A Comparison of Amanda Wingfield And Blanche Dubois
In today's rough and tough world, there seems to be no room for failure. The pressure to succeed in life sometimes seems unreasonable. Others often set expectations for people too high. This forces that person to develop ways to take the stress and tension out of their lives in their own individual ways. In the plays "The Glass Menagerie" and " A Streetcar Named Desire" written by Tennessee Williams, none of the characters are capable of living in the present and facing reality. Two of the characters are Amanda Wingfield and Blache Dubios. In order for these characters to deal with the problems and hardships in their lives they retreat into their own separate worlds of illusion and lies.
Amanda Wingfield is mother of Tom and Laura. She is a middle-aged southern belle whose husband has abandoned her. She spends her time reminiscing about the past and nagging her children. Amanda is completely dependent on her son Tom for finical security and holds him fully responsible for her daughter Laura's future. Amanda is obsessed with her past as she constantly reminds Tom and Laura of that " one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain when she once received seventeen gentlemen callers" (pg.32). The reader cannot even be sure that this actually happened. However, it is clear that despite its possible falsity, Amanda has come to believe it. Amanda also refuses to acknowledge that her daughter Laura is crippled and refers to her handicap as " a little defect-hardly noticeable" (pg.45). Only for brief moments does she ever admit that her daughter is crippled and then she resorts back into to her world of denial and delusion. Amanda puts the weight of Laura's success in life on her son Tom's shoulders. When Tom finally finds a man to come over to the house for diner and meet Laura, Amanda blows the situation way out of proportion. She believes that this gentlemen caller, Jim, is going to be the man to rescue Laura. When in fact neither herself nor Laura has even met this man Jim yet. She tries to explain to Laura how to entertain a gentleman caller; she says-talking about her past " They knew how to entertain their gentlemen callers. It wasn't enough for a girl to be possessed of a pretty face and a graceful figure although I wasn't slighted in either respect.
Societal expectations can command many aspects of a person’s life. Appearance, possessions, career paths, mood and behavior are all things than can be affected by social pressures. Society can also affect the way people perceive success, and in today’s economic landscape success is mostly measured by accumulated wealth and comfort. Without those things, the weight of society can become heavy and those with economic or social hardship may find solace in disregarding their reality all together. Two of Tennessee Williams’ most highly praised plays, The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire, share a common theme; escaping reality instead of confronting the adversity placed before you. Williams explores this premise through similarities and differences of two characters, Blanche DuBois and Amanda Wingfield.
...reflected critically on the events of his life—even just the two examples used in this essay--, he would probably find that this is not the best of all possible worlds as it is rife with evil and suffering. With this novella, Voltaire made the point that some spend a lifetime justifying—not rationalizing—the events of the world because those same people are too busy attempting to prove one theory rather than develop others that may fit reality more. When Candide dismisses Pangloss at the end of the novella by saying, “Let us cultivate our garden,” he is rejecting Pangloss’ philosophy, turning over a new leaf, and taking charge of his own life and giving it its own meaning free of Pangloss’ influence.
Tennessee Williams allows the main characters in the plays, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie, to live miserable lives, which they first try to deny and later try to change. The downfall and denial of the Southern gentlewoman is a common theme in both plays. The characters, Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire and Amanda from The Glass Menagerie are prime examples. Blanche and Amanda have had, and continue to have, many struggles in their lives. The problem is that Williams never lets the two women work through these problems and move on. The two ladies are allowed to destroy themselves and Williams invites the audience to watch them in the process (Stine 474).
Jacques Louis David began his career as a patriot championing the start of a new Revolution and urging others to devote their lives unto death for their cause. His own friend gave his life for the Revolution and David memorialized him on canvas. However when the time came for David to commit his own life for the cause he desired peace. David when released from prison wished he never had left his studio. Because of David we have visualize and sympathize with the French Revolution from the viewpoint of patriots, martyrs, and conciliators.
Du Bois, was the competing ideology at the time. Du Bois rose to prominence and became a great African-American leader in his own right around the time Washington was at his peak. Du Bois respected Washington but largely disagreed with his vision of black society and progression. Du Bois was a leader in several radical (at the time) organizations such as the Conference of Negro Problems and the Niagara Movement. (Lecture 9/27). With a background steeped in education, Du Bois also has a significantly different up-bringing than Washington. In part, this may explain some of the differences in their ideologies. In his book, The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois addresses Washington and his vision directly. Although Du Bois recognizes Washington’s successes and the caution in which Washington has had to employ in the South, Du Bois is still critical of him. “But aside from this, there is among educated and thoughtful colored men in all parts of the land a feeling of deep regret, sorrow, and apprehension at the wide currency and ascendency which some of Mr. Washington’s theories have gained.” (Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk, pg.36). Washington’s Atlanta Compromise received acclaim but the submissive tone and ideology is what Du Bois is critical of. This quote expresses the emotions felt by not just Du Bois but other educated black men and women throughout the country realizing the errors made in the speech. The acclaim the speech received is also an issue here
Mitch and Blanche are very different despite the fact that they connect almost instantly. What Blanche really wants from Mitch is some to marry her, so she can finally leave Stella and Stanley’s apartment. Although blanches ideal guy would be someone who can sweep her off her feet immediately, a rich and exciting man who can provide her with whatever she desires. However because she is now living a new life in New Orleans she is introduced to some of Stanley’s friends, but unlike Stanley and the rest of the boys Mitch seems different to Blanche, her exact words about him being “superior to the others.” He is more proper than the others. She is attracted to his sensitivity and gentility. She says he is a natural gentleman and because of that she found an interest in him pretty quickly. As for Mitch from the minute they met he almost immediately began to like her. As they continue dating and start getting to know each other it seems like Mitch really knows Blanche, but he doesn’t. Blanche has fed lies to him about almost every aspect of her life, like her age, what brought her to visit Stella in New Orleans, why she left her job as a school teacher. She deceives him to think of her as prim and proper. It’s because of all these lies Mitch has fallen head over heels about Blanche. However she starts to confide in him, she put all her lying aside and decides to tell him about the death of Allan, her late husband. Being that Mitch has also had to deal with the loss of a girl he once loved, Blanche feels some sort of secure feeling like she’s safe with Mitch. It’s like she’s happy that someone finally understands her. It’s because of this understanding that although Mitch is not her “ideal” man, Blanche can possibly see herself having a ...
