Streetcar Paper Final 2021 PDF

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Summary

In order to successfully write about this prompt, you must identify the themes that Blanche & Stanley exude AND draw a relationship between those themes and Williams’ life....

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A Streetcar Named Desire English II – Secondary Source Paper

Williams vs. His Writing Tennessee Williams is considered one of the most autobiographical playwrights in American History. This means that he places his personal life in the context of his work. In reviewing the except from Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the flesh by: John Lahr, create an argumentative essay around the play’s autobiographical elements. Specifically, analyze how Tennessee uses Blanche and Stanley to represent the themes of his personal life in the play. In order to successfully write about this prompt, you must identify the themes that Blanche & Stanley exude AND draw a relationship between those themes and Williams’ life. Your o o o o o o o o o

essay must: Be three pages in length. Contain six primary source (text) quotes. Contain six secondary source quotes. Discuss both sources in each paragraph* Have an introduction paragraph which includes a thesis statement. Include proper paragraph formatting. Include a works cited page. Have proper in-text citations. Follow all responsibility guidelines.

The number of paragraphs and analytical sentences is up to you!

Due Date(s): Evidence & Association Chart with Introduction Par & Thesis Statement, Outline – February 11th at 8:00am Final Draft – February 16th at 11:59pm

Evidence & Association Chart Book

Secondary Source

Relationship

“‘Don’t ever talk that way to me!... ‘Every Man is a King!’’” (Williams, 131).

“‘Sometimes my violence scared the hell out of him,’ Pancho Rodriguez said about the mad scenes he played out with Williams” (Lahr, 123).

“‘Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers’” (Williams, 178).

“‘Somehow in my life I have not succeeded in winning and holding the love of any person,’ he wrote in his diary. ‘I have misjudged and made wrong choices in my relations and wind up now with no one capable of feeling anything much for me’” (Lahr, 120).

“The music is in her mind; she is drinking to escape it and the sense of disaster closing in on her, and she seems to whisper the words of the song” (Williams, 139).

“Her turmoil—the promiscuity, the drinking, the fear behind the display of erudite charm—is veiled admission of Williams’s own delirium” (Lahr, 121).

(Stanleyphysical dominance) Pancho establishes his dominance over Williams through physical abuse just as Stanley uses this type of power to control both Stella as well as Blanche. Williams and Pancho’s relationship are mirrored through Stanley and Blanche’s. (Blanchedependenc e) Williams includes his failed relationships into Blanche showing her submission and her “damsel in distress” attitude which causes her relationships to fail. They both share a common trait of neediness and the desire for company. (Blancheinstability) Williams includes his specific feelings of anxiety and delusion into Blanche’s character as she represents Williams’s emotional downfall. His distinction of Blanche’s actions expresses Williams’s own nervous habits as well as his mental state.

“‘And then the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light that’s stronger than this—kitchen— candle…’” (Williams, 115).

“She believes, we learn, that her words have inadvertently caused the suicide of her beloved husband, just as Williams feared that his had precipitated his sister’s descent into madness” (Lahr, 121).

“Stanley stumbles halfdressed out to the porch and down the wooden steps to the pavement before the building. There he throws back his head like a baying hound and bellows his wife’s name: ‘Stella! Stella, sweetheart! Stella!’” (Williams, 66).

“‘I remained there till Pancho, not being a bloodhound, lost track of me and had gone screaming off in some other direction.’” (Lahr, 124).

“‘I’ve been on to you from the start! Not once did you pull any wool over this boy’s eyes! You come in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light-bulb with a paper lantern, and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile! Sitting on your throne and swilling down my liquor!’…Lurid reflections appear on the walls around Blanche” (Williams, 158).

“As it turned out, even the distance from Pancho, and from the destructive aspects of their relationship, proved to be some kind of psychological stimulus” (Lahr, 118).

(Blanchedependenc e) Williams embodies the same sense of guilt that Blanch feels about herd participation in her husband’s death. Williams feels responsible for exploiting his sister’s sensitivity. (Stanleyphysical dominance) Williams shows his fear toward Pancho’s superiority by hiding from Pancho in order to protect himself. Pancho screams for Williams just as Stanley screams for Stella; however, Pancho’s calls for Williams are out of anger while Stanley’s calls for Stella are out of desperation and loss of control (Stanleypsychologic al dominance) Stanley uses his dominance as well as Blanche’s insecurities to push her over the edge, leading to her ultimate downfall. Although Williams and Pancho were separated, there was a residual strain of Pancho’s influence that continued to reside with Williams which gave him inspiration for his writing.

Introduction Par & Thesis Statement (please highlight your statement):

Tennessee Williams suffered greatly from both physical and psychological abuse, which ultimately led to his downfall, mental illness. He implemented these aspects of his life into each of his characters, giving him inspiration for his writing of A Streetcar Named Desire. Williams uses Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski to expose his internal struggles with dependance and control both with himself and in his violent and unstable relationship. Paragraph I: Blanche’s Dependence Paragraph II: Stanley’s Physical Dominance Paragraph III: Stanley’s Psychological Dominance Paragraph IV: Blanche’s Instability...