"A Streetcar Named Desire" written in 1944 by Thomas Lanier Williams.

Marco Wu Class 10° ENGLISH ESSAY Throughout the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" written in 1944 by Thomas Lanier Williams, better known as Tennessee Williams; we can meet various social issues such as homosexuality, loneliness, psychiatric illness and the contrast between the New and the Old America. This are all social issues presented during the life of the author. The protagonist of the play have the characteristics of Tennessee Williams' family, Stanley is like his father, the one who decides everything, as a "KING". Meanwhile Blanche is a mix between his sisters Rose who was mentally ill and his mother who had hysterical attacks, and as we know the author of the play was homosexual who consumed his 1rst experience at age of 28 and declaring it openly during an interview, this connects directly to Blanches' husband who was Homo and killed himself. Once William said "Symbols are nothing but the natural speech of drama...the purest language of plays". In the whole play there is hidden meaning; we know that the initial title of the play was "the moth" which represents Blanche a fragile being, in literature the moth is the soul, therefore the entire play is a big allegory that talks about the way to heaven (Elysian Fields) of the soul. So the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

Williams is attributed with furthering "Domestic Realism" in Modern American Drama. Discuss his exploration of the emotional burdens of ordinary life within the domestic setting. Consider how the: Dialogue, setting and stage directions add to the effectiveness of the family dynamics exposed. Throughout the play of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" various members of the family are at loggerheads. However, this comes to a climax in this passage as Big Daddy's imminent death is confirmed and the question of the heir to the estate becomes an important issue. The Oxford Companion to American Literature describes the play as "depicting bitter, abnormal family tensions". These family tensions are clearly seen in this passage. Big Daddy is dying and the only characters who appear to be more concerned about his death than the estate are Big Mama and Maggie, "Precious Mommy. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry". Maggie is sorry for the death of Big Daddy and all the petty arguments surrounding it. "Big Daddy is not going to die" This denial of what the doctors have claimed as inevitable is evidence of her not wanting Big Daddy to die. Mae and Gooper, however, seem to be desperate to get rid of him. "Eventualities have to be considered and now's the time". This is inhumane of Gooper and he is wrong when he claims, "now's the time". Big Mama is still discovering Big Daddy is going to die and Gooper is

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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"Each of these two characters is fundamentally incomplete." Examine the contrasting personalities of Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski in the light of this comment.

Oct 13 Daniella De Silva "Each of these two characters is fundamentally incomplete." Examine the contrasting personalities of Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski in the light of this comment. To examine these characters, their backgrounds must first be uncovered. Blanche is a middle aged, former Southern Belle. She grew up in a dream world, on a beautiful country estate called Belle Reve. Her entire childhood was spent doing whatever it was that she pleased and being waited on by the family's servants. She was never forced to work hard, unlike Stanley. He grew up in America: More than likely right there in Elysian Fields. He too enjoyed his childhood, although they were very different from each other. Stanley has had to work hard all of his life for things that he wanted or cared about. These different upbringings and ideas on life create their personalities to clash continually. Blanche, although she portrays quite a self-controlled character, has endured some tough situations. She mentions in the play how while trying to hang on to Belle Reve and her childhood, she, "stayed and fought for it, bled for it, almost died for it." She also mentions her dead husband and how the music, especially the Varsouviana makes her reminisce on him and the homosexual situation. She tries to escape from the reality of these things by "misrepresenting things" to people

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Explore What a Streetcar Named Desire has to Say About Male and Female Roles in the Society the Play Depicts?

