Tennessee Williams is described as having created fugitives. Discuss how Blanche is a fugitive, and from what she is fleeing.
Tennessee Williams is described as having created fugitives. Discuss how Blanche is a fugitive, and from what she is fleeing. There are very few moments in modern theatrical history that are truly worth recalling. In 1947, however, Tennessee Williams' 'A Streetcar Named Desire' was instrumental in revolutionising the very mindset of the theatrical world. To Williams, the polite drawing room comedy, which was still the staple diet available for the theatregoer, was unrealistic. In response, he left a trail of the shattered pieces of the 'American Dream' in his wake, focusing on the vitality - or lack thereof - of those, who, because of their lack of money and privileges, have to struggle actively to cope with all the problems that arise from their deprivation. Or, as Williams himself put it, "[I like to write about people]...that have problems, people that have to fight...that come close to cracking." Blanche DuBois is one such character. Her story began with her teenage marriage to Allan, whose silent suffering caused by his sexuality was mistaken for sensitivity by Blanche, a feature she found very attractive. She loved Allan unendurably: "All at once and much, much too completely. It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something had always been half in shadow..." Yet this light is 'switched off' when Allan - overcome with grief about his
What dramatic techniques and devices does Williams deploy in order to depict the different worlds/ backgrounds/ personalities of Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski?
What dramatic techniques and devices does Williams deploy in order to depict the different worlds/ backgrounds/ personalities of Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski? A Streetcar Named Desire is a play written by the great author Tennessee Williams. There are many themes that run through out the play such as death, passion, the past etc. The play was written in the 1950's and set in New Orleans. In many ways the characters in the play reflect Williams' family. Williams himself was isolated due to his sexual identity. I think Stanley Kowalski represents Williams's father who was an alcoholic, "tempered, coarse man". We can also say that Blanche represents Rose, Williams's sister who drove herself to madness just as Blanche does towards the end. The two main characters in the play are Stanley and Blanche. We already learn about Blanche Dubois through her name, Dubois means 'from the woods' and Blanche means 'white'. So her name means 'the white one from the woods'. Blanche tries to live up to her name which in away means innocent and pure. However she is the complete opposite. Having a meaning behind Blanches name depicts her fake personality as in reality she does not live up to her name. I have noticed that Stanley and the other men in the play have no imagery related to them because they are mundane and mediocre. The play is rich in symbols, contains vivid imagery and
The six texts represented and compared here are Macbeth, A Streetcar Named Desire, 'Enter Without So Much As Knocking,' 'Katrina,' The Collector and The Great Gatsby.
Year 11 English Literarure By Bonnie Ansems Long Essay Assignment Similarities in texts are often present and can be linked in many ways allowing readers to make comparisons. Although each text is unique in its construction there are similarities in theme, character and setting. The six texts represented and compared here are Macbeth, A Streetcar Named Desire, 'Enter Without So Much As Knocking,' 'Katrina,' The Collector and The Great Gatsby. Representations of men and women in each text will be discussed highlighting their similarities and differences as well as the relationships men and women have with each other. The challenging and reinforcing on my own notions of gender will also be discussed. Macbeth Gender is a major issue in the play Macbeth by Shakespeare representing the different roles portrayed by both men and women. Women during this medieval time were not allowed an education and played a domestic role in the home. The man however was the king of the family with absolute control. In Macbeth the female role of Lady Macbeth demonstrated the opposite of the reader's expectations of a woman in this era. She is portrayed to the reader as very assertive and plays an active and dominant role in her marriage and the plot of the play, not the traditional role of the subjugated wife. As Lady Macbeth drives her husband toward committing Duncan's murder, she indicates
Explore Williams use of dramatic symbolism in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'- English Lit
English Literature Whole text essay- Explore Williams use of dramatic symbolism in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Tennessee Williams, once quoted as saying, "Symbols are nothing but the natural speech of drama...the purest language of plays", uses symbolism very effectively in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. This play reflects on the story of a woman's fall from grace having used her sexuality for almost all her life. Blanche is the protagonist of the play, alongside Stanley, and Williams constantly emphasises the recurring theme of these two opposing forces throughout the play. Symbolism plays an important role in the play as it allows the readers to link certain scenes of the play to the themes that Williams presents within the play. Colour is an extremely important symbol throughout the play. The description given of blanche in scene one refers to a lot of colour. "She is daintily dressed in a white suit... necklace and ear-rings of pearl, white gloves and a hat" The fact that Blanche is dressed in all white could symbolise her purity and her class. This can also be seen as ironic because as the plot develops we as readers realise that Blanche isn't as pure and innocent as she made out to be. Her appearance contrasts with the surroundings of New Orleans, "The houses are white frame...with rickety outside stairs", which immediately makes it clear that she is an outcast, and
In what ways can 'A Streetcar Named Desire' be seen as a modern tragedy?
