Compare and contrast how masculinity is explored in two texts you have studied in light of this comment. Masculinity is a theme that has been addressed in society for many years the issue of masculinity is expressed in the texts All new people and Streetcar named desire, the men are seen as brutal forces of society but from different perspectives; One of the 1950’s post war reality and the other reflects the modern freedoms . In the play A Streetcar named Desire, masculinity means aggression, control, physical dominance, and even violence.
Accompanying these traits is a general lack of refinement, manners, and sensitivity. One point of view expressed in the play is that this sort of brute masculinity is primitive and sub-human another is that it is attractive and sexually appealing, alternatively freedom and liberalism has left the men in All New People as victims of society, and it has left them without strong role models, power, community, faith or rules. A Streetcar Named Desire presents a sharp critique of the way the institutions and attitudes of postwar America placed restrictions on women’s lives and how men were given power.
Williams uses Blanche’s and Stella’s dependence on men to expose and critique the treatment of women during the transition from the old to the new South. Given this power and reliance the men in A Streetcar named Desire, Stanley being great examples see this as a chance to do whatever he wants whenever he wants without a care for anyone. He is the man who likes to lay his cards on the table. He can understand no relationship between man and woman except a sexual one, where he sees the man’s role as giving and taking pleasure from this relationship.
The Essay on In The Country Of Men Being A Man Masculinity
Matars protagonist, the young Suleiman in the novel ‘In the country of men’ is essentially bewildered about what it means to be a man in the Libya of his youths. Receiving conflicting messages about the meaning of true masculinity and various impressions of what it means to be a man in Libya complicates the protagonists perception of true manhood and which is further confounded by the ...
He possesses no quality that would not be considered manly in the most basic sense. By more sensitive people, he is seen as common, crude, and vulgar. Centering on the male characters in both plays Stanley and Myron both have manual jobs, which emphasizes their masculinity and authority, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is based in a post war society, when men were returning from war and taking back their roles from the women, Stanley is a character who is very proud of his working class background and he sees himself as the head of the household, he is also patriotic.
When Blanche calls him a ‘polack’ and he responds by saying ‘I am not a Polack. People from Poland are Poles, not Polacks. But what I am is a one hundred percent American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth and proud as hell of it, so don’t ever call me a Polack. ’ here we see Stanley’s patriotic side he also uses the Napoleonic code to reassert his masculinity. Stanley asserts his dominance over Blanche by saying ‘Don’t ever call me a Polack’ this is an instruction and Stanley sets boundaries for Blanche.
Myron being a similar character to Stanley is a fireman which is a very masculine job as it requires bravery and courage and comes along with the role of saving lives. The stage direction used show Myron is very proud of himself, even though when he should be ashamed of himself, Charlie addresses Myron has a ‘drug problem’ and Myron responds by saying ‘Doesn’t really feel like a problem to me ‘this shows Myron is unaware that his drug use is a problem and it’s a form of escapism for him like alcohol is for Stanley.
Charlie’s way to escape from realism was to hang himself he didn’t want to face up to what he did like a man would usually. But when he is interrupted he seeks to avoid loneliness because of his guilt and so he can forget what he did he feels this is a way to take responsibility for what he did but Stanley on the other doesn’t take responsibility of what he has done the rape of Blanche by Stanley is a pivotal, integral truth in the play, without which the play loses its meaning, which is the ravishment of the tender, the sensitive, the delicate, by the savage and brutal forces of modern society.
The Term Paper on Stella And Blanche Stanley Men Mitch
A Streetcar named Desire – The Presentation Of Masculinity in Scene 3 The evidence of masculinity in scene three is shown through dialogue, stage direction and description of the surroundings. The introduction to the dramatic purpose of the poker party demonstrates Stanley s domination over his friends through the way in which he makes all the decisions about the game. He also shows ...
In some ways Charlie and Mitch are quite similar, both characters aren’t taken seriously by their peers, Myron says to Charlie ‘I think you’re making shit up to try to get laid’. Myron doesn’t believe that Charlie was responsible for the death of 6 people. Myron also challenges Charlie’s masculinity by saying ‘And your vibe, frankly, reeks of pussy’.
