In scene four of “ A Streetcar Named Desire” Blanche attempts to convince Stella that she can get out of her situation with Stanley, but Stella insists she is not in anything she wished to get out of. Stella makes it clear that she is happy about her relationship with Stanley through their sexual chemistry by saying “ But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark”. Stella believes that there is nothing wrong and she can’t understand why Blanche is so frantic. Blanche tries to persuade Stella that her situation with Stanley is just desire by arguing, “ What you are talking about is brutal desire- just- Desire!- the name of that rattle-trap streetcar that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another…”…
A Streetcar Named Desire was based in the time it was written – New Orleans in 1947. The late 1940’s was a postwar era as the United States rose as a victorious superpower above the rest of the world. This era was also the beginning of the Baby Boom – a time of high marriage and birth rates in the country. There was a postwar surge in luxury with the end of rations and the emergence of better, cheaper cars and entertainment. Although there were many positive advances during the time, there was also the dark cloud of the Soviet Union as the Cold War was brewing and the atomic bomb was being threatened once again.…
Furthermore, Tennessee Williams’ realistic drama ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ presents two groups within society in a confined setting. His play sets out a realist effect on the middle class versus working class environment. Williams does this by personifying the two classes by using the relationship between two sisters. Stella, is the oldest sister who represents a working class, she lives in a shabby flat with her alcoholic, abusive, Polish husband Stanley, and is pregnant with his child. Blanche on the other hand is a middle class, sophisticated and self sufficient woman who is shocked at the way the working class lives, particularly her sisters living conditions. It could be suggested a class system is the cause of fragmentation within society,…
Characterizing – it is a daily occurrence that many do not realize is taking place. Whether it appears by describing someone’s new hair or explaining a person’s personality, characterization is frequently happening. Yet, representation of an individual does not only take place in the real world, it appears in numerous literary works as well. For example, in the written matters of A Streetcar Named Desire, A Separate Peace, and “Everyday Use”, where character interactions, such as arguing and having conflicting beliefs, bring out strong depictions and central messages. While some readers of these pieces of literature may believe that character interaction shows no relation to theme relativity; a closer inquiry demonstrates that through characters such as Stella and Stanley, Mama and Dee, and Gene and Finny, an…
Critics have praised Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire for its characters. Crude, sensual Stanley; dreamy, burned-out Blanche; bashful, meek Mitch. That being said, the successful portrayal of these characters is the mark of an excellent Streetcar performance. According to many readers, the stunning characterization is what makes A Streetcar Named Desire so compelling and legendary. Yet I would like to disagree. I think it is the play’s setting that makes the story so fascinating.…
Everyone wants to live a life they do not have. Some people want to be rich, while others want to travel the world and never work a day in their lives. In order to live the lives they do not have, many people create their own fantasies. Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar Named Desire depicts Blanche and Stella’s lives as lies, while revealing how they do not wish to face their own realities, for they will never to able to live the life they have always hoped for.…
Since the beginning of time writers haven chosen a variety of themes to include in their works. The most widely used and complex theme is love. Love is not a specified as a certain feeling or action. For centuries literary plays have employed love into accomplishing their intended outcome of their play. The theme of love emphasizes mutual love, mutual esteem and freedom to choose. Writers tend to make the theme of love become personal and understandable when coming to life in a play. Three writers made this possible in plays using the main theme of love. Three plays that show the complexity of love are “A Doll House” by Henrick Isben, “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, and “A Midsummer…
As Helena says, "Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind" (1.1.234) whereas in the play, most of the relationships of love is seen with the eyes rather than their minds. The characters don’t realize what reason they are falling in love with and only see what they want to see. William Shakespeare writes and demonstrates the effect of love through the character's eyes in his play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare establishes the illusion of love through the relationships between Lysander & Hermia, Demetrius & Helena, and Bottom & Titania.…
Shakespeare was pointing out that love is maddening and that people do very eccentric things for love. In the play A Midsummer night’s dream written by Shakespeare, the characters portray the quote written by John Lennon, ‘All you need is love’ in multiple ways. To some extent the quote is relatable and to some extent it is not. In the play, there is tension between love and law, thus, four lovers escape into the magic forest, while problems arise in the forest between Oberon, the king of fairies, and Titania, the queen of fairies. Oberon’s most trusted servant, Puck (Robin Goodfellow) uses magic juice to play tricks, to entertain his master, by mocking the power of love.…
By showing why Chiron falls into the hegemonic ideal of a man and concealing his sexual identity and then showing his eventual realization of this, the audience is painted a picture of a man whose personality is severely corrupted by the dominant view of masculinity. As a result, Barry Jenkins succeeds in presenting a heartbreaking yet important argument advocating for changing the status quo of gender and sexuality…
“In du Maurier’s novels the men are often bullies & cheats, the women fools for love.” Compare and contrast a Streetcar named Desire and Rebecca in the light of this quotation.…
Explore how Williams builds up to the inevitable rape of Blanche in Scene 10. Consider his use of setting, character and stage directions in your answer.…
Peaceful resistance to rules and regulations among society goes down historically as something so inevitably iconic as an occurrence known as civil disobedience. It is no doubt that civil disobedience, the act of opposing a law deemed unjust and peacefully disobeying it henceforth, spurs such great controversy in our society. Civil disobedience impacts society in a positive manner that does not hinder nor deteriorate the good name of the just nation that is home, but moreover poses as an influence for what is better accepted by humans as lawful.…
4. Explain the words: "My grandfather appeared to have been a man of somewhat tediously unrelieved virtue. It was only later that I pieced together a portrait that was more credible, if not more creditable" (18) (tediously - tiresome, annoying; credible - believable; creditable - good) It means that David thought his grandfather was a bad person and then he realized that he actually was a good person.…
As Lysander says, "The course of true love never did run smooth." Love in A Midsummer Night's Dream is portrayed as complicated and difficult, yet Shakespeare does it in a way that is humorous and lighthearted. In this play love often brings out the worst in people, yet in the end it's what brings everyone back together. Love has the ability to spellbind people as Shakespeare represents symbolically through Puck's actions, and we see how intensely complicated it can be when it nearly tears apart Hermia's family and causes argument between the four main human characters. The four types of love, forced love, parental love, romantic love and complicated love permeate all aspects of life in this play and we see the awesome power it has over human emotion, psychology, and behavior.…