A Streetcar Named Desire Analysis

858 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A streetcar named desire relationships

A Streetcar Named Desire was written by Tennessee Williams in 1947 and it is a play that takes place after the second World War in the South of the United States; New Orleans, Louisiana. The play ultimately explores on the conflict amongst Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski as they both have a connection to Stella Dubois. Blanche being her sister, and Stanley being her partner. This play is considered to be a tragedy. Twelfth Night was written by the World renowned William Shakespeare and it explores the story of siblings being separated after a tragic accident at sea. ‘Without character there can be no drama’ is the overall theme of this comparison as every character contributes to a story, causing drama to arise in one way or another. This piece will ultimately explore the similarities and differences between Viola from ‘Twelfth Night’ and Blanche from ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Although Viola and Blanche come from two different books written by two different authors in different time periods, we can draw the conclusion that they both possess the theme of deception.

As previously explained in the first paragraph, a key theme that arises in both texts is ‘Deception’. Although deception is a noun, the verb of deception is ‘to deceive’ and the definition of deceive is “cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage.”. This is a very accurate way to describe both Viola and Blanche as they attempt to cause confusion amongst other characters about their personal characteristics. In ‘Twelfth Night’, Viola deceives the other characters into thinking that she is a man named Orsino, and she is convincing enough to do so. Viola was given the idea by the captain and she ends the ...

... middle of paper ...

...rself said “Deliberate cruelty is unforgivable, and the one thing of which I have never, ever been guilty of.’(Williams 93)She gets the better side of us and convinces us that she is different now, and that we should feel sympathetic towards her as she is driven into a state of mind that worries us as she has gone slightly mental.

Viola and Blanche both share characteristics that affect their function and importance to the play. In some ways their effects are similar, but in others they are slightly different. When analysing their effect on the plot, characters, and audience, we can see that a theme that arises from all three of those is deception. So from this we believe that Although Viola and Blanche come from two different books written by two different authors in different time periods, we can draw the conclusion that they both possess the theme of deception.

Show More
Related

  • The Charater of Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 'A Streetcar Named Desire' we focus on three main characters. One of these characters is a lady called Blanche. As the play progresses, we gradually get to know more about Blanche and the type of person she really is in contrast to the type of person that she would like everybody else to think she is. Using four main mediums, symbolism and imagery, Blanche's action when by herself, Blanche's past and her dialogue with others such as Mitch, Stanley and the paperboy, we can draw a number of conclusions about Blanche until the end of Scene Five. Using the fore mentioned mediums we can deter that Blanche is deceptive, egotistical and seductive.

    Read More

  • Stella and Blanche in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    The two important female characters in the "poetic tragedy"(Adler 12), A Streetcar Named Desire, are Stella and Blanche. The most obvious comparison between Stella and Blanche is that they are sisters, but this blood relationship suggests other similarities between the two women. They are both part of the final generation of a once aristocratic but now moribund family. Both manifest a great deal of culture and sensitivity, and because of this, both seem out of place in Elysian Fields. "Beauty is shipwrecked on the rock of the world's vulgarity" (Miller 45).  Blanche, of course, is much more of an anachronism than Stella, who has for the most part adapted to the environment of Stanley Kowalski. Finally, both Stella and Blanche are or have been married. It is in their respective marriages that we can begin to trace the profound differences between these two sisters.

    Read More

  • Shattering the Veil

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lies litter the halls of everyone’s mind. Deception scatters itself among the truth, blending in like a chameleon in the desert. Trickery is swept under the carpet, pushed from the forefront of the beholder’s thoughts. Tales of fiction escape the deceiver’s mouth with an intent to present himself or herself in a certain fashion. Dishonesty works like a sprinkler, drenching relationships in a thick cloud of pure deceit when the speaker wishes to. Some acts of deception affect the audience in different manners. A small falsehood goes unnoticed, causing no harm, just another chip in the liar’s conscious. Other purposeful inaccuracies rip and tear relationships apart. The final unveiling of the truth, however small or simplistic the mendacity is, is explosive; this finale could terminate a connection. Blanche Dubois from A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams learns this treacherous lesson in her attempt to conquer her insecurities. Blanche was caught in a web of lies she and her family told; she was beyond the point of no return and received a backlash most would not wish upon their greatest enemy. These lies, although present in the written play, are emphasized in the film adaptation of the play. In the film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, deception is enhanced through the film crew’s choice of lighting, sound, and the portrayal of characters in the film.

    Read More

  • Blanche Dubois Research Paper

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    Blanche plays the role of the ideal type of person she would like to be. She refuses to see herself as she really is but instead creates an illusion for what she ought to be. She tries to be innocent and pure however we learn that she isn’t. After Blanche's young husband commits suicide, she tries to fill a void that she feels by sleeping with young men. She’s ashamed of her promiscuity and lies in hopes that people will believe her. Blanche said,’It’s only a paper moon. Just as phony as it can be-But it wouldn't be make-believe if you believed in me’(121).She believes that lying is her only means of enjoying a better way of life. This song relates back to

    Read More

  • Examples Of Foils In Jane Eyre

    402 Words  | 1 Pages

    Blanche Ingram is stunningly beautiful woman which contrasts with Jane’s generic appearance, and she uses this to her advantage, she flaunts her good looks and swagger to coax Mr. Rochester. Not only does Blanche try to entice Mr. Rochester, she treats Jane disdain and condescension. Blanche is always flirting and trying to draw attention to herself whereas Jane is always trying to fly under the radar, undetected.

