniting with Vasudeva shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.
Even though this meant that she would not be able to see or interact with her children for all that time. The pain that she feels is evident when she says, “ At last I heard the merry laugh of children, and presently two sweet little faces were looking up at me, as though they knew I were there, and were conscious of the joy that imparted. How I longed to tell them I was there”(97). She tolerated being locked away in an enclosed dark space for 7 long years in order to free her children from the current master that owned them as slaves, showing how having someone to put ahead of yourself makes you stronger and more resilient as a
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.
Through Bartleby’s flat and static character type, it is amazing how many different types of conflict he causes. From the first order to examine the law copies, to the last request to dine in the prison, Bartleby’s conflictive reply of “I would prefer not to” stays the same (Melville 150). In this way, he is a very simple character, yet he is still very hard to truly understand. Even ...
From the beginning of the story there was a sense of who was who in the story. The narrator who is the lawyer is the boss. He has four copyist who in deed was his employees. The narrator told each person what to do to show that he was the man in power. However, with Bartleby he was a special case that the boss notice. Every time Bartleby was ask and told to make copies Bartleby always said he preferred not to. There were
told Allan "I saw, I know, you disgust me…"( p.96). To Allan, Blanche seemed to
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?
We have the entrance of the motionless young man, Bartleby. Bartleby appeals to the lawyer in part, because unlike the other guys in the office, he is not going to make any trouble. In fact, the lawyer has this fantasy that he is going to bring Bartleby into the office and maybe Bartleby’s calmness and placidity will spread to the obstreperous other two, Turkey and Nippers. Several times the story said that the lawyer is disarmed by him when he does those outrageous “I would prefer not to,” he thinks to respond with, “But there was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed me, but in a wonderful manner touched and disconcerted me. I began to reason with him.” (Melville, 9) There are times when the lawyer responds to this in
The Tension Between Reality and Fantasy in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things
The narrator begins the short story Bartleby the Scrivener by “waiving the biographies of all other scriveners for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener of the strangest I ever saw or heard of” (pg). Bartleby appears at first as a “pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn,” (pg) character who is hired by the narrator because of his sedate nature, which he hoped would balance the personalities of his other employees. Bartleby is first isolated from the other characters through the actions of his boss, the lawyer, who “isolated Bartleby from my sight, though not removed from my voice,” (pg) by placing a folding screen around his desk and, “in a manner,
Readers have been fascinated with Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha for decades. Written in 1951, Hesse’s most famous novel provides the reader with a work of literature that, “presents a remarkable exploration of the deepest philosophical and spiritual dimensions of human existence” (Bennett n.p). Siddhartha takes place in India while the Buddha has first began his teachings. The book follows the life of a man by the name of Siddhartha, on his journey to reach enlightenment. The main theme in Siddhartha is reaching enlightenment without the guidance of a teacher or mentor. Siddhartha believes that he must learn from himself, and the guidance of another teacher will only distort his goals of reaching enlightenment. Siddhartha says that he must, “learn from myself, be a pupil of myself: I shall get to know, myself, the mystery of Siddhartha” (Hesse 36). On Siddhartha’s journey to reach Nirvana, the highest level of peace in the Buddhist culture, he undergoes three stages all of which are critical in helping Siddhartha find peace within himself.
In conclusion, eating meat is still unethical, because even with these changes that the cattlemen and ranchers have done over the years, trying to improve the industry, it cannot make up for the damage done. There are animals still suffering and being tortured and more should be done to help them. These are some of the reasons I have for not eating meat; it’s my own personal choice. And I choose to be meat-free.