In what ways can 'A Streetcar Named Desire' be seen as a modern tragedy? The ways in which 'A Streetcar Named Desire' by Tennessee Williams can be seen as a modern tragedy, or indeed as any tragedy is a subject of much contention. The answer lies in one's interpretation of the characters in the context of the genre; the tragedy is made or discarded depending on whether the audience's sympathy lies with Blanche or Stanley. In order to explore these interpretations one must define the features of modern tragedy as opposed to the ancient Aristotelian definition. The two share some features, such as the violation of the 'natural order' of social or personal relationships (i.e. Oedipus' incestuous relationship with his mother), and the focus on a tragic hero's fall from status, respect, and in classical tragedies from power and wealth. However, there are also stark differences in modern tragedy where (especially in Williams' plays) the hero is more likely to be feminine. Although this is not exclusive to modern tragedies - in Sophocles' 'Antigone' the protagonist is female - it is certainly a feature. Social issues are also treated more personally as the epic scale of civil unrest present in most Aristotelian tragedies is discarded in favor of a focus on a single family unit as a microcosm of social behaviour. As a result, the characters themselves become far more complex - a far
How does Death contribute to Blanche's impending madness throughout the play?
How does Death contribute to Blanche's impending madness throughout the play? Death is a recurring theme throughout 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and is established as part of Blanche's neurosis from the first scene. It also provides Blanche a link to Mitch as he also has been affected by death. However the death of their romance signifies the beginning of the end for Blanche's descent into madness. We get our first hint that death will be prominent in this play from the first few lines of script where Blanche says: "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at - Elysian Fields." This line is Blanche's first and allegorically represents the journey through her life. It symbolizes that desire will lead to her death (the reference to cemeteries) and she will then go to Elysian Fields, which in Greek Myth was the equivalent of heaven. Towards the end of the same scene, we learn in a very aggressive and erratic monologue just how affected by death Blanche has been. The frequent but scattered punctuation as well as the repetition of phrases and descriptive metaphors all adds to the impression that maybe Blanche isn't mentally stable. This connection between death and madness is brought up again briefly in scene 2 when Blanche reacts fiercely to Stanley touching letters her dead husband
Holes-Why is it a good novel for teenagers?
Holes-Why is it a good novel for teenagers? In this essay I intend to look at why the book 'Holes', is a good novel for teenagers to read. Written by Louis Sachar in 1998, it is a modern novel telling readers a story about the life experiences of a young boy called Stanley. The story revolves around Stanley being unfairly acquitted for a crime leading to him being faced to cope with life at a juvenile detention centre. Along with this main plot, there are several other underlying smaller plots that contribute towards the success of the story as a whole. I will examine the various reasons for why this book would appeal to teenagers. There are three simultaneous plots, which creates more excitement and suspense for the reader. But the main theme is how young Stanley Yelnats IV comes to redeem the curse which was visited upon his great-great-grandfather and all the Yelnats family, through the generations, by Madame Zeroni. Stanley, the main character in the story, is falsely accused of stealing a pair of trainers, which had been donated to help raise money for the homeless shelter. These trainers weren't any ordinary trainers; they had belonged to the most famous baseball player in history, Clyde Livingstone. Stanley isn't too disheartened when he is sent away from his family to a juvenile delinquent's camp (Camp Green Lake) for a crime he did not commit, due to his
TO WHAT EXTENT CAN A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE BE CALLED A TRAGEDY?
