Sexuality in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and A Street Car Named Desire

In What ways is Sexuality portrayed as central to the conflicts of

the individual-v-society in Ken Kesey's One flew over the cuckoo's

nest and Tennessee Williams A street car named desire?

In What ways is Sexuality portrayed as central to the conflicts of the

individual-v-society in Ken Kesey's 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest'

and Tennessee Williams 'A street car named desire'?

The capacity of sexual feelings within the individual is central to

both the development and fundamental basis of any significant

character. As observed in both 'One flew over the cuckoos nest' (AKA

Cuckoo's nest) and 'A Street car named desire' (AKA. St. car)

sexuality emerges as a principal device used in defining a character

to the audience. By the reliance on and close association of the text

with the stereotypical characters found within society, the characters

presented to the audience can be made more identifiable with. The

physical description of a character can therefore be said to be

symbolic of its sexuality, "Broad across the jaw shoulders and chest"[1]

and in likening a description to a stereotype "I fight and fuh..too

much"[2] this can be greater reinforced. As you can see the physical

description of McMurphy is twinned with boastful memoirs of his

masculinity via his sexual prowess. This also being evident in St. car

with the introduction of the character Stanley Kowalski, "blood

stained package"[3] is symbolic of the instinctive masculine act of

the hunter-gatherer, this in collaboration with the description that

precedes it "Roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes"[4] suggests

to the audience that Stanley, like McMurphy is a strongly masculine

heterosexual male. The connotations that stem from the appearan...

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...flew over the Cuckoos nest, P-100.

[3] Stanley from St.Car, throws this up to Stella His wife.

[4] Description of Stanley from St.Car.

[5] Harding's hands are said to be the colour of ivory "carved each

other out of soap".

[6] Blanche is related to pale colours consistently throughout.

[7] Mitch says this to Blanche during her mental decline.

[8] The house Blanche once lived in Southern America, part of the

decline of slave labour and Southern way.

[9] The hospital ward is likened to that of a democratic community by

those in power.

[10] Both terms of castration are used in description of the Nurse's

desire to emasculate and thus gain power over the men.

[11] He has a stutter as a result of his persecution from society.

[12] A metaphorical representation of society as a machine, from the

narrative voice Bromden.