Humanity In Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire Essay Questions
2. Tennessee Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire in order to exemplify the basic sexuality of humans. To do this he uses the most primitive bits of human nature and magnifies them into his characters’ personalities. The bare innocence of Stella, the raw masculinity of Stanley, and the sheer insanity of Blanche, all to show uniquely human qualities. To say that Stanley is an animalistic and primitive being, would be stating the obvious. Being married to the naïve Stella, his virility is even more apparent than it would be with just Stanley alone. By using these two vitally different human natures, Williams is able to dictate the inner conflict each person battles, the constant battle between their virtuousness and their desires, in a microscoped perspective. Blanche has her own sort of animal …show more content…
uniqueness, in the way that she is unable to control herself. The uncontrollable flirtation, anger, depression and even lying show how our society uses our own uses of deception to hide from the inner battle Stanley and Stella represent. No one admits to having any immoral thoughts, or worse, to act on them. People pretend we are untainted and become so good at lying we fool ourselves into believing it. A Streetcar Named Desire is the handbook to human sexuality and is able to prove example for all of its areas. Tennessee Williams shows great understanding of how the human libido functions and affects our actions. He is able to take each portion of our Id and divide it into individual characters.
7. The rape that happens at the end of the tenth scene could easily be seen as a crime of passion, one that happened in the midst of anger. However when one studies the play, it is easy to see that this was definitely no accident. The responsibility does not fall on one person alone, this act was the fault of both parties. From the very beginning of the play it is apparent that Stanley is no pussycat. He shows a pretty adamant violent streak through the play, and obviously has relatively loose morals. When he first realizes that Blanche is lying, you can almost feel his glee. Once he is able to prove it, he is even more excited. Now that people no longer see her as trustworthy, it makes it all too simple. She is a classic case of “little girl who cried wolf”. He without a doubt planned to take her, in some way or another, from the moment he saw her. At the same time, Blanche is not without guilt in her own rape. Maybe accusing a victim of their rape is heartless, but frankly, Blanche played with fire. Blanche’s actions were that of someone who wanted the sexual attention of a man and she got it, just not the way she thought. When a woman is so provocative, she gives people the wrong idea. Teasing a man of Stanley’s ilk is more dangerous than giving a loaded gun to a monkey. Stanley is not innocent, far from it, but he does not hold the guilt alone. Blanche’s rape is without a doubt a premeditated act and she was equally responsible for it. This makes her rape just that more unfortunate. Who wants to see the victim found guilty? Nobody. But sadly, in this case, she is. Who wants to think about people planning such horrible crimes? Nobody. But in this case, he did. Welcome to the tragedy of Tennessee William’s writings.
10. The music in this play is debatably more vital to this play then almost any play ever written. Tennessee Williams uses the music and sound of this play to show the change in mood and setting. Half of the setting is the music. The ‘blue piano’ music that plays on and off throughout the play shows where and when the play takes place, while the polka music shows the disturbing shadow of Blanche’s past.
New Orleans is often thought of as the birthplace of jazz and the blues music. A Streetcar Named Desire takes place in Louisiana, and more specifically New Orleans, in the 1920s. To have a blues-y song playing in the background not only helps show the depressive mood of the play, but also highlights the setting. It even says right in the stage notes that this music is used to show the mood and setting of the play and that it does.
The polka music that plays in Blanche’s mind helps show the audience the lies lying underneath her happy exterior. Blanche has a tragic past, one in which she is partially responsible for her young husband’s suicide. The song they last danced to haunts her and has altered her into a psychotic mess. While no other characters can hear this tune, the audience can so that they can see firsthand how one mistake can tear the human psyche apart.
Williams definitely knows how to use music to his benefit with stage action. What seems so unimportant is so essential to show the entire underbelly of the plot. Few writers are able to use their sound cues so eloquently, as to use just a few bars to change their whole play.
15. Blanche DuBois is one of the most notable tragic heroines of modern literature. Where the tragedy lies, however, is up for debate. Whether it is the fact that the real world is so severe to her or the fact that her world is not real, the idea is the same.
