A Streetcar named Desire was written by Tennessee Williams, during the restless years following World War II. The play was based on the life of a woman named Blanche Dubois. Blanche was a fragile and neurotic woman, desperate for a place to call her own. She had been exiled from her hometown Laurel, Mississippi after seducing a seventeen year old boy. After this incident, she decided to move to New Orleans with her sister Stella. She claimed she had to move, in result of a series of financial calamities which have recently claimed the family plantation, Belle Reve.
Her sisters husband, Stanley Kowalski is very suspicious seeing that Blanche seems like an ambitious woman. Therefore, he decides to investigate her. He wanted to make sure Blanche didn’t sell the plantation for her own good. As he begins to find out more about her past, all of Blanches lies catch up to her. Soon, her circumstances become unbearable.
Blanche Dubois the main character of the play, was an English teacher in Mississippi. She presents herself as a very prim, proper, and prudent person. She once proudly told her sister Stella that her name in French meant white woods. Blanche Dubois is also overly concerned with her appearance, accessories, bathing and age. She was very disturbed by the light, and usually preferred to be in the dark.
Many believe it was to prevent people from noticing her real age. Deep inside she was hurt and destroyed. All of this pain was caused by the death of the love of her life. She was married to a young man named Allan, and they loved each other very much. Until one day Blanche found out that Allan was sleeping with another man. Once she confessed to him she knew his secret he committed suicide.
The Essay on Communication Between Men And Women
As everyone knows by now, there is a difference between a man and a womans outer appearance. What some people do not realize is that a man and a woman are also different in communication techniques. Generally speaking, men and women fall into two categories when dealing with communication techniques. When men talk, it is for giving information. Deborah Tannen says this informative speaking is ...
Ever since, Blanches’ life was never the same again. Blanche Dubois always felt she was loved and admired by many. However, things changed after her husbands tragic death. Life was not easy for her, as she became lonely and slept with different men. Her loneliness led her into moving unexceptedly with her sister Stella. However, this only caused more troubles in her life.
She was not very well liked by her brother in law, Stanley Kowalski. Stanley was from Poland, and had very little education. He was also a very strong, good looking man. He was loyal to his friends, passionate to his wife, but extremely cruel to Blanche.
From the moment Blanche reached New Orleans, she had problems with Stanley Kowalski. He did not believe in her, and insisted she was a fake. He consistently told his wife that Blanche was betraying her and sold Belle Reve to use the money for herself. He confronted Blanche and asked her for all the paper works of the property.
Stanley did not trust her and they were always screaming and insulting each other. They were always at odds, since they had opposing ideals, and ways of life. During the end of the play, something terrifying happened, Stanley raped Blanche. Blanche Dubois was not only in conflict with Stanley, but she was also in conflict with herself. Ever since her husbands death she lived a harsh life.
She drinks, smokes and tells many lies. Blanche also suffers from delusions of hearing polka tunes and gunshots. She was very unhappy, until one day she met Mitch. Mitch and Blanche began to see each other frequently, as she tried to keep up the “facade of virginity, innocence, and properness.” They open up to each other, and she tells him of her husbands ultimate suicide. They were both in need of someone, and felt that they were good for each other.
However, soon their happiness ended. Stanley informed his friend about Blanches past and their relationship ended. He told her that she was not clean enough for him and left her. A Streetcar named Desire was based on many important themes. One of these themes was trust and dishonesty. Stanley Kowalski always spoke to his wife about the Napoleonic Code.
The Term Paper on Elysian Fields Blanche Stanley Stella
In analyzing Blanche DuBois, one of the main characters in A Streetcar Named Desire, it is crucial to examine not only the literal text, but also the symbolism conveyed in the play. Williams creates symbols which, as the story progresses, grow less and less sane. Following artists like Salvador Dali, he uses insanity, like intoxication and the dream, as a kind of instrument for the organization ...
He told her that what affects her, affects him as well. Therefore, he was not willing to have Blanche abuse their trust. He did not trust Blanche or the story that she lost Belle Reve. He also abused Blanches trust by going through her trunk in search of proof. Another example of the theme of trust and dishonesty is when Stanley begins to talk to Blanche about her past. He test her honesty by asking about a man from her past.
She insists that she does not him, and would never been seen in a hotel like the Flamingo. However, she is very nervous and knows perfectly who Stanley was talking about. Stanley was not fooled and knew she was lying. Even though Blanche lied about her past, there was one thing she never lied about. That was her feelings towards Mitch.
Stella told her husband that Blanches heart was always honest, and that she is emotionally honest with the people she cares about. Loneliness was also a main theme in the play. Loneliness is portrayed in the play, when Blanche cried out to her sister that he could not be left alone. She needed to be near her sister, because companionship was very important to her. Loneliness is also apparent in the play, when Blanche speaks of her dead husband. “She has had no special person in her life since his death, and yearns for that lost companionship.” Blanche was not the only person who was lonely.
Mitch was just as lonely as she was. He is the only one of his close friends who is not married. “He intimates that he is lonely since all he has is his sick mother. When she dies he ” ll be left all alone.” Opposing Backgrounds is one of the main themes throughout the play. Since, Stanley and Blanche are from different backgrounds they are very different.
When Blanche arrived at New Orleans she felt as if she was stepping down in class, and believed her sister could be doing better. Stella also explained to her that people around Elysian Fields were living a contrasting lifestyle from theirs. That “their” type is not the one they ” re used to. Stella and Blanche were raised on a plantation with money, while Stanley and his friends were poor and uneducated. The conflict began when these two classes were pushed together in the same world. This is shown when Stanley and Blanche meet each other, and their opposite lifestyles are obvious.
The Essay on Streetcar Named Desire Blanche Stanley Stella
Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named Desire contains more within it's characters, situations, and story than appears on its surface. Joseph Krutch, author of Twentieth Century Interpretations of A Streetcar Named Desire wrote, "The authors perceptions remain subtle and delicate... The final impression left is, surprisingly enough not of sensationalism but of subtlety" (38. ) As in many of ...
Stanley is sweaty, dirty, and rude; whereas Blanche is well dressed and soft spoken. In A Streetcar named Desire, Tennessee Williams presented to us the character of Blanche Dubois. She was the haggard and fragile southern beauty whose happiness was cruelly destroyed. She always avoided reality, and lived in her own imagination. As the play goes on, Blanches “instability grows along with her misfortune.” Her life ended in tragedy when she was put into a mental institution. Her brother in law’s cruelty combined with her fragile personality, left Blanche mentally detached from reality.
Stanley Kowalski showed no remorse for his brutal actions, destroyed Blanches life and committed her to an insane asylum.
