A Streetcar named desire essay (task 8) PDF

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Annie Kinsella A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams in the late 1940s, uses the generic conventions of characterisation and context to encourage the audience to view the play from the perspective of the writer. The ideas of madness, alcoholism, domestic violence and thwarted desire are used to highlight the detrimental effect of male oppression and the patriarchy. A Streetcar Named Desire is a work of social realism that was developed through the personal perspective of the writer. Williams' childhood and past experiences lead to his hatred of violent men and their attitudes towards women. This is thoroughly shown through the characterisation of the frail Blanche Dubois who transforms from the antagonist to the victim throughout the play. Blanche travels to the French Quarter in New Orleans after her reputation is tarnished from her indiscrete sexual behaviour. She shows signs of madness and mental disfunction which is implied to be originally caused by the death of her husband that she married very young. Blanche is conveyed as caustically leading herself to her own downfall. Blanche is represented as portraying herself as a refined and sophisticated woman. Readers can conclude, throughout the text, that hiding beneath the jewels and the elegant clothes, is a raw an unstable character. The symbolism of the name 'Blanche' is a binary opposition of the actual character. 'Blanche' meaning white would represent purity, innocence and virtue. This representation is challenged through the illusionary image that she tries to create for herself, a way to hide her past in front of new acquaintances because she fears they may not accept her true self. The more she tries to embody the culture of the old south, and enact the role of the lady, the more obvious her façade becomes. "I don't want realism, I want magic!" This highlights the illusionary personality of the protagonist. Williams uses aspects of staging to highlight the fragility of Blanche. He uses a dramatic irony to encourage the

audience to sympathise with her. “The Varasouvania” plays often in her mind which causes her emotional distraught. Only Blanche and the audience can hear this music. The writer constructs the scene this way to manipulate the emotional frailness of Blanche to deduce her isolation and insanity. Although Blanche is recognized as a morally rotten person, her mental state worsens because of the coarse and violent behaviour of Stanley Kowalski. As Blanche blindly allows herself to be taken away by doctors in the final scene, the image readers are left with is a sad culmination of Blanche's vanity and total dependence on men. The domestic violence that Blanche witnesses alienates her from society, this furthermore, leads to her downfall. Blanche's character is an honest representation of the plight of oppressed women in that time. Her vulnerability and sense of isolation, when viewed through the writer's perspective, encourages readers to challenge the cruel and repulsive attitudes of the men in the text.

Williams' distasteful opinion of violent men is thoroughly shown through the characterisation of Stanley Kowalski. Stanley is first represented as the ideal family man. Returning from World War II as an auto-parts salesman, Stanley represents the new, heterogenous America. Although, even from the beginning of the play, Stanley is portrayed as an honest and loyal character that disregards dreams and imaginations, he is shown as having little to no remorse. This becomes a useful trait when faced with the flirtatious actions of Blanche, his sister-inlaw. Stanley's intense hatred of Blanche begins to form when he rightly sees that she is untrustworthy and does not appreciate her act of innocence. Stanley is represented as seeing right through Blanche's façade "Open your eyes to this stuff! You think she got them out of a teacher’s pay?”. Throughout the play, Williams encourages the audience to alter their perspective of Stanley. His disturbing and degenerate nature is alluded through his cruel treatment of his wife, Stella. “‘Every Man is a King!’ And I am the king around here, so don’t

forget it!” This is further shown when Stanley beats his wife after drinking and playing poker. The juxtaposition of Stanley’s masculinity contrasted with Blanche’s femininity alludes to the rivalry between the two characters. Ultimately, Stanley's animalistic nature is deduced when he rapes Blanche, causing her to be sent away to a mental institution. Readers are encouraged to consciously reject the false representations of Stanley and challenge the vile treatment of Blanche. The culture of New Orleans orders Blanche to conform, however when she denies Stanley his authority, she is disdained for her impulsiveness and expressiveness. Meanwhile, Stanley is constantly let of the hook for his savage behaviour. This positions readers to reject the patriarchy. Williams sheds light on society's victimisation of females and considers the idea of female self- expression. The writer's open-minded perspective is astonishing as these ideas were only new in his time.

The writer’s questioning of a woman's lack of authority and opportunity is further shown when considering the historical and social context of the play. In his adolescence, Tennessee Williams had a rough childhood. He could never relate to other boys his age and was constantly afraid of his drunk father who didn't show him much love. On the contrary, he had a very close relationship with his mother. This developed his feminist lens which contributed to the construction of the female characters within the play. Williams had a sister, Rose, who suffered from mental illnesses. Blanche can be perceived as a character who has traits of both Williams and his sister. The alienation and loneliness of Blanche are recognisable elements from the personal life of Williams, as he was constantly ostracized and taunted from a young age. The ideas of madness, depression, thwarted desire and alcoholism all derive from Williams' personal experiences. Blanche is a representation of the isolation Williams felt after the institutionalisation of his sister. The confronting medical treatment that she underwent, such as the frontal lobotomy resulted in her becoming severely brain damaged. Throughout

the play, the writer considers the effect of the conflict that occurs when society's perception of a person and the person's personality do not coincide. The writer has a revolutionarily progressive mindset which ultimately provides readers with an alternate representation of the play Blanche is represented as struggling as her reality does not correspond with her innerfantasies. The play represents the decline of the aristocratic families traditionally associated with the South. The historical context provides a rich background for the emotional events of the play. The French Quarter in New Orleans symbolises the changes that occurred after World War II. Williams' perspective is an early example of the international feminist discourse. A Streetcar Named Desire shows the conflict between traditional values and the old world due to the physically aggressive materialism of the new world.

Tennessee William’s manipulates the ideas of madness, domestic violence and thwarted desire using characterisation and his own social context to shape the audience to challenge male oppression, promote the self-empowerment of women and reject sexual objectification. A Streetcar Named Desire can be read not only from a feminist lens, but from the perspective of the writer to highlight the conflict and social inequalities within the play.

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http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/streetcar/symbols/ http://www.bookrags.com/notes/snd/part11.html#gsc.tab=0 https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/s/a-streetcar-named-desire/characteranalysis/blanche-dubois https://www.albert.io/learn/a-streetcar-named-desire/question/juxtaposition-inscene-7 https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/s/a-streetcar-named-desire/summary-andanalysis/scene-1...