The Use of Language in A Streetcar Named Desire
Analyse how Tennessee Williams uses language and dramatic techniques to
explore attitudes to identity in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Make close
reference
Analyse how Tennessee Williams uses language and dramatic techniques
to explore attitudes to identity in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Make
close reference to an extract in the play. Go on to show your
understanding of the significance of attitudes to identity in the play
as a whole.
Williams’ play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ has a full variety of
attitudes to identity which are demonstrated through the various
characters. Attitudes to identity are important in the play as it
gives us a background to the character’s lives and who they think they
are, also how others perceive them. Mitch’s character, for example,
can be seen to represent various attitudes to identity; he could be
seen as being unsure about who he is, he could be seen as having a
masculine life with Stanley and his friends, but then he also has to
tend to his mother where he is perhaps seen as not such a masculine
man. He is also caught between Blanche, Stanley and his mother; as he
can’t be the same to all three.
Attitudes to identity are shown clearly in scene eight; this is just
after Blanche’s birthday when Stanley has told Mitch everything he
knows about Blanche’s past. This is an important scene in presenting
the character’s attitudes. We are given further insight into the
relationship that Stanley and Stella share and also that of Stella and
Blanche; showing us how Stella is sometimes torn between her husband
and her sister. Here, Stanley and Stella have a disagreement which
shows us how the other characters perceive Stanley an...
... middle of paper ...
...so has chosen Stanley, he is her future.
In the play as a whole, attitudes to identity are quite important as
they show us a lot about the characters and who they are; attitudes to
identity also show us how the characters are likely to behave later on
the in play. With Stella we come to see how she is caught in the
middle off maybe her two identities; her past which included her
sister Blanche and her new life with her husband Stanley. At the end
of the play though we come to see how her relationship with her
husband is perhaps a little stronger than the one she shares with
Blanche as she obeys Stanley and sends Blanche away. Identity is quite
important as it shapes how the other characters treat one another, for
example with Blanche, discovering the true identity of Allen
ultimately lead to his death and perhaps the beginning of Blanche’s
troubles.
In this passage, Williams’ emphasises the nature of Blanche’s demise through the contrapuntal mode of the scene juxtaposing Blanche’s bathing with Stanley and Stella’s conversation. Williams wrote in a letter to Elia Kazan, who was to direct the film production of the play, that ‘It is a thing (misunderstanding) not a person (Stanley) that destroys (Blanche) in the ends’. This passage is significant as it shows the extent of Stanley’s misunderstanding of Blanche and his stubbornness to ascertain his condemnations to Stella. Furthermore, the use of colloquial lexis shows the true feebleness of Stanley’s claim because his judicial façade is diminished and shows the dangerous influence of claims as he sways Mitch away from Blanche. Stella’s character
Identity in Contemporary American Drama – Between Reality and Illusion Tennessee Williams was one of the most important playwrights in the American literature. He is famous for works such as “The Glass Menagerie” (1944), “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1947) or “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955)”. As John S. Bak claims: “Streetcar remains the most intriguing and the most frequently analyzed of Williams’ plays.” In the lines that follow I am going to analyze how the identity of Blanche DuBois, the female character of his play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, is shaped. Firstly, we learn from an interview he gave, that the character of Blanche has been inspired from a member of his family.
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.
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?
told Allan "I saw, I know, you disgust me…"( p.96). To Allan, Blanche seemed to
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.
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?
Tennessee Williams was one of the greatest American dramatists of the 20th century. Most of his plays take us to the southern states and show a confused society. In his works he exposes the degeneration of human feelings and relationships. His heroes suffer from broken families and they do not find their place in the society. They tend to be lonely and afraid of much that surrounds them. Among the major themes of his plays are racism, sexism, homophobia and realistic settings filled with loneliness and pain.1 Tennessee Williams characters showed us extremes of human brutality and sexual behavior.2 One of his most popular dramas was written in 1947, and it is called A Streetcar Named Desire.
By using the older sister’s point of view to narrate the story, the author is able recount the injustices done to Sister as well as angle for sympathy from the audience. From the beginning of the story, Sister builds a case by blaming the discomfort and anguish of her home on Stella-Rondo. Sister states “Of course I went with Mr. Whitaker first…and Stella-Rondo broke us up”, to depict how the strained relationship with her younger sister started. Although there are many unexpected conflicts within the family, this action of Stella-Rondo stealing her older sister’s boyfriend is the core, driving force of all of the conflicts within the household. To relentlessly reiterate this point, the author uses the narrator’s anger to constantly bring up the separation of the spoiled Stella Rondo and Mr. Whitaker.
Think of a stacking doll. Each outer doll removed reveals another; smaller and more volnerable than the previous. With each section combined there is a whole, but with only a section you cannot see the doll in it’s entirety and it is impossible to see whether another is hiding inside. Ones identity is similar. With little knowlege of a person it is impossible to know what is inside and whether there is more to see. Identity is broader than one word definitions, different aspects such as feelings and memories contribute. In order to get the full sense of who a person is, the inner layers must be revealed.
the mysterious shapes begin to move. Along with their slow movements They start to unfold and to rise and the music increases in volume and pitch, as if reflecting the movement of the shapes. It soon becomes clear that these bundles of rags are, in fact, women. They are the weird sisters or witches in the play and they are shown in this version as old and ugly. The director has chosen to present.
It tells us what happens at the end of the play, in this case in
“Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces” (Sigmund Freud). Illusion can be a part of our lives; however, if taken to the extreme, it can lead one to forget reality. Every individual has problems in life that must be faced with reality and not with illusion, even though it might throw one into flames of fires. Tennessee Williams' play of a family reveals the strength of resistance between reality and desire, judgment and imagination, and between male and female. The idea of reality versus illusion is demonstrated throughout the play. Blanche's world of delusion and fantastical philosophy is categorized by her playful relationships, attempts to revive her youth, and her unawareness in the direction of reality of life. In Tennessee William’s play, A Streetcar Named Desire, through the study of character and tropology, fantasy and illusion allow one to make life appear as it should be rather than as it is.
Stella represents an important part in this drama by providing a contrast to how life can change people when they go down different paths. In contrast to her sister, Stella is bound to love. Although she fell in love with a primitive, common man, she most definitely loves him. Stella desires to make Stanley happy and live a beautiful life together. She wants to find peace between her sister and her husband, yet instead she finds conflict afflicting her on both sides.
...can go through an entire lifetime and not really know how to define their own identity. In many cases people suffer through a great crisis to discover who they really are. If someone doesn?t know the meaning of their own identity, how can society apply a definition to the word? It leaves people to ponder whether or not there are some feelings and parts of life that simply cannot be explained. When defining the word identity scholars and common men alike must agree to disagree. It is a word so diverse in context that it is seemingly impossible to take it down to a simplified definition. There are some things in life that just aren?t meant to be completely understood, and one?s identity is among these things. Not until a person has a lived out their live could they sit down and tell you how their adventure has shaped them into the person they became in the end.