Streetcar Named Desire Essay
Desire. Everyone wants to be desired. Everyone desires something. But would you still desire the thing you loved if you knew it would lead to your descent? In this book, Blanche DuBois comes from Mississippi and stays with her sister Stella and her husband unannounced. Blanche’s coquettish and dated ways cause problems for Stanley and Stella, who already have an unstable relationship, causing problems for their household and their friends as well. In the book, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, the portrayal of desire makes the character's outcomes pessimistic by ruining Stanley’s ability to have control and Mitch and Blanche's relationship. Blanche and Mitch both desired to be married and to be wanted, not each other.
Marriage
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Stanley was used to Stella giving him attention all the time. So, with Blanche there, she was not paying attention to him. In the stage directions, it declares, “Stanley leaps up from the poker game, rushes through curtains, begins pulling radio out of its socket. He pulls it free, crosses to window below bathroom, and throws it out” (Williams 38). Stanley is used to having control over Stella When he tells her to do something, she does it. But, with Blanche there, Stella’s attention and energy are directed toward her. This angers Stanley; he wants to do something to have Stella’s attention back on him because he desires that so badly. Stanley desires Stella’s attention gravely, and he would do anything to have Stella focused on him. Stanley did not like his wife’s sister, Blanche. Thus, he chose to try and get rid of her without talking to her first. He conveys, “I’ve got a little birthday remembrance for you. Ticket! Back to Laurel! On the Greyhound! Tuesday!” (Williams 76). Stanley was mad that Blanche just moved in and he did not get any say over the matter. So, even though Stella wants Blanche there, he buys a ticket to send her back home. This leads to a negative outcome because it upsets both Stella and Blanche and leads to Stanley hurting Stella so badly, she has to go to the hospital. Because of Stanley’s desires, cause problems between him and Blanche. Instead of getting him what he wants, it just causes Blanche to be upset and therefore pushes Stella further away from him and ruins their
Self Preservation In Night By Elie Wiesel
1480 Words | 6 PagesBlanche is projecting the self-image of a person who believes that they are above others. She acts as though she is of a royal family and demands the respect of everyone around her. She loses her family's home to the government and blames it on her sister who left in order to search for her own lifestyle. From the beginning of her visit, Blanche gets an off feeling about Stanley. When she arrives, he starts to stare at her with a sense of caution then soon begins inspecting the paperwork that she brought with her in order to validate her story.
Gender Roles In A Rose For Emily And A Streetcar Named Desire
534 Words | 3 PagesStella serves as a portrayal of the typical wife of this time period. She lets Stanley and Blanche frequently walk all over her. Because it was so typical, this character role didn't engage the play's audience as much as the other characters did. Stanley's influence mostly damages Blanche, but Stella is also affected by his violent behavior. During poker night, a time for male bonding, she is mistreated.
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.
Summary Of Streetcar Named Desire: Stanley Kowalski
148 Words | 1 PagesStanley does not treat Stella very good throughout the play. At some points he acts like a good husband, but he does seem to snap very easily. This is shown by him hitting her for talking back to him, and for calling him a drunk. After this happens he snaps and there seems to be very little things to stop him. With
Differences Between Streetcar Named Desire Movie And Play
525 Words | 3 PagesIn the play it is clear that Stanley rapes Blanche and in the film the screen fades to black and is left to the audience to decide what happened. Williams stated that “Without which the play loses its meaning”. As well as “it is a pivotal, integral truth in the play”. I think that without this part of the play Blanche's downward spiral makes less sense and her being sent away loses some of its meaning. This plays into the very end as well when Stella leaves Stanley and doesn’t plan on coming back.
A Streetcar Named Desire Character Analysis
1459 Words | 6 PagesThe play A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams is a very dynamic and vibrant play in which has a lot of excitement and clamour as tension builds up through the music, use of violence, stage directions, contrast of characters and even through madness. Vulnerability in this play is present in almost every character as society imposes stereotypical aspects on every one of them including Stanley, that has to be the traditional controlling and dominant male, Stella the traditional, obedient house-wife and Blanche is clearly not accepted due to her promiscuousity- and the time period doen 't help her either. This vulnerability highlights the theme of appearance vs reality since the image that everyone tries to portray in which society has imposed on them is not who they really are since Stanley looses control and becomes monstrous due to his alcoholism and when his masculinity is threatened, hence uses violence, while Blanche doesn 't deliver the image of the stereotypical submissive woman society claims she should be as she has a very unstable mind- seen through the Varsouviana and alcoholism she ineffectively tries to hide. Stanley is the stereotypical, dominant man that always gets his way, is in full control of his household and can get away with everything, including with the rape of Blanche in which Stella, the submissive silent wife that she is supposed to be, silently accepts and ignores.