TO WHAT EXTENT CAN 'A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE' BE CALLED A TRAGEDY? 'A Streetcar Named Desire' was written by Tennessee Williams in 1947, eliciting the most critical commentary of any of his works, as well as being highly divisive: upon its release, one reviewer defined it as the product of an "almost desperately morbid turn of mind"1; George Jean Nathan criticised the "unpleasant"2 nature of the play, calling it "'The Glands Menagerie'"3. Williams' focus on realism, and the subsequent omission of clear-cut protagonists and antagonists in 'Streetcar', also drew glowing reviews, from the pre-eminent theatre critic Brook Atkinson, for example, who called Williams "a genuinely poetic playwright whose knowledge of people is honest and thorough"4. This difference in opinion does not stop at subjective criticism of the play, but even the specific genre which 'Streetcar' falls into. Many assume it to be a tragedy of some type, and there is indeed much to commend this view. However, the ambiguous nature of many aspects of the play and Williams' inclusion of alternate dramatic devices has led many to believe that 'Streetcar' should not be classified as a tragedy, but as a melodrama. In any tragedy, the tragic protagonist is of vital importance: everything is centred on the protagonist, their flaw and subsequent downfall. However, in 'Streetcar', there is large uncertainty as to who
Relationship between Blanche and Stanley
Consider The Relationship Between Blanche and Stanley As Shown in Scene 10. Where Does The Conflict Lie? This scene presents the final confrontation between Blanche and Stanley, with Stanley emerging as the undisputed winner. It begins with Blanche being in a drunken state of mind in a fantasy world far from reality. She is dressed in a "soiled" wedding dress looking unclean and symbolizing that her innocence is lost. When we first see Blanche in this play, she is in clean white clothes giving the impression she was completely innocent but as we got to know more about her, her innocence kept fading away, she is "soiled" just like her dress is "soiled". We also learn that she was planning on marrying Mitch because she was wearing a wedding dress but Stanley has ruined her hopes of doing this causing her to be depressed, this also provides the basis for a conflict in this scene because it might cause Blanche (especially now she is drunk) to have an argument with Stanley. Blanche imagines her past is reliving it, she even imagines people she knew from the past and communicates with them showing she is drunk and also depressed, "murmuring excitedly as if to a group of spectral admirers." She has a mood swing and goes from illusion to reality "she lifts the hand mirror for closer inspection. She catches her breath and slams the mirror face down with such violence that the glass
In Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire the character of Mitch is used to present many themes within the play.
Leanne Davies 224977 Analyse the character and roles of any one character in A Streetcar Named Desire. How does Williams present and develop this character? How does this character contribute to the presentation of any of the themes of the play? In Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire the character of Mitch is used to present many themes within the play. Mitch also acts as a foil character to help reveal more to the audience about certain characters, mainly Blanche. Mitch’s roles include being both a contrast character and a comparison character to Blanche. A prominent theme throughout the play is that of fantasy clashing with reality. It is through this theme that Mitch contrasts with Blanche. Mitch lives in a world of tangible truths and reality. The first time the audience sees Mitch, he is talking with Stanley about some sort of bet. The stage directions reveal Mitch as ‘roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes.’ This shows that he is a working man- he relies on himself and is independent. It is also revealed later in the play that he was also a soldier in the war and served in the same ‘outfit’ as Stan. Since leaving the Army and returning to America Mitch has had to move forward with society. He has had to take a civilian job and adapted to the ‘new’ America. This is a direct contrast to Blanche who tries to stay in the old world of
