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.…
The main character in a drama entitled "Street Car Named Desire", written by Tennessee Williams, is an emotional woman by the name of Blanche, who has many afflictions. The setting of this play is in the state of Louisiana. Blanche has the potential to be a very vigorous woman, if she chooses to tap into that unidentified strength. All her life, she’s managed to face scrutiny from every possible direction. She has been ostracized from her community, lied to throughout her entire marriage, lost her inheritance, battling with alcoholism, and invests her fate and well-being in men. Blanche is a wandering soul, who’s wrapped up in life’s misfortunes, and is commonly misunderstood.…
One reason Blanche would rather live a life of deception is because the truth hurts too much. Similarly when light is shown on a person who has been in a dark place for a very long time, it will hurt their eyes. To Blanche the truth is very painful and being unable to face the truth, she says she has been telling “what ought to be truth” (1830). She wishes that the lies she has told were true. Repeatedly, Blanche avoids light because she feels guilty of her sins, is trying to hide her lies, or does not want to face the…
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.…
Streetcar Named Desire’s Tennessee Williams explains how Blanche and Stella are both living a lie and existing in a fantasy, where in time they must come face to face with their own realities. People that live lives they wish to have eventually with have to come to terms and realize to enjoy the life they have and stop comparing their lives to…
The play “streetcar named desire” written by Tennessee William in 1949, which was received the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1948. The play commenced on Broadway on December 3, 1947 in the Ethel Barrymore Theater. This play is about life of a woman in 19th century who could not come out of the fantasy to the real life that her self instinct and her surrounding creates extra problems in her life that makes her hide her historical and physical appearances and lied her sister and suitor. On the other hand, the poem “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” by Emily Dickinson, in 1890, this poem believed toHhave been written in 1862, a year during which Dickinson supposedly produced more than 300 poems. This poem suggests the persona of this poem in order…
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…
For Blanche maintaining her youth and appearance is important as it is part of her illusions, making it seem as though nothing in her life has changed. Ultimately, fantasy consumes Blanche as she begins to believe they are truly a part of her reality. Mitch ignores Blanche’s lies and facade as he is blinded by the idea of marrying, who he believes to be the perfect woman. Through his own illusions he is able to escape from Blanche’s reality. Finally, Stella uses illusion as she endures her husband’s drinking and physical abuse. She also uses fantasy to protect and preserve her marriage, creating a facade that she lives happily with her…
Blanche dwells in illusion; fantasy is her primary means of self-defense, both against outside threats and against her own demons. But her deceits carry no trace of malice, but rather they come from her weakness and inability to confront the truth head-on. She is a quixotic figure, seeing the world not as it is but as it ought to be. Fantasy has a liberating magic that protects her from the tragedies she has had to endure. Throughout the play, Blanche's dependence on illusion is contrasted with Stanley's steadfast realism, and in the end it is Stanley and his worldview that win. To survive, Stella must also resort to a kind of illusion, forcing herself to believe that Blanche's accusations against Stanley are false so that she can continue living with her husband.…
"I don't want realism. I want magic I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don't tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth " (Blanche p.117). She doesn't want reality; instead she wishes to view a rose-colored version of life that goes along with her old-fashioned southern belle personality.…
The fake world that Blanche has fabricated with all her compulsive lies can only subsist in her mind if it's reassured by the belief of it all from those around her.Blanche wants the artificial reality she has created in her mind to become true, so she doesn't have to deal with all the pain the real world has inflicted on her as seen in "pretend I don't notice anything different about you! That- music again...".Which shows that Blanche doesn't like the truth of situations that…
[Stella is on her own in a room in Eunice’s flat. There is a neatly made bed with white sheets in the middle of the room, in which Stella is sitting down, sipping from a glass of water. The door to the room was previously closed and locked by Stella, claiming she was going to change clothes and needed privacy. There is an open window on the right side of the bed, facing a building which lights are all off. Stanley’s and Eunice’s voices can be recognized above the background screams heard]…
“I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic! (9.117). Magic, is often associated with the concept of circumventing reality. Individuals try to live unconstrained within their fantasy when they dislike the way that reality appears to be for the. In “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Tennessee Williams protagonist, Blanche Dubois finds herself to be in a situation of living in illusion instead of reality. Williams’s addresses the importance of individuals who attempt to live unconstrained, through Blanche. Through her elusion 0f reality, her fantasy meets the inconvenience of Stanley Kowalski, who poses as reality. Through the ups and downs of fantasy attempting to prevail unrestricted in the presence of reality, the characters of the play…
Right from the start, Blanche is already a fallen woman in society’s eyes. She is sufficiently self-aware to know that she cannot survive in the world as it is. Reality is too harsh, so she must create an illusion that will allow herself to maintain her delicate, fragile hold on life.…