Tennessee Williams gives insight into three ordinary lives in his play, “A Streetcar Named Desire” which is set in the mid-1930’s in New Orleans. The main characters in the play are Blanche, Stanley, and Stella. All three of these characters suffer from personalities that differentiate each of them to great extremes. Because of these dramatic contrarieties in attitudes, there are mounting conflicts between the characters throughout the play. The principal conflict lies between Blanche and Stanley, due to their conflicting ideals of happiness and the way things “ought to be”.
“And it’s a girl!” The doctor tells the parents in the hospital room. The first thing to run through a person’s mind after hearing those words is the color pink. It 's common knowledge to people in American society that if someone is having a baby girl, it is standard to get them pink clothes and toys, and for boys it is typical to get these things in blue. From this moment on, children are already told what is expected of them when it comes to their gender. This has been tradition in society for decades, but it may have some negative effects on the children that arise from it. How children are raised in society, either with traditional or modern gender roles, will influence how they act when they are older.
Generally when some one writes a play they try to elude some deeper meaning or insight in it. Meaning about one's self or about life as a whole. Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" is no exception the insight Williams portrays is about himself. Being that this play establishes itself as a memory play Williams is giving the audience a look at his own life, but being that the play is memory some things are exaggerated and these exaggerations describe the extremity of how Williams felt during these moments (Kirszner and Mandell 1807). The play centers itself on three characters. These three characters are: Amanda Wingfield, the mother and a women of a great confusing nature; Laura Wingfield, one who is slightly crippled and lets that make her extremely self conscious; and Tom Wingfield, one who feels trapped and is looking for a way out (Kirszner and Mandell 1805-06). Williams' characters are all lost in a dreamy state of illusion or escape wishing for something that they don't have. As the play goes from start to finish, as the events take place and the play progresses each of the characters undergoes a process, a change, or better yet a transition. At the beginning of each characters role they are all in a state of mind which causes them to slightly confuse what is real with what is not, by failing to realize or refusing to see what is illusioned truth and what is whole truth. By the end of the play each character moves out of this state of dreamy not quite factual reality, and is better able to see and face facts as to the way things are, however not all the characters have completely emerged from illusion, but all have moved from the world of dreams to truth by a whole or lesser degree.
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 science, Hume recognized a problem with scientific causality. He saw science as being based on inductive reasoning, which results in generalized rules or principles.
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a touching play about the lost dreams of a southern family and their struggle to escape reality. The play is a memory play and therefore very poetic in mood, setting, and dialogue. Tom Wingfield serves as the narrator as well as a character in the play. Tom lives with his Southern belle mother, Amanda, and his painfully shy sister, Laura. The action of the play revolves around Amanda's search to find Laura a "gentleman caller. The Glass Menagerie's plot closely mirrors actual events in the author's life. Because Williams related so well to the characters and situations, he was able to beautifully portray the play's theme through his creative use of symbolism.
The three family members are adults at the time of this play, struggling to be individuals, and yet, very enmeshed and codependent with one another. The overbearing and domineering mother, Amanda, spends much of her time reliving the past; her days as a southern belle. She desperately hopes her daughter, Laura, will marry. Laura suffers from an inferiority complex partially due to a minor disability that she perceives as a major one. She has difficulty coping with life outside of the apartment, her cherished glass animal collection, and her Victrola. Tom, Amanda's son, resents his role as provider for the family, yearns to be free from him mother's constant nagging, and longs to pursue his own dreams. A futile attempt is made to match Laura with Jim, an old high school acquaintance and one of Tom's work mates.
“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.
Amanda loves her children and tries her best to make sure they do not follow her path to downfall. Unfortunately, while she is trying to push her children toward her ideals of success, she is also pushing them away. Amanda Wingfield is a kind woman stuck in the wrong place and time; she is trying to make her children’s life perfect while attempting to get a re-do on her love life with Laura and forcing Tom to fill the role that her husband abandoned. Amanda Wingfield was never meant to be in the situation that she finds herself in.