This play is a lament for the dream of Blanche’s world.
While it is obvious her actual life has been incredibly difficult and beyond sorrowful, it is far more depressing that she is unable to grasp the harsh actuality of her life. In her world, life is perfect. Every man wants only her, her sister is unbearably jealous, and she is legitimately happy. However, in reality, no one wants her, her sister is unbearably happy, and she is off of her rocker.
From a psychiatric point of view, Blanche could be considered a victim of histrionic personality disorder. This disease is basically the psych evaluation of ‘drama queen’. A real disorder, it basically shows the erratic behavior of lying, selfishness, and hysteria; usually caused by a type of traumatic event (like Alan’s death) and series of unfortunate events (family deaths and loss of home). Blanche’s hallucinations, while not forgivable, can only be seen as sad. She is a lost soul and obviously suffers from some mental disorder or another. Her life is a train crash, you do not want to watch it be destroyed, but, at the same time, you want to watch it go up in
flames.
16. One of the main themes of A Streetcar Named Desire is that of illusion and fantasy. Blanche’s entire character is a picture of illusion and fantasy. She is unable to see through the reality she had created for herself to see that everyone sees through her lies.
Many people create an alternate universe in which their whole lives go right. The difference between Blanche and these people is that they realize it is just fantasy. Blanche has tricked herself into buying her own scam. And everyone knows that is the worst thing a con man can do. For Blanche though, the line between real life and the illusion of life has been erased and she jumps back so much, it makes your head spin.
What makes these themes standout even more is that the only one who believes the lies and deception is Blanche herself. Stanley, Stella, even Mitch, all eventually stop believing the things Blanche says. But Blanche is never able to see through her own fabrications. It even comes to the point that when Stanley rapes her, no one believes her because of all of her falsities.
Blanche is the epitome of illusion and fantasy. These are both critical themes to her character and the play as a whole. The fraud that Blanche’s life is forces the play into its depressive theme and gives the other characters something to build off of. Blanche knows nothing but this theme.
2. Tennessee Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire in order to exemplify the basic sexuality of humans. To do this he uses the most primitive bits of human nature and magnifies them into his characters’ personalities. The bare innocence of Stella, the raw masculinity of Stanley, and the sheer insanity of Blanche, all to show uniquely human qualities. To say that Stanley is an animalistic and primitive being, would be stating the obvious. Being married to the naïve Stella, his virility is even more apparent than it would be with just Stanley alone. By using these two vitally different human natures, Williams is able to dictate the inner conflict each person battles, the constant battle between their virtuousness and their desires, in a microscoped perspective. Blanche has her own sort of animal …show more content…
uniqueness, in the way that she is unable to control herself. The uncontrollable flirtation, anger, depression and even lying show how our society uses our own uses of deception to hide from the inner battle Stanley and Stella represent. No one admits to having any immoral thoughts, or worse, to act on them. People pretend we are untainted and become so good at lying we fool ourselves into believing it. A Streetcar Named Desire is the handbook to human sexuality and is able to prove example for all of its areas. Tennessee Williams shows great understanding of how the human libido functions and affects our actions. He is able to take each portion of our Id and divide it into individual characters.
7. The rape that happens at the end of the tenth scene could easily be seen as a crime of passion, one that happened in the midst of anger. However when one studies the play, it is easy to see that this was definitely no accident. The responsibility does not fall on one person alone, this act was the fault of both parties. From the very beginning of the play it is apparent that Stanley is no pussycat. He shows a pretty adamant violent streak through the play, and obviously has relatively loose morals. When he first realizes that Blanche is lying, you can almost feel his glee. Once he is able to prove it, he is even more excited. Now that people no longer see her as trustworthy, it makes it all too simple. She is a classic case of “little girl who cried wolf”. He without a doubt planned to take her, in some way or another, from the moment he saw her. At the same time, Blanche is not without guilt in her own rape. Maybe accusing a victim of their rape is heartless, but frankly, Blanche played with fire. Blanche’s actions were that of someone who wanted the sexual attention of a man and she got it, just not the way she thought. When a woman is so provocative, she gives people the wrong idea. Teasing a man of Stanley’s ilk is more dangerous than giving a loaded gun to a monkey. Stanley is not innocent, far from it, but he does not hold the guilt alone. Blanche’s rape is without a doubt a premeditated act and she was equally responsible for it. This makes her rape just that more unfortunate. Who wants to see the victim found guilty? Nobody. But sadly, in this case, she is. Who wants to think about people planning such horrible crimes? Nobody. But in this case, he did. Welcome to the tragedy of Tennessee William’s writings.