Explore What a Streetcar Named Desire has to Say About Male and Female Roles in the Society the Play Depicts? Set in the years immediately following the Second World War, A Streetcar Named Desire displays the typical roles of both men and women within both home and life in general. With men portrayed as leaders of the households and women simply cleaning up after them. Through Tennessee William's usage of dialogue, specific descriptions of characters both in stage directions and from other characters and finally in lighting and music changes depicted in the stage directions, he illustrates to the reader of modern society how men and women coexisted in the mid 1900's in comparison with life today. It almost seen as if women are dependent on men financially. A fine example of this would be Blanche contacting Shep Huntleigh for financial support. Also women would look on men for emotional support, Blanche uses their praises where as Stella tends to use hers and Stanley's sexual activity as a form of emotional support. William's uses both Stella's and Blanches dependence on the men in their lives to expose the treatment of women and the fact that these women see male companionship as their only means to achieve happiness, Blanche for example thinks that her relationship with Mitch will allow her '...to rest! I want to breathe quietly again!' which shows the reader that

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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A street car named desire - How do the play's settings contribute to its dramatic effect?

How do the play's settings contribute to its dramatic effect? You might like to consider; * The Kowalski's flat * It's surroundings * The wider American Context The play and its author beg the question; how does the absolute appearance of surroundings affect an audience's compassion to the drama that the play perceptibly emits? The play unquestionably needs dramatic effects to capitalise the story and also to induce and consume an audience. If, without the use of incarcerating dramatic effects from the surroundings and manipulating them into supplying the story's tension, then it would ultimately not receive the same desirable reaction that is needed to illuminate the play. The depicted ideas of the eminent and radiating title tempts the audience with certain evocative ideas, but are ultimately confronted with a whole new concept of a darker and more dramatic story line. The audience can automatically sense this with the contrast of the title with the melancholy and hoary surroundings of the old corner building, emancipating an 'atmosphere of decay', betrayal, self embrace, ugliness and death. This contrast creates a poignant conflict between ideal standards the audience had prepared themselves to see. Whilst the synchronisation between ethnic groups and the humbling sounds of the "blue piano" are heard in the opening scene, these merely act as a façade for the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Look again at Scene 9 of Streetcar named desire - How do you imagine you would feel as a member of an audience witnessing this scene? How does T.W. evoke these feelings in his audience?

Look again at Scene 9 of 'Streetcar'. How do you imagine you would feel as a member of an audience witnessing this scene? How does T.W. evoke these feelings in his audience? Scene 9 of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is a tense scene that runs up to a climatic end. In this scene, Mitch finally learns the truth about Blanche. In the starting directions of this scene, Blanche is depicted as being, 'seated in a tense hunched position,' which is similar to her initial arrival to the house, in scene 1, in which she sits, 'very stiffly.' This is a reference to the nervousness Blanche feels, and a feeling of uncertainty and incongruousness that relates back to the feelings she felt on her arrival. The reference to the 're-covered' chair is yet again another depiction of Blanche's attempts to cover up the truth, and bare reality. The 'Varsouviana' plays 'in her mind,' and this, and the 'scarlet satin,' blood coloured robe, serve to remind the audience of the death of her husband, Allan. Blanche is overcome with a 'sense of disaster,' such as the one she felt when she lost her first love through, she feels, her own doing. Once again, she feels she has lost out on the chance to love, and being stood up by Mitch throws her in that she knows of the precocious nature of her past, and no matter how much she runs, she knows she cannot escape it. Here we see, again, another of Blanche's vices,

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Classic Note on A Streetcar Named Desire.

Classic Note on A Streetcar Named Desire Main Themes: Fantasy/Illusion: Blanche dwells in illusion; fantasy is her primary means of self-defence. Her deceits do not carry any trace of malice; rather, they come from her weakness and inability to confront the truth head-on. She tells things not as they are, but as they ought to be. For her, fantasy has a liberating magic that protects her from the tragedies she has had to endure. Unfortunately, this defence is frail and will be shattered by Stanley. In the end, Stanley and Stella will also resort to a kind of illusion: Stella will force herself to believe that Blanche's accusations against Stanley are false. The Old South and the New South: Stella and Blanche come from a world that is rapidly dying. Belle Reve, their family's ancestral plantation, has been lost. The two sisters, symbolically, are the last living members of their family. Stella will mingle her blood with a man of blue-collar stock, and Blanche will enter the world of madness. Stanley represents the new order of the South: chivalry is dead, replaced by a "rat race," to which Stanley makes several proud illusions. Cruelty: The only unforgivable crime, according to Blanche, is deliberate cruelty. This sin is Stanley's specialty. His final assault against Blanche is a merciless attack against an already-beaten foe. On the other hand, though Blanche is