    Read More

  • Blanche Dubois In A Streetcar Named Desire

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, the character, Blanche Dubois is very interesting to read and learn about. In the play, Blanche does through a lot in her lifetime. She is a strong woman, but she seems to never realize she has been put through so much shame. In the time that the play was written woman’s rights were thought of very little. They did not stand up for themselves. They were treated awful by men. Blanche Dubois was one of those women who thought she stood solid for herself, but really did not at all. By this, one can clearly see that her character was used to shown one of the themes of the play, A Streetcar Named Desire.

    Read More

  • A Streetcar Named Desire and Twelfth Night: Comparative task

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    Blanche is Stella’s eccentric sister, she comes to Elysian Fields for help because she has gone through a traumatic period and is struggling with who she is. Malvolio is is a typical brown nose, he will do anything to gain favor of Countess Olivia. However those opposite characters explore the same themes.Through their roles in Twelfth Night and A Streetcar named Desire, Malvolio and Blanche both undergo unrequited love and downfall but because sympathy is created for Blanche both characters have an opposite effect on the audience.

    Read More

  • Sympathy For Blanche Dubois

    225 Words  | 1 Pages

    Now let’s talk about, tone of this screenplay i.e. what’s the zest of the feelings in this screenplay. According to me, what I felt throughout this play is “Sympathy”. I felt sympathetic towards Blanche. All she wants in her life is love and care and she mentions it in one of her dialogues she says, “I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can’t be alone! Because—as you must have noticed—I’m – not very well… [Her voice drops and her look is frightened.]” (Williams, pg.92). Blanche’s rape in the last scene is the most driving point of the play, that particular scene convinces the sympathetic approach of the play. When in the last scene, Blanche is talking to Stella, she seems totally trapped in her delusional self

    Read More

  • Alcoholism In A Streetcar Named Desire

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    Blanche, the key catalyst for the play, presents herself as a lost character, entirely out of place in New Orleans and the setting her sister lives in. When first introduced, the narrator describes her as “incongruous” to the setting because of her high-end clothes and jewelry in a normal New Orleans neighborhood. Blanche also looks visible “uncertain” of her sister’s abode, appearing “lost” to Eunice because of her foreignness to the setting. Even after told by Eunice she has arrived, Blanche still feels uncertain whether this can be her sister’s home. She faces a severe culture shock, as she grew up in a “big place with white columns” in luxury compared to her sister’s status. She continually shows surprise at how small her sister’s house is, at Stanley’s crudity and general lack of sophistication, and at his

    Read More

  • Relationships In A Streetcar Named Desire

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play, A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams, successfully explores the complexities and diversities of human relationships. This was achievable through Williams’ complex characterisation and interaction among the plays characters, particularly with the protagonist, Blanch DuBois as well as Stanley and Stella. The effective use of various dramatic and language techniques, further enables this successful exploration.

    Read More

  • A Streetcar Named Desire Poker Game Analysis

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    ‘The Varsouviana rises audibly as Blanche enters the bedroom.’ implies Blanches tension rises with the music. The stage direction ‘[with faintly hysterical vivacity]’ suggests Blanches delirium and insanity. Her fantasy is encouraged by Stella and Eunice as they allow her to live in her dream-world rather than face society, as a way of being empathetic and expressing sympathy for

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Streetcar Named Desire, By Tennessee Williams

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Streetcar Named Desire sets the decaying values of the antebellum South against those of the new America. The civil, kindly ways of Blanche’s past are a marked contrast to the rough, dynamic New Orleans inhabited by Stella and Stanley, which leads Tennessee Williams’s “tragedy of incomprehension” (qtd. in Alder, 48). The central protagonist, Blanche, has many flaws; she lies, is vain and deceitful, yet can be witty and sardonic. These multifaceted layers balance what Jessica Tandy, who played Blanche in the first stage production in 1947, “saw as her ‘pathetic elegance’ . . . ‘indomitable spirit and ‘innate tenderness’” (Alder 49). Through a connected sequence of vignettes, our performance presented a deconstruction of Blanche that revealed the lack of comprehension and understanding her different facets and personas created. Initially Blanche is aware of what she is doing and reveals

    Read More

  • Comparsion of Tennessee Williams´ A Streetcar Named Desire the Play or Movie

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tennessee has woven a plot set in New Orleans around three characters Blanche, her brother-in-law Stanley and her sister Stella. Following essay‘s objective is to compare both, Williams’s play with motion picture based on it, highlighting similarities and differences between the two.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Twelfth Night And A Streetcar Named Desire

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    These strong drama and dramedy plots are structured around two strong dramatic women who emphasise the importance of character to act as a vessel through which a drama can be represented in a variety of settings. In both, 1940s New Orleans set A Streetcar Named Desire and the Illyria-based Twelfth Night, the plot is centred around a woman hiding her identity, in A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche is the catalyst for the plot as is Viola for Twelfth Night, though women in very different times, they are similar in their affect on the audience but differ in how they deal with loss.

    Read More

  • Twelfth Night Essay: Appearance vs. Reality

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...oth perspectives. They both still being servants are using disguise differently. Malvolio, servant of Olivia and Viola, servant of Orsino, they both have felt love for their masters/boss. They both express it differently, Malvolio loving Olivia uses cheery appearance and Viola loving Orsino hides her love secretly in her disguise. This essay was to prove that disguises and appearance is a symbolic feature for Viola and Malvolio's characters. According to given facts and examples, it was very clear that Viola and Malvolio use disguises as their shield, but they each use it differently.

    Read More

More about A Streetcar Named Desire Analysis

Open Document