10. The music in this play is debatably more vital to this play then almost any play ever written. Tennessee Williams uses the music and sound of this play to show the change in mood and setting. Half of the setting is the music. The ‘blue piano’ music that plays on and off throughout the play shows where and when the play takes place, while the polka music shows the disturbing shadow of Blanche’s past.
New Orleans is often thought of as the birthplace of jazz and the blues music. A Streetcar Named Desire takes place in Louisiana, and more specifically New Orleans, in the 1920s. To have a blues-y song playing in the background not only helps show the depressive mood of the play, but also highlights the setting. It even says right in the stage notes that this music is used to show the mood and setting of the play and that it does.
The polka music that plays in Blanche’s mind helps show the audience the lies lying underneath her happy exterior. Blanche has a tragic past, one in which she is partially responsible for her young husband’s suicide. The song they last danced to haunts her and has altered her into a psychotic mess. While no other characters can hear this tune, the audience can so that they can see firsthand how one mistake can tear the human psyche apart.
Williams definitely knows how to use music to his benefit with stage action. What seems so unimportant is so essential to show the entire underbelly of the plot. Few writers are able to use their sound cues so eloquently, as to use just a few bars to change their whole play.
15. Blanche DuBois is one of the most notable tragic heroines of modern literature. Where the tragedy lies, however, is up for debate. Whether it is the fact that the real world is so severe to her or the fact that her world is not real, the idea is the same.
This play is a lament for the dream of Blanche’s world.
While it is obvious her actual life has been incredibly difficult and beyond sorrowful, it is far more depressing that she is unable to grasp the harsh actuality of her life. In her world, life is perfect. Every man wants only her, her sister is unbearably jealous, and she is legitimately happy. However, in reality, no one wants her, her sister is unbearably happy, and she is off of her rocker.
From a psychiatric point of view, Blanche could be considered a victim of histrionic personality disorder. This disease is basically the psych evaluation of ‘drama queen’. A real disorder, it basically shows the erratic behavior of lying, selfishness, and hysteria; usually caused by a type of traumatic event (like Alan’s death) and series of unfortunate events (family deaths and loss of home). Blanche’s hallucinations, while not forgivable, can only be seen as sad. She is a lost soul and obviously suffers from some mental disorder or another. Her life is a train crash, you do not want to watch it be destroyed, but, at the same time, you want to watch it go up in
flames.
16. One of the main themes of A Streetcar Named Desire is that of illusion and fantasy. Blanche’s entire character is a picture of illusion and fantasy. She is unable to see through the reality she had created for herself to see that everyone sees through her lies.
Many people create an alternate universe in which their whole lives go right. The difference between Blanche and these people is that they realize it is just fantasy. Blanche has tricked herself into buying her own scam. And everyone knows that is the worst thing a con man can do. For Blanche though, the line between real life and the illusion of life has been erased and she jumps back so much, it makes your head spin.
What makes these themes standout even more is that the only one who believes the lies and deception is Blanche herself. Stanley, Stella, even Mitch, all eventually stop believing the things Blanche says. But Blanche is never able to see through her own fabrications. It even comes to the point that when Stanley rapes her, no one believes her because of all of her falsities.
Blanche is the epitome of illusion and fantasy. These are both critical themes to her character and the play as a whole. The fraud that Blanche’s life is forces the play into its depressive theme and gives the other characters something to build off of. Blanche knows nothing but this theme.