The Character Of Stanley Kowalski In Tennessee Williams 'A Streetcar Named Desire'
Kowalski in the 21th century
The Golden Globe awarded ‘Big Little Lies’ certainly strucks its audience with a déja vu-like sensation as one encounters the lethal hunk Perry. Released in the year of #metoo, it addresses issues like domestic abuse, echoing the recent boost in western feminist sentiment. In the midst of all this excitement of female empowerment, it is important to salute those who made this progress possible in the first place. For one, Tennessee Williams’ portrait of the brutish Stanley Kowalski in the iconic play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ exposed the explicitly reality for many households, causing a lot of controversy at the time of its release. The resemblance between Stanley and Perry is striking with regards to the behavioural pattern and this post sets out to identify why that is.
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Stanley and Stella’s power dynamic is not particularly surprising given the time period they exist in and its overwhelming patriarchy. Stella is disconnected from any form of support system and develops a form of Stockholm syndrome since she is out of touch with the reality in which domestic violence is intolerable. Stella is overly sympathetic and justifies Stanley’s violent behaviour towards her, similarly to Celeste. Celeste giving up on her high profile career to become a housewife merely because of her Perry’s insecurities is a clear example of how she is deliberately isolated from the outside world for the purpose of Perry securing his dominance. One of the contrasting factors between the two women is predominantly the time and context, however, the same logic applies. They are held down and when they defy their respective husbands, breaking away from their submission, there is a disturbance in the relationship’s hostile
Outsiders In A Streetcar Named Desire
1465 Words | 6 PagesStanley is a blunt, practical, and animalistic man who has no patience for subtleties and refinement. His animalistic character shows the moment he meets Blanche, when he, moving with “animalistic joy” (24), “sizes” Blanche up with “sexual classifications” and “crude image” in his mind (25). Under his stare, Blanche draws “involuntarily back” (25), a movement that foreshadows their later conflict and her subsequent demise. His practical and straightforward side shows when he interrogates Blanche about the sale of Belle Reve to make sure that his wife is not swindled. His straightforward, practical nature makes him “boom” out of impatience (46) and demands Blanche to cut straight to the point when she tries to talk in an indirect, subtle manner as befit a Southern gentlewoman.
A Streetcar Named Desire Marriage Analysis
978 Words | 4 PagesStella’s sister, Blanche, sees through the illusion and can see how toxic the marriage really is. Stanley and Blanche come from distinctly different backgrounds, Stanley is from the working class while Blanche comes from wealth. Williams uses these two contrasting points of views on marriage, to show the issues of possessiveness, class, and sexism. When it comes to Stanley’s marriage to Stella, one of the most notable characteristics is how possessive Stanley is. An example of this is when Stanley found out that Blanche and therefore Stella, lost their estate.
Insecurity In A Streetcar Named Desire
1085 Words | 5 PagesThe play “A Streetcar Named Desire” is about an emotionally unstable lady named Blanche. She moves in with her youngest sister and her husband because the landlord took the land away from Blanche because they could not pay for it anymore. After being their for a while Blanche starts remembering her horrible past which is something she was trying to do in the first place. The husband of Stella, Stanley Kowalski was also someone that made Blanche’s life miserable for complicating everything and harassing her in every possible way. Death is one of the most symbolic terms in this play.
Blanche's Destruction In A Streetcar Named Desire
778 Words | 4 PagesThe Destruction of the Belle Reve Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire is a wonderfully tragic story of the delusional Blanche DuBois, whose lies are unfolded and destroyed by the misogynist Stanley Kowalski. Throughout the play, Blanche frequently lies about her past, who she is, and what she’s done. Each lie she tells slowly unravels the next until she is caught, drowning in her own pathetic lies, forced to surrender to the malicious consequences dealt by Stanley. Similar to James Gatz, Blanche is obsessed with covering up her past actions, and creating a thin cloak of lies; however, James’ past is merely one of social degradation, Blanche carries the weight of her own horrible decisions.
A Streetcar Named Desire Illusion Vs Reality
1745 Words | 7 PagesIn his reality he sees that women are seen as below in society which was true at the time. This causes him to do whatever he wants and to take pleasure and control in the relationship. Stanley embodies the reality of what a man is in the 1940s. “Stanley Kowalski—survivor of the Stone Age!” (Williams 72).
A Streetcar Named Desire: Similarities Between Stanley And Blanche
159 Words | 1 PagesOne major similarity between Blanche and Stanley is that they both like to manipulate or control other people, to make themselves feel better. Even though there are different ways Stanley and Blanche take control of other people they still do it in a familiar matter. For example, Blanche takes power and influence over people by lying to others and herself, to make them believe in something that actually never happened, with fantacy, therefore makes Blanche feel greater, than she actually may be. To go deeper in depth, to prove that Blanche is manipulative she also says. ¨I don 't tell the truth.