A Streetcar Named Desire Essay
1338 Words | 6 PagesThrough Blanche’s character, the theme of desire and its outcomes are shown throughout the film. One example of Blanche’s desire can be traced to the origin of nearly all her problems. When she was 16 Blanche fell deeply in love with a boy, they were happy until one day when they were dancing, she told the boy he was weak and that she had lost respect for him. The boy would soon then run outside and shoot himself, leaving Blanche with a hole in her heart she was never able to fill (Streetcar 1:11:22-1:14:42). Because of Blanche’s character, she did not think twice about telling the boy what she did, leading to her own loss in her heart.
A Streetcar Named Desire Essential Flaws Essay
1056 Words | 5 PagesStella doesn’t stick up for herself and she doesn’t seek to confront her husband’s abusive behavior. As a result, there is tension between Stella and Blanche. Blanche notices her passiveness and sees it as a weakness that is holding Stella back. Stella is very aware of Blanche’s fragility and her past trauma’s but chooses to ignore them to avoid conflict. In the end of the play when Blanche told everybody that Stanley raped her, nobody believed her.
Streetcar Named Desire Stanley Character Analysis
953 Words | 4 PagesStanley throughout the book does not really seem to have an interest in Blanche. But at the end of the story that all changes Stanley decides to create a very special interest in Blanche. The part that no one can understand is exactly why Stanley would want to do that due to the idea that Blanche is Stella's sister. Stanley´s brilliant idea was to wait until Stella was gone and then things started to get a little more intense. ¨ Oh!
Theme Of Money In A Streetcar Named Desire
1413 Words | 6 PagesStanley thought money was going to fix the issue. Blanche still continued to get into Stellas head about him but she wasn’t trying to hear it. Blanches independency was what created space between her and Stella because of their opposite views on situations. And due to that fact, Stella saw Blanche as a judgemental
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.
Theme Of Dominance In A Streetcar Named Desire
698 Words | 3 PagesAs soon as Blanche steps into the Kowalski household and meets Stanley, it is evident that her appearance is a threat to his superiority. Both characters attempt to establish dominance through their control over Stella, a minor character who exists mainly to deepen the contrast between Blanche and Stanley. In scene four, Blanche advises Stella to leave her abusive husband and attempts to influence her by saying “I have a plan for us both, to get us both—out!” (69).
Foreshadowing In A Streetcar Named Desire
757 Words | 4 PagesStella accepts her willingly, however, Stanley begins to hear rumors. Blanche starts to date one of Stanley’s friends, Mitch, but when Stanley informs him about her past, Mitch basically tells her
A Streetcar Named Desire: Discussion Questions
1073 Words | 5 PagesIn Scene 10, Blanche is begging Stanley to let her get by and he is not moving to let her through. Stanley says that he thinks Blanche would not be too bad to interfere with in a sexual way going back to Scene 6, when he would walk through the rooms in his underwear at night near Blanche. Blanche complained about the little bit of privacy she had in the house and that was exemplified when Stanley later picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. Blanche had thought in the beginning that her situation was frightful, but never to the degree in which she experienced towards the end of the
Blanche Vs Stanley
770 Words | 4 PagesIn the extravagant play, A Streetcar Named Desire, it features two main characters that dominate the spotlight with their opposing views. When Stella’s sister, Blanche, comes to town she disrupts everything that has been perfect for Stanley. Stanley and Blanche seem like night and day, but they correlate very well. During the play we see Blanche and Stanley in a sort of power struggle over Stella. Whether Stanley disagrees with Blanches sophisticated lifestyle, or Blanche calls Stanley an ape, they both crave a peaceful lifestyle, love and to be a controlling figure.
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