A streetcar named desire
A "Streetcar Named Desire" is a classic American drama written by a classic American writer, Tennessee Williams. Born in 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi, Williams went on to graduate from the University of Iowa in 1938. He achieved his first successes with the production of two plays, The Glass Menagerie (1945) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). In 1947, he won a Pulitzer Prize for A Streetcar Named Desire. When analyzing the main character of the story, Blanche Dubois, it is crucial to use both the literal text as well as the symbols to get a complete understanding of her. The first major symbol in the play involves Blanche and her voyage to visit her sister. Late in the first scene Blanche describes her voyage, "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields"(Williams). Taken literally this does not add much to the story. The symbolism does play a major role in describing her past. She left her home to join her sister because her life was a miserable wreck. She admits, at one point in the story, that "after the death of Allan (her husband) intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart w
ith"(Williams ). She had sexual relations with anyone who would agree to it. This ties in to the name of the streetcar, "Desire". She desires companionship; she can never be alone. She escaped her loneliness in her use of desire. something that is not true. In "A Streetcar Named Desire", Blanche Dubois plays her own game of poker (Corrigan 60). She plays it with Mitch, Stanley and Stella. Blanche plays the first hand with Mitch, manipulating him into believing all her lies. In scene nine Mitch confronts Blanche on these lies. "First I asked our supply-man who travels through Laurel. And then I talked directly over long-distance to this merchant"(Beaty 1638). He finds out about Blanche's sexually promiscuous past and the many men she seduced at "The Tarantula", a local motel. Coming to Elysian Fields, Blanche is changing her surroundings and her lifestyle. She is going from a place where women are cherished and praised, where men spoil women and try to win their hearts, to Stanley and Stella's world where women aren't regarded in such a high standard. An example of this is her reaction to the way Stanley treats Stella. In scene three Stanley makes an aggressive move towards Stella, "[She backs out of sight. He advances and disappears. There is the sound of a blow, Stella cries out.]"(Beaty 1607). Stanley hits Stella sending her out the door and into the neighbor's apartment. Stanley then breaks down and cries out for Stella. The next morning (scene 4), Blanche talks to Stella and is amazed at Stella's reaction. "Why! I've been crazy, Stella! When I found out you'd been insane enough to come back in here after what happened-I started to rush in after you!"(Beaty 1610). In her society, domestic violence is unheard of. This proves that Blanche is from a much more liberal society, a society closer to that in whic
Some common words found in the essay are:
Stanley Stella's, Dallas He's, Elysian FieldsWilliams, Stella Blanche, Blanche Dubois, Elysian Fields, Varsouviana Suddenly, Named Desire, Blanche Dubious, Blanche Grandstaff, streetcar named, named desire, streetcar named desire, shep huntleigh, confronts blanche, elysian fields, confronts blanche past, literal text, blanche past, varsouviana heard, blanche dubois, scene blanche, blanche elysian fields, aggressive move towards, stanley confronts blanche,
Approximate Word count = 1249
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
