"Tennessee Williams presents relationships between men and women as inevitably resulting in conflict."

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“Tennessee Williams presents relationships between men and women as inevitably resulting in conflict.” How far do you agree with this context?

In “Streetcar Named Desire” Tennessee Williams explores how different characters interact with each other and especially the relationships between the two genders being constantly subject to disagreements.

Williams demonstrates that it is not just the sex of a person that provokes conflict, but also upbringing, background and individual attitudes to daily aspects of life. Therefore it can be said that his approach is quite modern as he represents what constitutes gender rather than sex. Williams also wants to show that in some cases, like Stanley and Stella, the social background is an evident reason for disagreement, but on the other hand, it can also cause attraction The extracts which highlight how conflictual relationships between men and women can be are Scene III and Scene VI. In scene III Stanley plays a game of poker with his male friends, while Blanche and Stella stay separated and try to occupy themselves with a trivial entertainment which causes an immediate, violent reaction from Stanley. Stella’s husband, who cannot cope with any symptoms of female independence, even so innocent as her choice of a radio tune, commits an act of aggression on his wife in front of Blanche. In Scene VI, Stanley’s friend Mitch faces Blanche and her ambitions to stay a member of the higher class, which contrast with his own origin and undermines his readiness to sacrifice for her.

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 Throughout the play the audience witness many conflicts between the characters, these not just include the disputes between men and women, but also between two sisters. Blanche and Stella, although both brought up in an aristocratic DuBois family, have problems finding a common ground of communication. Williams also shows the difficulties between male relationships, which are mainly caused by their individualised perception of the world they live in.  However, the central conflict is certainly the dispute between Blanche and Stanley.  Stanley embodies stereotypical values of a macho character, whereas Blanche is being portrayed as frail and “moth-like” with strong ...

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