Gender differences take a big place in every story and can lead to some conflicts. According to Cliffsnotes,“Gender stereotypes are simplistic generalizations about the gender attributes “(Cliffsnotes 1). In other words, it exists some stereotypes that categorized people. In A streetcar named Desire written by Tennessee Williams, there is some conflictual situations based on gender differences between Mitch, Stanley, Stella and Blanche. Based on this idea, each character represents a specific type of gender stereotypes. In this story, Tennessee Williams each main character such as, Stanley, Mitch, Blanche and Stella, embodies a specific behavior that does not always fit to the gender stereotypes that they belong to. Indeed, the author categorizes Mitch as the “good guy” who feels some emotions …show more content…
In A streetcar named Desire, Stella is associated to this stereotypic role, she is an innocent woman and housewife who takes care of her husband by loving him in an outrageous way. Even if Stanley is hitting her, she still loves him. Whereas Blanche acts like a seductress, at first sight she seems to be pure by wearing a “daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice” (Williams 3). In reality the authors gives a false impression of her in order to affirm that stereotypes or first impression are not always true. Indeed, after several scenes Blanche uses her power of seduction in order to manipulate men and reach her objectives. She is, by far, in opposition with the theme of purity, the author reveals that Blanche is a liar. Indeed she is saying that she has been hiring from her job, which is not the truth. Blanche is one the most interesting character in the story because she does not fit to some gender stereotypes, this difference makes her attractive and
" Physically: Gregor literally crawls into his room, lays down on the floor, and takes his last breath. Mentally: Gregor's family alienates him and is ultimately responsible for Gregor's death through their negligence. Clearly, the bug is Gregor, but Mr. and Mrs. Samsa and Grete treat 'it' as if he was scum. " They were treating him as though he was invisible. They would literally walk past his room every day and attend their family dinners without saying anything to Gregor at all.
In the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the main characters, Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski, share a great dislike and distrust towards one another, ultimately becoming the basis for the story’s conflict. Their common contemption stems from their contrasting personalities and backgrounds, their incompatibility of being able to function under the same environment, and inability to adapt to the situations they find themselves in. Although Blanche detests Stanley and the manner in which he behaves in, she realises that he is a necessary part for Stella’s life in New Orleans, an environment that greatly differs from the southern aristocracy that Stella and Blanche once lived in. Blanche expresses this idea by stating, “Oh,
It is what is haunting Blanche’s life, it is what has made her mentally unstable. Throughout the play, she has been hiding her past from people so she looks like
William’s play A Streetcar Named Desire presents a variety of perspectives on relationships, especially addressing the idea that bonds which aren’t bound by trust, loyalty and lust in an even balance will inevitably fail. Tennessee Williams uses the interaction between his characters, predominantly Blanche, Mitch, Stella and Stanley; to express a variety of ideas regarding relationships. These connections can be witnessed in scenes 2, 3, 6 and 11, through the use of stage directions, dialogue and expressionism to display different perspectives of character interaction. Trust acts as the foundation to any relationship, establishing a strong link between individuals and without it, the connection will eventually disintegrate.
Throughout all of these encounters, Blanche still maintains a mirage of innocence and purity. Having grown up in a society that requires her to suppress her desire, she hides it from those around her, and attempts to maintain her sense of entitlement and social status. She plays the role of the person she would like to be, and instead of telling the truth she tells “what ought to be. Instead of embracing her sexuality, she pushes it deep down. “After all, a woman’s charm is fifty percent illusion”.
Many literary criticisms have been written about Blanche and how she tends to lie about everything in her life. “Blanche disguises her desperation with lies- about drinking, her age, her reasons for coming to New Orleans, her sexual experience.” (Dace n.p.). Dace clearly describes Blanche as a liar and describes the fact how she lied about everything from the smallest thing, like her age to something as big as the reason why she went to New Orleans. “... in spite of the fact she’s somewhat older than I.