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Tennessee Williams wrote in a letter that It (Streetcar) is a tragedy with the classic aim of producing a catharsis of pity and terror and in order to do that, Blanche must finally have the understanding and compass

Tennessee Williams wrote in a letter that "It ('Streetcar') is a tragedy with the classic aim of producing a catharsis of pity and terror and in order to do that, Blanche must finally have the understanding and compassion of the audience. This without creating a black-dyed villain in Stanley. It is a thing (misunderstanding) not a person (Stanley) that destroys her in the end." In your opinion, to what extent has Williams succeeded in his aims. Although there are many different viewpoints on a conventional tragic heroine, Aristotle made his views clear that a hero must fall from fortune and power, due to a tragic flaw, allowing an audience to feel catharsis at the end of the play. It can be argued that Stanley causes Blanche's downfall, however, it is clear that Blanche had brought this upon herself by creating a conflict between them and ensures her own downfall by other means such as her promiscuity and flux into fantasies. Williams makes it clear that a misunderstanding destroys Blanche in the end. This misjudgement can be seen in her aggressive teasing of Stanley and her uncomfortable belonging in multi-cultural New Orleans. From the beginning of the play, Williams makes it clear that 'the Kowalski and the DuBois have different notions' with Blanche withholding the Southern Belle attitude of 'Belle Reve'. However, it is clear that Blanche cannot cope with the stark

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A Streetcar Named Desire - An Analysis of its Imagery and Symbolism

A Streetcar Named Desire: An Analysis of its Imagery and Symbolism The symbolism used within a streetcar named desire lies primarily within its stage directions. Tennessee Williams makes use of figurative language when he illustrates a sound or a description of a scene and its characters within it; the language they use is enriched by figures of speech (most notably the use of metaphor). Music plays a vital role within the play, it represents emotions; and Williams describes such sound in a meaningful way, this is evident from the phrase which closes the opening narrative of scene 1 - 'From a tiny piano being played with the infatuated fluency of brown fingers. This 'blue piano' expresses the sprit of the life which goes on here' Here Williams describes a notion that the black pianist is totally immersed by the skill and fluency of his playing of the blues. He takes pleasure in it; his emanation of pleasurable sound signifies the spirit of New Orleans and how its satisfaction is the foundation of the city's cheerfulness. Examples of these are scattered significantly within the play. The 'blue piano' is a symbol of the heartless vitality of the old squares and quarters dotted within the rundown city of New Orleans; while the 'Varsouviana' polka symbolises Blanche and her promiscuous (and tragic) past. Williams also functions music as an indication of a change in mood and

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How does Tennessee Williams suggest that Stanley is an animalistic character in the play A streetcar named desire ?

How does Tennessee Williams suggest that Stanley is an animalistic character in the play "A streetcar named desire" ? Stanley Kowalski is Stella Kowalski nee Dubois' polish husband. He works as an engineer and has acquired many rowdy friends from his place of work. Stanley does not seem to function without Stella. When Stella's sister Blanche comes to stay all of Stanley's most horrible animalistic traits seem to come to the surface. The first act of animal like behaviour we see in the play is in the very first scene where Stanley chucks some meat which is still bloody at Stella who is up at the window. This symbolises Stanley to be the provider in the family just like in a wolf pack when the male wolf goes out and hunts for meat for his family. That fact that the meat is still bloody also brings Stanley bring meat Stella and a wolf bringing meat to his family closer. The second time we see Stanley is when Blanche has arrived and Stella has left the room because Blanche has upset her. Even though Stanley has never met Blanche before he doesn't care at all about taking his top off in front of her and making himself more comfortable. This could imply that Stanley is quite territorial and wants to show Blanche that it is his home and he can do whatever he likes and be dressed however he likes in his own home. Being territorial is a very animalistic trait. Furthermore

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