Likewise Stanley and his friends make fun of the fact that Mitch looks after his mother, Stanley says ‘And when he goes home he’ll deposit them one by one in a piggy bank his mother gave him for Christmas’ here Stanley also challenges Mitch’s masculinity by mentioning the fact his mum bought him a piggy bank, this makes him look less of a man as mothers buy things for their young children, Mitch is very different to Stanley as he is unmarried and living with his mother. All the men are vulnerable to an extent when it comes to love, this links into context as Williams was a homosexual in a time period where it was considered wrong to be gay, he met and fell in love with Frank Merlo in 1947, which then died of lung cancer, and Williams suffered from depression 10 years on. Williams is similar to Mitch, as Mitch lost a former lover and describes it to Blanche ‘She knew she was dying when she gave me this. A very strange girl, very sweet- very! ’ Here Mitch expresses how nice this woman was, but he lost her. Charlie’s girlfriend left him to travel and that contributed to his breakdown and depression, like wise Zach Braff had a period of depression. Stanley vulnerability is his love for Stella, Stanley bellows “STELL-LAHHHHH! ” into the night like a wounded beast calling for the return of his mate when he has a drunken episode. I feel society is a big influence on the men in the two texts, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is set in the early 50’s a time period where men were returning from war, and the SC Government were promoting a ‘patriarchal society’, which empowered men like Stanley who fit into the ‘New America’. There was a renewed focus on family and community, therefore Stanley fits into this mould, as he is a family man. This empowers him as he has the responsibility of being a husband and also the household provider and this reinforces his masculinity.
The Essay on Invisible Man Griffin Society People
The Invisible Man, by H. G. Wells, is composed of many small themes that combined to form two major themes in the novel. Some of the minor themes are acting before thinking and denial of unexplainable events. It is based on the two major themes of science experiments gone wrong and the ignorance of society. The most important theme in the novel was the experiment that Griffin, the invisible man, ...
Felicia Harrison Londr’e states ‘the post-war urban-industrial society in which Stanley’s class has gained leverage’- This refers to main re gaining their positions of work and their roles in the household/ work. Whereas ‘All New People’ is in the 20th century where society is much more secular and much more liberal, in the stage play ‘All New People’ Braff presents the characters as condoning to promiscuity and substance abuse. Religion is now more about knowledge rather than faith, for example Emma says ‘I’m catholic, I don’t think we get virgins’ This shows she knows little about the religion she claims to be part of.
Back in the 50’s promiscuity was something to be frowned upon; women like Blanche were labelled as a ‘fallen woman’. Stanley lives by his natural instincts and doesn’t believe in civilisation, where as in ‘All New People’ capitalism and individualism is encouraged, all characters are misfits and share one thing in common, due to their freedom, they are lost. It can be argued that society is now too liberal in this day and age. Myron makes a comment- ‘How fucked up is our society?! Guys like Kevin O’Donnell up there on Wall Street are dumping more money into hoes…
Myron expresses his disgust for the crazy things people do, but yet he possesses many of the same attitudes. Braff portrays the negative effects of modern freedom, including loneliness and feeling like an outcast, Charlie has no one to leave a suicide note for, this shows he is part of a society where every man is for himself, Charlie says ‘Of course I’m lonely’ he isn’t hesitant about saying this and its obvious he wants people around him as the play goes on but he turns people away for a awhile till he finally begins to open up.
Myron is an outcast, and there is a clear representation of this when he pulls the noose from the ceiling and the ceiling comes crashing in this is a representation of society falling in and when Myron ‘watches through the window’- this shows he’s an outsider looking in, he doesn’t belong anywhere he goes, he was sacked from teaching and denied by Emma. Towards the end of the story Charlie says ‘Everything’s going to be OK’ – this is ironic as he was the one that needed to be told that at the start, this is reverse physiology.
The Essay on What Do Women Want From Men
Where did all those romantic fellas go? With all that can be, all that is within us, romance lives forever! So why not take advantage of it. Did you ever look around and wonder why a woman will chose another man over you? Maybe you are more handsome, intelligent, richer and so much more than that other plain fellow what's his name. But he's romantic and obviously knows how to treat a woman and ...
In both plays men can be seen as brutal, Myron threatens to expose Emma; this is an example of him using his masculinity to overpower a woman. But men are less brutal in ‘All New People’ as women have more rights in this era, where as in the 1950’s women had very little say and were dependant on their man, Charlie’s girlfriend left him, and was able to because she isn’t dependant on him like Stella is, and the fact the Stanley knows Stella is dependent on him, empowers him more in the sense that he can manipulate her with no consequences and she’ll come running back to him, because she hasn’t really got a choice.
Stella was beaten by Stanley, before the movement of feminism and the ‘Women’s Liberation Movement’, domestic violence was seen as a forbidden subject and in A Streetcar Named Desire Williams shows how society ignored the subject. Domestic violence is a very major subject in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Mitch doesn’t see Stanley hitting Stella as an issue and he says ‘Ho, ho! There’s nothing to be scared of. They’re crazy about each other’
