Restricted and contained. Imagine being stuck in one place and not knowing if there is an escape. Does this sound terrible? Well then, this is how it felt to be a woman in the 1940’s. During this time period women were not encouraged to pursue careers or make a name for themselves. No, they were told to be a good wife and that their lives could not be validated unless they were a quiet, subservient wife behind their husband. This role was portrayed by the character, Stella from the play A Streetcar Named Desire. Tennessee Williams, author of this play accurately depicts the standard role of a woman in the 1940’s. She rarely talked back to her husband and stayed with him even after he beat her and raped her sister. Did she really have no other …show more content…
Do they want someone who is strong and perseverant or someone who is weak willed and subservient? One could say that it depends on the specific individual, but this is not at all how it was in the 1940’s. During this time women were expected to be simply an extension of their husband. They were told not to work or make anything special of themselves. The article, “Gender Roles and Expectations” by Susana A. Eisenchlas, discusses how stereotypes are so rooted into a person that it affects the way they act. For example, men are supposed to be agentic; they are told to speak for themselves and act in a way that increases their power. On the other hand, women are supposed to communal; they are told to be assisting to the desires and well being of others. These expectations were displayed in the play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, by Tennessee Williams.
Two of the main characters, Stanley and Stella perfectly represent the characteristics mentioned in the article. “Every man is a king! And I am the king around here so don’t forget it!” (Williams,131). Stanley shouting these remarks prove the stereotypes of that time period. Men were openly acting dominant towards women, and Stella didn’t even say anything against it. The “traditional” roles of man and woman were very much displayed in the 1940’s but how much in our modern
Much of the preservations in the play are for men who have even denied the women their privacy. Susan Glaspell shows women as weak and only able to do weak responsibilities such as housekeeping and staying at their
Women’s ongoing fight for equality from the 1920s to the 1970s was reflected through their attire. The 1920s were marked by the shockingly short hemlines and their right to vote. While women struggled to get fair pay in the 1930s, they got hired more often than men, which gave them greater independence. However, due to the gloom of the Great Depression, women lost their confidence and their clothing became more conservative. By contrast, the 1940s provided greater opportunities as the United States went to war.
During the war women had enjoyed the feeling being independent. The feeling of losing the little power they had during the war was devastating. As the United States was becoming a nation the ideology of separate spheres became more clear and women and men were treated completely differently, “American women never manage the outward concerns of the family, or conduct a business or take a part in political life; nor are they, on the other hand, ever compelled t perform the rough labor of the fields, or make any of those laborious exertions, which demand the exertion of physical strength. No families are so poor, as t form an exception to this rule.” (Dumenil 156).
The line ‘I’m looking for my sister, Stella DuBois. I mean- Mrs Stanley Kowalski’ delivered by Blanche, in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, illuminates the similar attitudes towards women throughout the Jacobean and post-war eras. The separation of the common noun ‘sister’ and the noun ‘Mrs’ illustrates the separate roles of a sister and a wife, particularly as sister comes before wife chronologically, but the impact is on the correction, as a wife was seen as a more important role than a sister, which is similar to the separation of Desdemona’s roles as a daughter and a wife. Even though Blanche is a woman, and women were legally independent, she assigns her sister to a man because of the powerful societal regulations which she has been exposed and fallen victim
This gained them national attention towards their problems. A major setback women experienced was men realizing that women were trying to take over their workplaces. Many employers would tell women that a position was not available and then a man would come and get hired, even if the women was more qualified.(Vintee Sawhney, unicorn.edu) The case Bowe vs. Colgate-Palmolive rules that “ women meeting the physical requirements could work in many jobs that had been for men only”( National Women’s History Project). The 1960s was a decade of change on the women image.
She brings this sense of superiority to Stella who unintentionally tries to distinguish her background from Stanley as well. Stanley recognizes the fact that Blanche looks down on him forcing him to assert his masculinity over her. Stanley’s dominance over the household and Stella is being questioned upon Blanche’s
The 1920s were an era of exciting social reforms and deep cultural struggles. During this decade, time became progressive for women in America. Women were allowed to experience freedom on a more personal level. This didn’t hold back all the sexism that caused quite the controversy. Women from rural parts of the country started moving to the urban areas in search of jobs.
These were women who in the 1920s had status, good jobs, and were self-reliant. The sudden loss of their jobs and independence would have caused a great deal of anger and frustration. For independent and career-minded women, the rise of the Nazi party had both a dramatic and negative effect on their life. Not only were they no longer expected to work, but after having been fully independent beforehand, they were now expected to stay at home and rely on their husbands and the government for support. (Haste,
This picture, poster, and song inspired many women then and inspire many women still. Women going into the workforce in the 1940s caused changes that are linked to time, are positive and negative, and were caused by people. Both change may be positive or negative and change may be caused by people or may be natural all depend on perceptions of the matter. Whether men and women are equal or not is all based on opinions. Some women think that they are equal, while others think that women still aren’t equal to men.
The description of women in history during my time as an adolescent was pretty limited besides a few key mentions. The likes of Susan B. Anthony, Queen Elizabeth, Rosa Parks, and Eleanor Roosevelt summed up the general list of impactful women within society in the 1900's. Though these women made profound strides within, civil rights, women's suffrage, education and politics the story told has always been one dimensional. The narrative regarding women in the 1900's was very single note.
In A Streetcar Named Desire, there is an ongoing power struggle between Stanley and Blanche, which propels the narrative. Stanley has the power of masculine physicality and mentality whereas Blanche only has the power of her background, of which she feigns to be her class. As the battle between the two is predominantly over Stella, we begin to witness in scene 2, where Stanley openly accuses Blanche of hiding “legal papers connected with the plantation”. His aggressive nature, towards her, motivates the idea of his resentment towards her, as
In 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).
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
Stereotypical gender roles have existed as long as human culture has, becoming a natural part of all of our lives. Within each gender lies a variety of stereotypes and expectations. Most notably for men they are often depicted as tough and the family provider. Whereas women are often shown to be soft and vulnerable. Throughout the play A Streetcar Named Desire the author; Tennessee Williams illustrates the main characters, Stanley, Stella, Mitch and Blanche with these stereotypes.
In one particular scene in the movie Stanley becomes furious with Blanche’s disrespect towards him and proceeds to tell her that he is the king of the house and she is to do as he says. It seems that Stanley felt a sense of achievement by making women fear him. Tennessee William uses this wicked man to help the audience see how Southern culture displayed unethical