Belle Reve: A Streetcar Named Desire
Blanche claim to come to New Orleans because she took a leave from teaching due to her stress. I don’t really believe her because she start to drink quickly and changed topic a little too quickly. 8) What is Belle Reve and what is revealed about it?
One major similarity between Blanche and Stanley is that they both like to manipulate or control other people, to make themselves feel better. Even though there are different ways Stanley and Blanche take control of other people they still do it in a familiar matter. For example, Blanche takes power and influence over people by lying to others and herself, to make them believe in something that actually never happened, with fantacy, therefore makes Blanche feel greater, than she actually may be. To go deeper in depth, to prove that Blanche is manipulative she also says. ¨I don 't tell the truth.
In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams the character Blanche Dubois shows the characteristics of a tragic hero. In the play, Blanche is tested by suffering, forcing her to face the consequences of her actions. Blanche has many tragic flaws that can be shown through symbolism and themes throughout the play. Aristotle states that the protagonist must be of noble character - defined not by birth but rather moral choice. Aristotle also felt the best type of a tragic hero will fall somewhere between the two extremes - “... a person who is neither perfect in virtue and justice, nor one who falls into misfortune through vice and depravity, but rather, one who succumbs through some miscalculation.”
Williams’ major female character in A Streetcar Named Desire is Blanche. Blanche is an aging Southern beautiful woman who lives in a state of permanent panic about her fading beauty. Blanche is fatally divided, swinging between the desire to be a young, beautiful lady who concerned with old-fashioned southern ways and a bohemian erring excessive in her appetites. In New Orleans, Blanche hides her real age and vicious past as she tries to attract an appropriate husband to clean up her life (Abbotson50).The loss of security has sent Blanche on a desperate search for protection: “I’ve run for protection Stella, from under one leaky roof to another leaky roof –because it was storm –all storm, and i was caught in the center” (v.114).
Tennessee Williams is acclaimed for his ability to create multi faced characters such as Blanche Dubois in the play, A Streetcar Named Desire. She comes to New Orleans after losing everything including her job, money, and her family’s plantation Belle Reve, to live with her sister Stella. During her time there she causes many conflicts with Stella’s husband Stanley and tries to get involved with the people there, all while judging them for their place in society, although she is imperfect too. Through her, Williams has created a complex character. She is lost, confused, conflicted, lashing out in sexual ways, and living in her own fantasies throughout the entirety of the play.
Gender and power are quite distinctive from one another in both these texts. From one point of view it could be argued the men are the autocrats and considered as oppressors of females in the male dominated society. In the male dominated society men are the decision makers and have the instrumental role. Despite benefitting from the patriarchy they are still victims (Synnot n. p.).This is because to secure his place in the family, a man has to dominate over his children and wife, therefore faced with a choice between the two sexual dispositions, and a boy has to choose between his mother and father.
The Destruction of the Belle Reve Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire is a wonderfully tragic story of the delusional Blanche DuBois, whose lies are unfolded and destroyed by the misogynist Stanley Kowalski. Throughout the play, Blanche frequently lies about her past, who she is, and what she’s done. Each lie she tells slowly unravels the next until she is caught, drowning in her own pathetic lies, forced to surrender to the malicious consequences dealt by Stanley. Similar to James Gatz, Blanche is obsessed with covering up her past actions, and creating a thin cloak of lies; however, James’ past is merely one of social degradation, Blanche carries the weight of her own horrible decisions.
Music plays a huge role in the plot and character developments throughout A Streetcar Named Desire by revealing hidden truths about the characters. The inclusion of the musical composition It’s Only A Paper Moon leads to deeper discoveries: the exposures of Blanche and Stanley’s true identities. By contrasting It’s Only A Paper Moon with Stanley’s aggressive dialogue during scene seven, Tennessee Williams forces viewers to side with Blanche and her internal belief that in order to live a life where you are truly happy, it is necessary to forsake some truths and start anew.
For my representational project, I decided to make two plushies- one of Mr. Stanley Kowalski, and the other of Mrs. Stella Kowalski- and how they were affected by the arrival of Blanche DuBuois. Stella is represented as a star not only because Blanche refers to Stella as "Stella for star", but also because since Stella left their home in Belle Reve she has been unreachable just like the stars themselves. As the sister of Blanche, Stella is inclined to believe whatever Blanche says, because they have been through plenty of experiences together as kids. The fabric over the eyes represents that the wool has been pulled over her eyes for believing in the lies that her sister concocted. Another way to interpret the covering of the eyes
A Streetcar Named Desire Literary Analysis The late 1940’s were characterized by the emergence out of World War II that led to a dependence on the idea of The American Dream, which meant men were working harder to achieve a more comforting lifestyle and opportunity while women were still fighting the oppression of caused by unequal representation. This idealistic dream is illustrated throughout Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire”, which has a rigid dichotomy between illusion and reality revealed throughout multiple characters and their dysfunctional lives that are a direct result between fantasy and actuality. Illusion is taken advantage of as an alternative to the unfair circumstances that the characters in “A Streetcar Named
The themes of violence and power in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ hold an important role in the criticism of 1940s American society. Conflicts perpetuated by violence and power, such as abusive relationships and violent oppression are projected through the characters within the play. Williams uses these conflicts to highlight his criticisms of faltering values and social norms, from the perspective of an individual constrained by the expectations of a strict, Southern society. To begin with, there is an indefinite violence between men and women within ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Stanley Kowalski, a focal character, is the epitome of male dominance and primitive aggression.
he plot is framed by Blanche’s arrival in the first scene and her departure in the eleventh scene. The play has only one plot with no sub-plot. A Streetcar Named Desire presents us with two stories: the growing conflict between Stanley and Blanche, and the gradual crumbling of Blanche’s sanity. The play is presented chronologically, from Blanche’s arrival at Elysian Fields in May to her departure for the mental asylum in September. Blanche is the only character who appears in every scene and this enable the audience to witness all her actions and emotions, and become privy to her secrets.
A Streetcar named Desire written by American playwright Tennessee Williams is a Marxist play that depicts the socio economic status of the characters and people living during that time. The play was written in 1947, two years after the second world war. The historical time leading up to the Second World War known as the Interwar period from 1918-1939 was an era classified with economical difficulties for a majority of American citizens. After the new economic system based upon capital emerged succeeding the Industrial Revolution, the United States saw a massive prosperity in the early twentieth century only to be demolished by the stock market crash of 1929 also known as Black Tuesday (source). These unsuccessful stock markets were one of the signs that showed that the new system, which depended on an extensive labor force and an open and unregulated market, was not as reliable as previously thought, this period was known as the Depression.
Blanche and Stella grew up on a plantation called Belle Reve, representing the Old South. The Old South had a sense of romanticism, focusing mainly on appearances. Blanche is a genuine Southern Belle. Throughout the play, Blanche makes it a point to look her best at all times. Stanley exasperatedly says, “What’s this here?
Tennessee Williams wrote “A Streetcar Named Desire” (Williams, 1947) It is based in New Orleans a new cosmopolitan city which is poor but has raffish charm. The past is representing old south in America 1900’s and present is representing new America post world war 2 in 1940’s. Past and present are intertwined throughout the play in the characters Stanley, Blanche, Stella and mitch. Gender roles show that males are the dominant and rule the house which Stanley is prime example as he brings home food and we learn of one time when he got cross and he smashed the light bulbs.
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