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Blanche in a streetcar named desire essay
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Blanche and Stan exploit Mitch’s biggest flaw of being a pushover. “[Mitch rises as Stanley returns to his seat] Sit down!” (Williams 56) Mitch naively opens up to Blanche which turns out to be a big mistake. She lies to Mitch about her past, and the truth is revealed to Mitch by Stanley. When Blanche needs somebody most, Mitch gives Blanche the cold shoulder.
The play “A Streetcar Named Desire” is about an emotionally unstable lady named Blanche. She moves in with her youngest sister and her husband because the landlord took the land away from Blanche because they could not pay for it anymore. After being their for a while Blanche starts remembering her horrible past which is something she was trying to do in the first place. The husband of Stella, Stanley Kowalski was also someone that made Blanche’s life miserable for complicating everything and harassing her in every possible way. Death is one of the most symbolic terms in this play.
Stella’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.
Essential flaws are bound to be a part of people’s character. Flaws are a trait in human nature that everybody has because nobody is perfect. This play represents essential flaws in the way the 3 main characters express negative ways of being. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennesee Williams sketches many flaws that we encounter in ourselves and others in real life - Blanche’s desire for escapism, Stanley's incapability for sympathy and empathy, and Stella’s passivity. This affects each character’s interaction with another by keeping them from being able to connect with each other.
However the main conflict is Blanche’s inability to accept reality or her inability to let go of her past. Blanche sees herself above her sister’s life and carries a sense of entitlement that no longer fits her environment like it did in her past. Underneath, Blanche is a liar and Stanley is not. Stanley and Stella are able to able to admit what they are while Blanche is constantly trying to hide who she is. She is unable to come to her desire and sees herself superior to the people around her.
In Scene 10, she deviously claims that she has just received a telegram from the millionaire, Steph Huntleigh, to explain why she is dressed up. At first, Stanley plays along, but once Blanche musters up the audacity to say that Mitch returned to their apartment seeking repentance, Stanley draws the line. He calls her out for her fictitious tales of her past, and states, “We’ve had this date from the start,” just before he maliciously rapes Blanche. Their natures root in primal, animalistic instincts, Stanley like a dirty hog, open and free concerning his sexuality, Blanche like a fox, sly and deceitful. Despite her incessant attempts to destroy her past, Blanche is unable to stop their sexual connection as she has had so many other men.
Other than their similarities in their portrayal as the god of fire and creator of mankind, Prometheus, the myths differ significantly in their relationship with the Olympian gods, their role in mankind's creation, their relationship with mortals, and their punishment for denouncing the gods. Both Roman and Greek mythology have their own traditions with how they relay messages and tell stories, prometheus makes this evident. In Greek mythology, Prometheus is depicted as a titan that preceded the Olympian Gods. He is the creator and the god of fire.
(10.225). towards the end of the play Stella, Mitch, and Stanley play a role in imposing reality into her allusions. As Stella calls for the Doctor to pick Blanche up it rips her away from her fantasies with Shep Huntleigh. When Mitch reveals to Blanche that she isn't pure enough to take home to his
Not only has Tennesse Williams portrayed Stella and Blanche to be seen as delicate and dependent, our own society has created this image but this not only affects how individuals see themselves but affects relationships immensely. Tennessee Williams reinforces the stereotype in which women are often the victims of unfortunate fate within the usage of the character Blanche. Throughout the whole play, we have witnessed Blanche being on the bitter end of life's miseries as she has encountered the tough loss of Belle Reve, dealing with her ex-husband's suicide and the loss of her relationship with Mitch. Arguably, the expectations and beliefs of women were either to be a housewife or a mother, whereas Blanche shows neither, as a result of automatically feeling out of place possibly leading to her downfall. Blanche was constantly fantasizing about the traditional values of a southern gentlemen, proving her dependence on this sex.
Throughout the play, Blanche is living a lie and existing in a fantasy. Blanche DuBois, who is lost and confused, lies to herself all through the play. At the beginning, Blanche lies to her sister, Stella, about taking a break from her school teaching job, when in reality, she was fired. Blanche
The chronological structure also makes the audience aware of Blanche’s spiral into a destruction which is tragic and inevitable. The plot of the play is advanced
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’s personality makes her live in the past acting as a “southern belle” and believing millionaire Shep Huntleigh will marry her unfortunately for Blanche living in the past meant she ended up in a state institution. Stella is a good example of past and present intertwined as he past was living in Belle Reive a plantation as a “southern belle” and now her present is in New Orleans and married to a husband who abusive. The character of Mitch a hard worker whom looks after his ill mother seems to the reader as a decent person with past and present intertwined personality he is respectful at the start to win Blanche
This notion is further reinforced by the contrast that Blanche provides with the New World through her belief in humanity that conclusively diminishes at the end. In the play, Blanche “need[s] kindness” (69) which is initially presented through the kindness that Mitch exhibits towards her. Mitch being the light in humanity is emphasized when “the polka tune stops” (139), in reference to what the Polka music symbolizes for Blanche’s beliefs. However, when it is revealed that Mitch believes that she is ironically “…not clean enough to bring in the house…” (150), it aids in supplying to the theme of a society’s inhumanity. Therefore, the kindness from strangers is too much for Blanche to hope for and as a result, she succumbs inside herself to escape from the corruption of humanity that the New World
The 1947 play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams tells the story of the sweet, polite, but willfully oblivious Blanche DuBois’ difficult relationship with her rough & tough brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. When Blanche loses the family plantation, she travels to the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, to visit and temporarily live with her sister, Stella. Blanche is in her thirties and, with no money, she has nowhere else to go. Problems arise between Stanley and Blanche when Blanche begins a series of lies and half-truths, and belittles Stanley, labeling him as “common” and “barbaric”. Things escalate between the two because of Stanley’s drunken rage taken out on Stella, but also because Stanley begins to become suspicious and aware of Blanche’s many lies and cover-ups.
