Essay on Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams A...

The Destruction of Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire A Streetcar Named Desire is an intricate web of complex themes and conflicted characters. Set in the pivotal years immediately following World War II, Tennessee Williams infuses Blanche and Stanley with the symbols of opposing class and differing attitudes towards sex and love, then steps back as the power struggle between them ensues. Yet there are no clear cut lines of good vs. evil, no character is neither completely good nor bad, because the main characters, (especially Blanche), are so torn by conflicting and contradictory desires and needs. As such, the play has no clear victor, everyone loses something, and this fact is what gives the play its tragic cast. In a†¦show more content†¦This is certainly true in Stanleys case. In Scene Two, Stanleys primary interest in Blanche is in whether he and Stella are entitled to any money from Stellas family home. When he finds there is no inheritance, Stanley shows quite plainly throughout the following scenes that he has no use f or Blanche: He doesnt like her personally and they have nothing in common. But as the play proceeds, it is obvious that Stanley does perceive Blanche as being something of a threat. She is a disruption to his and Stellas relationship in the physical sense since all three are living in close quarters, but whats worse, she is a part of what Stanley considers Stellas past, and Blanches influence revives old prejudices and ways of thinking in Stella that threaten Stanleys dominance. However, as Scene Ten begins, Stanley is on the verge of regaining his dominant stance. He has discovered details of Blanches past that discredit her in Stellas eyes as well as putting an end to a potential marriage between Blanche and his friend. His victory over her influence is sealed when he gives her a bus ticket back to Mississippi and insists that she use it. He is also only hours away from becoming a father, a physical manifestation of his virility and manhood. His confidence in himself is palpable as the scene unfolds in the way he plays along with Blanche, pretending to believe her story aboutShow MoreRelatedStanley in a Streetcar Named Desire949 Words   |  4 PagesMs. Albertson English IV Honors 17 January 2012 A Streetcar Named Desire: Stanley Kowalski In the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, an insensitive and cruel character named Stanley Kowalski is depicted. His juxtaposition to Stella Kowalski, his mild mannered and sensitive wife, accentuates his character flaws making them even more prominent and dramatic throughout the play. Through Stanley’s conflicts with Blanche DuBois and his rapist-like sexual advances, Stanley becomesRead More The Raw Power of A Streetcar Named Desire Essay example2254 Words   |  10 PagesThe Raw Power of A Streetcar Named Desire      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tennessee Williamss play A Streetcar Named Desire contains more within its characters, situations, and story than appears on its surface. As in many of Williamss plays, there is much use of symbolism and interesting characters in order to draw in and involve the audience.   The plot of A Streetcar Named Desire alone does not captivate the audience.   It is Williamss brilliant and intriguing characters that make the reader Read More Stanley Kowalski of Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire707 Words   |  3 PagesThe Character of Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire       A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, is a classical play about Blanche Dubois’s visit to Elysian Fields and her encounters with her sister’s barbaric husband, Stanley Kowalski. Stanley Kowalski is a very brutal person who always has to feel that he is better than everyone else. His brutish actions during the play leave the readers with a bad taste in their mouths. Stanley Kowalski’s brutality is clearly exemplified in severalRead MoreThe Tragic Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire Essay1676 Words   |  7 Pagesencompassing their own destruction.† (Gassner 463). Fitting Gassner’s definition of a tragic character, Blanche DuBois in Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire caustically leads herself to her own downfall. In the beginning of the play, Blanche DuBois, a â€Å"belle of the old South† (Krutch 40), finds herself at the footsteps of her sister and brother-in-law’s shabby apartment in New Orlean s. Although DuBois portrays herself as a refined and sophisticated woman, the reader soon comes to realize that, hidingRead More Comparing A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof1765 Words   |  8 PagesComparing A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof In the game of life man is given the options to bluff, raise, or fold. He is dealt a hand created by the consequences of his choices or by outside forces beyond his control. It is a never ending cycle: choices made create more choices. Using diverse, complex characters simmering with passion and often a contradiction within themselves, Tennessee Williams examines the link of past and present created by mans choices in A Streetcar NamedRead MoreCompare and Contrast a Doll House by Henrik Ibsen and a Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. Write a Brief Essay (of Approximately 1000 Words) to Comment on the Two Female Protagonists‚Äà ´ (Nora Helmer and Blanche1136 Words   |  5 PagesCompare and contrast A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. Write a brief essay (of approximately 1000 words) to comment on the two female protagonists’ (Nora Helmer and Blanche Duboi’s) relationship with men. A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams are two well-known plays that give rise to discussions over male-female relationships in old society. The female protagonists in the plays are women who are dependentRead MoreA Streetcar Named Desire And Hamlet Essay1761 Words   |  8 Pagesnor it cannot come to good. But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue† (Shakespeare 1.2.62-63). The play â€Å"Hamlet† by Shakespeare and one of Tennessee Williams famous book called â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire† are very similar. Both of these works go along perfectly with W.E.B. Du Bois’s short story â€Å"The Comet.† In â€Å"Hamlet† and â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire† these plays contain a tragic genre, characterization in main characters, and relationships between the characters and these works relate a lotRead MoreA Study on the Social Causes of Insanity How Appropriate Do You Find this Statement as a Co mment on Streetcar Named Desire and Regeneration?1641 Words   |  7 Pages‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘Regeneration’ both present studies of insanity that stem from social pressures on characters. Insanity is defined as a â€Å"state of being unsound in mind† and â€Å"applicable to any degree of mental derangement from slight delirium or wandering to distraction†. Throughout the texts, we do see characters with ‘unsound minds’, ‘mental derangement’ who appear utterly distracted or delirious. The massive social cause of this insanity for the characters in ‘Regeneration’ isRead MoreReality and Illusion in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire1691 Words   |  7 PagesA Streetcar Named Desire, first published in 1947, is considered a landmark play for the 20th century American drama, bringing author Tennessee Williams a Pulitzer Prize. One of its most important themes deals with the contrast b etween reality and illusion. The aim of this essay is to examine how this contrast is reflected in the way the main character constructs her identity. As Ruby Cohn calls it in his essay â€Å"The Garrulous Grotesque of Tennessee Williams†, A Streetcar Named Desire is â€Å"a poignantRead More Themes in A Streetcar Named Desire Essay877 Words   |  4 Pages   Ã‚  Ã‚   The play A Streetcar Named Desire revolves around Blanche DuBois; therefore, the main theme of the drama concerns her directly. In Blanche is seen the tragedy of an individual caught between two worlds-the world of the past and the world of the present-unwilling to let go of the past and unable, because of her character, to come to any sort of terms with the present. The final result is her destruction. This process began long before her clash with Stanley Kowalski. It started with the death