In A Streetcar Named Desire, the author Tennessee Williams exaggerates and dramatizes fantasy’s incapability to overcome reality through an observation of the boundary between Blanches exterior and interior conveying the theme that illusion and fantasy are often better than reality. Blanche, who hides her version of the past, alters her present and her relationship with her suitor Mitch and her sister, Stella. Blanche was surrounded by death in her past, her relatives and husband have passed away, leaving her with no legacy left to continue. The money has exhausted; the values are falling apart and she is alienated and unable to survive in the harsh reality of modern society. Throughout the novel Williams juxtaposed Blanche’s delusions with
To Blanche, Stanley originally comes off as appealing however once he rapes her, he becomes monstrous in her eyes. On the contrary, Blanche is not exactly humane as well. Blanche is the extreme version of how a female was represented in the mid-1900s, but takes crazy too far. As opposed to helping Blanche deal with the world, her fantasizing is more destructive then helpful. Stanley’s violent rape of Blanche is a wake up call from her fantasy life, the final straw in her mental decline, leading to her
In the avid pursuit of happiness, an individual can feel compelled to fabricate the truth about themselves in order to achieve the joy that they believe they deserve. The harsh truth of reality can force us to turn to the warmth of a fantasy to ease us in our search of contentment. Such is the case in Tennessee William’s play “A Streetcar Named Desire”, where sisters, Blanche and Stella both lie to themselves and others in order to become satisfied with their lives. Through the eyes of the beholder, happiness is measured differently; to Blanche, happiness is measured in wealth, particularly a wealthy man, whereas to Stella, happiness is in the comfort of a husband whom she refuses to call abusive. When we are first introduced to Blanche, Williams
This is made clear through Stanley’s insecurities about inferiority to women and his prolonged struggle to defeat Blanche. Again, this is evident with Blanche and even Stella. Stella is perceived as a static character with no real individuality, and Blanche, who is seemingly more independent, is characterized mostly by her sexuality. Tennessee Williams demonstrates society’s need for the superiority of men to women through the interactions of Stanley and Blanche in the play, their struggles, and their ultimate
Not only has Tennesse Williams portrayed Stella and Blanche to be seen as delicate and dependent, our own society has created this image but this not only affects how individuals see themselves but affects relationships immensely. Tennessee Williams reinforces the stereotype in which women are often the victims of unfortunate fate within the usage of the character Blanche. Throughout the whole play, we have witnessed Blanche being on the bitter end of life's miseries as she has encountered the tough loss of Belle Reve, dealing with her ex-husband's suicide and the loss of her relationship with Mitch. Arguably, the expectations and beliefs of women were either to be a housewife or a mother, whereas Blanche shows neither, as a result of automatically feeling out of place possibly leading to her downfall. Blanche was constantly fantasizing about the traditional values of a southern gentlemen, proving her dependence on this sex.
“A Streetcar Named Desire” is a very elegant film in which the Southern gothic culture is demonstrated profoundly. Tennessee Williams uses the characters in the play to bring about a sense of how corrupt society truly was in the 1940’s in the South. The 1940’s was marked by an immense amount of violence, alcoholism, and poverty. Women at the time were treated as objects rather than people. Throughout the play Tennessee Williams relates the aspects of Southern society to the characters in the play.
Tennessee Williams is acclaimed for his ability to create multi faced characters such as Blanche Dubois in the play, A Streetcar Named Desire. She comes to New Orleans after losing everything including her job, money, and her family’s plantation Belle Reve, to live with her sister Stella. During her time there she causes many conflicts with Stella’s husband Stanley and tries to get involved with the people there, all while judging them for their place in society, although she is imperfect too. Through her, Williams has created a complex character. She is lost, confused, conflicted, lashing out in sexual ways, and living in her own fantasies throughout the entirety of the play.
A streetcar named desire was written by Tennessee Williams in 1947, in purpose to show the “declining of the upper class and the domination of the bourgeois middle class in the U.S.A. where the south agriculture class could not compete with the industrialization.” Blanche Dubois the protagonist of our story, a southern beauty that is trapped by the restrictive laws of her society. But she broke them, and eventually put herself in a state, where she had no job and no house. So she had to go to her sister, Stella and live with her and her sister’s husband, Stanley. While staying there, she created a façade for her to hide her flaws and kept acting as a lady, where she is anything but that.
The 1947 play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams tells the story of the sweet, polite, but willfully oblivious Blanche DuBois’ difficult relationship with her rough & tough brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. When Blanche loses the family plantation, she travels to the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, to visit and temporarily live with her sister, Stella. Blanche is in her thirties and, with no money, she has nowhere else to go. Problems arise between Stanley and Blanche when Blanche begins a series of lies and half-truths, and belittles Stanley, labeling him as “common” and “barbaric”. Things escalate between the two because of Stanley’s drunken rage taken out on Stella, but also because Stanley begins to become suspicious and aware of Blanche’s many lies and cover-ups.