A Streetcar Named Desire Extract Analysis

Her Otherness and incongruity in the lower-middle class New Orleans neighbourhood are apparent from the moment she enters. At the beginning of the play, the inhabitants of Elysian Fields enjoy themselves in some earthly, bawdy activities. Eunice and the coloured woman are chatting “on the steps of the building” (3), making ribald jokes about Stanley’s “package” (4). Mitch and Stanley are going to the bowling club while Stella rushes to join them (4-5). Then Blanche, “daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, …, white gloves and hat” (5), the very image of a Southern gentlewoman, steps into the scene. Her image of a prim and proper Southern gentlewoman clashes with the down-to-earth, easy-going lifestyle of the lower middle class. Her incongruity as a refined Southern gentlewoman in an industrial, lower-middle class New Orleans neighbourhood marks her status as an outsider and contributes to her final

Blanche’s insanity emerges as she retreats fully into herself, leaving the world of actual reality, since is is unable to go forward and accept reality. In order to escape reality fully, however, Blanche must come to perceive the exterior world as that of which she has imagined. This, reality is not a solution to Blanche’s fantasy world. Rather, Blanche adapts a world, which she thinks is true, to fit into her delusions. While this has been accomplished with both the physical and the psychological sections, there is no boundary between fantasy and reality in which for Blanche, is permeable. Blanche’s final, deluded happiness suggests that, to some extent, fantasy is a vital force in every individual’s experience, despite reality’s inevitable triumph. This refers to her reality of how Mitch had came over to apologize to her, and she tells Stanley that she turned him down. This lie backfired, since Stanley knew exactly where Mitch was at this time. As well as Stanley saw through Blanches delusion of how she has received a wire, from Shep Huntleigh, inviting her to go with him down to the Caribbean cruise, in which Stanley later shuts down as

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.

The 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.

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. Quote 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

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

1). Williams states that he takes with “the power and pride of a richly feathered bird among hens”(265; sc. 1). This comparison to animals portrays Stanley as the alpha male in this story. He views woman as objects and his sexual desires are strong and primitive. Whenever he fights with Stella, the “things that happen between a man and women in the dark… make everything else seem – unimportant” (321; sc.4). In other words, Stella is very aware that her sexual relationship with Stanley can help her sort out any problems between them. Also, shortly before Stanley rapes Blanche, Williams says in the stage directions that there were “inhuman voices like cries in the jungle” (399; sc. 10). Blanche, which means white wood, is out of her element in this jungle of Stanley’s and it is she, who once called Stanley “bestial” (322; sc. 4) and “sub-human” (323; sc. 4), who has now found herself being stalked and charged like prey being hunted by an animal. With his sister-in-law present, Stanley has been unable to fulfill his sexual desires and so he releases them out on Blanche. The rape can also be seen as Stanley asserting his dominance over Blanche as she has taken his wife’s attention away from him long

Blanche’s suppression begins after Allen’s death. For Blanche his death opened up a floodgate of fear and desire which she could not manage. After Allen’s death Blanche was filled with fear, fear that she would end up alone and become a spinster. This panic "drove [her] from one [man] to another, hunting for some protection”(117). As well Blanche states that when she met her husband, she “made the discovery-love. All at once and much, much too completely” (95). Blanche made the discovery of her desire for the first time, but this hunger could not be satisfied. Her husband’s death and his homosexuality kept her from feeling what it is to be desired and, in turn feeling desire. Her sexual desires which at first had been denied by her husband 's death were now denied by her need to find a husband. As she no longer owned Belle Reve, which afforded her some social status, her only means of tempting suitors was through her sexuality and her fading looks. Blanche’s knowledge that she must attract men with her physical body is shown when she tries to get Mitch 's attention by undressing in the light so that he can see the outline of her body “Blanche moves back into the streak of light. She raises her arms and stretches, as she moves indolently back to the chair” (88). However, her sexual encounters quickly gained her a reputation that prevented many

Actions such as her “frightened gasp” show her instability and insecurity, the word “frightened” shows her fear, while “gasp” presents her surprise. The audience is then able to link her reaction to Mitch to her reaction to Stanley in previous scenes. Both characters seem to display violent attitudes. We are then able to compare and notify the similarities, thus reaching the conclusion on Blanche’s reaction to violence, which is one of fear. Fear is not only shown through her reaction to Mitch but it also manifests itself in Blanche’s stance. Before Mitch even arrives she is “seated in a hunched position”, which gives evidence of insecurity. The word “hunched” shows oppression as she is unable to sit straight, this depicts fear of something or someone, she doesn’t have the confidence and so she remains in her