Animals In Streetcar Named Desire
903 Words | 4 PagesPlaywright Tennessee Williams once said “a symbol in a play has only one legitimate purpose which is to say a thing more directly and simply and beautifully than it could be said in words”. He seems to take his own advice to heart when writing such a thought provoking play as A Streetcar Named Desire. While Williams makes extensive use of symbols in Streetcar, the use of animals and animal-like characteristics as a symbol are constantly used to define Stanley Kowalski’s character and convey his desires as primal and ferine. Stanley has the first line in the play and is immediately characterized by Williams with the use of his stage direction “bellowing” (Williams 244; sc. 1). Like a wild animal, Stanley has a desire for unrefinement and
A Streetcar Named Desire Past And Present Analysis
1547 Words | 7 PagesTennessee Williams wrote “A Streetcar Named Desire” (Williams, 1947) It is based in New Orleans a new cosmopolitan city which is poor but has raffish charm. The past is representing old south in America 1900’s and present is representing new America post world war 2 in 1940’s. Past and present are intertwined throughout the play in the characters Stanley, Blanche, Stella and mitch. Gender roles show that males are the dominant and rule the house which Stanley is prime example as he brings home food and we learn of one time when he got cross and he smashed the light bulbs.
Death In A Streetcar Named Desire
718 Words | 3 PagesDesire can be defined as a strong feeling of wanting or wishing for something. The something could be an object, idea, or an event. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche Dubois believes that the opposite of death is desire. Logically speaking, the real opposite of death is life; so why does Blanche believe that it’s desire? Possibly because she relates desire to life it’s self.
Stella Kowalski's Sexuality In A Streetcar Named Desire
741 Words | 3 PagesIn the play A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams, the main character, Blanche DuBois, travels to New Orleans to stay with her sister, Stella, and Stella’s husband, Stanley Kowalski. Throughout the play, sexulaity is seen as a strong motivator for many of the characters actions. Early in the play, Stanley is introduced as a particularly sexual character, “ Since earliest manhood the center of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it, not with weak indulgence... He sizes women up with a glance, with sexual classifications…” (Williams 25).
Violence And Power In A Streetcar Named Desire
652 Words | 3 PagesThe themes of violence and power in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ hold an important role in the criticism of 1940s American society. Conflicts perpetuated by violence and power, such as abusive relationships and violent oppression are projected through the characters within the play. Williams uses these conflicts to highlight his criticisms of faltering values and social norms, from the perspective of an individual constrained by the expectations of a strict, Southern society. To begin with, there is an indefinite violence between men and women within ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Stanley Kowalski, a focal character, is the epitome of male dominance and primitive aggression.
Theme Of Dominance In A Streetcar Named Desire
698 Words | 3 PagesThe Fight for Dominance In today’s society, gender norms convince men that unless they are able to control women, they are weak. Considered the inferior gender, women must find new ways to prove their own strength, whether it be through manipulation or their sexuality. The battle between the two continues as men strive to remain dominant, often by immoral means, and women attempt to gain the upper hand. In the screenplay, “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, the sexual tension and struggle for dominion between Blanche and Stanley is evident, and as the play continues, Blanche's promiscuity and Stanley's predatory nature foreshadow an inevitable confrontation.
Foreshadowing In A Streetcar Named Desire
757 Words | 4 PagesA Street Car Named Desire is a play written by Tennessee Williams, which slowly uncovers Blanche’s prior life. Her troubled past causes her a lot of trouble when she tries to start over. She used to work as a teacher in Mississippi, however, she was forced to leave after she was caught having an affair with one of the students. This was typical behavior for Blanche since she had previously taken many lovers. Since she had such a hard time in Mississippi, she decides to move to New Orleans to live with her sister, Stella, and her husband, Stanley, in hopes of escaping her past.
Stereotypes In A Streetcar Named Desire
1245 Words | 5 PagesQuote and Explain, In contrast, Stella has both a husband and a child, she has something to work for, leading her to be accepted into society. Although Stella exemplifies these common traits, she falls under the same category as her sister, Blanche. While being depicted as less in comparison to the opposite sex. The intense description of the stage directions in scene three, depicts Stella as the prey and Stanley as the predator as he vigorously abused
Society In A Streetcar Named Desire
847 Words | 4 PagesIn the 1940’s men were thought of as the heirs to women. Tennessee Williams uses Stanley Kowalski as a model for how cruel and unusual men treated women at the time. Throughout the film Stanley is seen as a very abusive man with absolutely no right judgement. In today’s society the way he treats women would be morally unacceptable. However, during the 1940’s this sadistic man was seen as a true man.
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