From here on, it shows that Blanche’s appearance and how she perceives herself as a person ties closely to the lighting in the room. For instance, when Mitch and Blanche introduce themselves for the first time, she makes the statement, “I bought this adorable little colored paper lantern at a Chinese shop on Bourbon. Put it on the light bulb! Will you, please?” (54). Of course, this seems innocent, except when she continues to make the claim that, “I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action” (54). Blanche links together the light bulb with rudeness and vulgarity. She compares the two different things such as light, which is an indicator for innocence, and vulgar actions, which then she proves she has an extreme distaste for lighting. Presumably, Blanche believes her beauty is like the light, as she shows this when she frantically explains to Stella about how awful it was living back in Laurel, “I never was hard or sell-sufficient enough. When people are soft--soft people have got to shimmer and glow--they've got to put on soft colors, the colors of butterfly wings, and put a-- paper lantern over the light.... It isn't enough to be soft. You've got to be soft and attractive. And I--I'm fading now! I don't know how much longer I can turn the trick” (82). She shows that

Blanche feels the need to be appreciated by men at all time and seeks attention when she does not receive it, especially from Mitch. “She dupes him regarding her age and declares herself younger to Stella, tries to fool him regarding her drinking habits, avoid going out with him until after dark and manages to avoid being seen in direct bulb-light!”(Kararia 24). Blanche is portrayed as a liar and attention seeker who wants to be showered with compliments from Mitch. She tries to fool and flirt with Mitch so she can secure her future with him. “She sees in Mitch an opportunity to prove her allure and score an easy sexual conquest.”(Kataria 24). Blanche desires to be desired by Mitch. Before Blanche met Mitch, she was trying something with Stanley. “She flirts with him, sprays him with her atomizer asks him to button up her blouse…”(Kataria 27). Since Blanche has not had men attracted to her in a while, when she meets Stanley, she flirts with him. Not only does she want attention from men, but she is willing to obtain it from young boys. “You make my mouth

What came first, the chicken or the egg? With so many answers and different reasoning for each, this question can be extremely difficult to answer. While reading A Streetcar Named Desire, a play by Tennessee Williams dealing with the struggle of Blanche DuBois to fit in with an ever-changing society after losing her family home of Belle Reve, the reader may be left with a similarly challenging question to answer: is Williams sympathetic towards the character of Blanche, or does he condemn her character and behavior to make a statement to the larger audience about the effects of promiscuous actions? Many critics have sought to answer this question using

In a scene with Mitch Blanche says, “I don’t want realism, I want magic! [..] Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!” Blanches magic is seen through her illusions and delusions. In Blanches world Mitch doesn’t fit however she has reached a point of intimacy by being honest about her first husband and the guilt she endures as she begins to share the painful moment of her life with him. Stanley’s intrusion ruins her plans of marriage with Mitch and yet again she had to retreat in the world of her delusions. Stanley who represents realism in this novel and play pops Blanche’s illusion bubble through seeing the realism in scene ten he says: “not once did you pull any wool over this boy’s eyes!” Not only Stanley had broken her world of illusion, but also Mitch who is influenced by Stanley and destroys the protection of darkness by exposing her to the bright light. Stanley bringing up the past contributes to how Blanches ends up, alone and insane expressing the theme that what happened in the past determines the present, and illusion and fantasy directly correlate.

These rumors were a threat to what she has created in order to help her with the chaos in her life. Although she tried to build a new life with Stella, Stanley never gave in to her act and was constantly suspicious of her actions. Stanley's constant investigations and interrogations on Blanche’s old life. This is a representation of reality is starting to creep in of Blanche's newly created life. From the beginning Stanley has doubted Blanche, this is seen as he went through Blanche's things with Stella, questioning her belongings, “has she got this stuff out of teacher's pay?”(2.33). Stanley continues to impose his reality onto Blanche, which causes her more anxiety relying more and more on herself to create more of an illusion by creating an admirer for herself, saying that she ended it with Mitch because she does not deserve “deliberate cruelty”, and crating this alter ego for herself as being pure. While Stella is in the hospital, he and Blanche are left alone for the night as she continues bragging about her admiration coming from Sheep Hunt Leigh and how she just got a wire from him. Stanley catches her in her life, finally tearing apart Blanche's illusions. Although Stanley has been a threat to her through his suspicion and empowering masculinity over her, the last scene is where he finally takes final control over her, or symbolically where reality has a final triumph over her illusions. While catching her in the midst of her lies she reveals to Blanche that “[he’s] been on to [Blanche] from the start!” (10.225). towards the end of the play Stella, Mitch, and Stanley play a role in imposing reality into her allusions. As Stella calls for the Doctor to pick Blanche up it rips her away from her fantasies with Shep Huntleigh. When Mitch reveals to Blanche that she isn't pure enough to take home to his

On page 111, Blanche was talking to Mitch about her current living conditions and she described to him the behavior of Stanley. Blanche said "It 's really a pretty frightful situation. You see, there 's no privacy here. There 's just these portioned between the