As we look at the play A Streetcar Named Desire, we will be exploring the controversial nature of this play as well as its playwright. Tennessee Williams brought a new kind of theater to the stage that played as much on illusion as it did on stark reality. Perhaps it is the best play to follow the study of Ibsen since Williams takes the taboo subjects that Ibsen tackled and exposes the vulnerable underbelly of society. Taking a Streetcar Named Desire is never a comfortable ride, and it has come under much criticism in the year's since its stage debut. One thing is certain though: in Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski, Williams created some of literature's most intriguing characters. Let's see what your take is. You will be asked to comment on the play as you did for Doll's House. This time I will leave the topic up to you. To many, the play is shocking. Recent c
ritics comment on Williams negative portrayal of men (sometimes claiming it is a homosexual's view of heterosexual relationships), others find his female characters even more demeaning. Personally, I find it all just good theater -- not pleasant by any means, but definitely engaging. Let's mix it up in our online discussion. Please post your comments between April 1 and April 17 for discussion grade.
28 comments:
Hello class. Today I shall speak of Blanche DuBois' arrival to the Kowalski apartment. In the beginning of the play, Blanche DuBois arrives at the Kowalski residence in Elysian Fields. She first meets Eunice and the Negro woman, and when asked if she's lost, she replies, "They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!" (p.15), thinking this couldn't possibly be where her sister lives. Her description of the transportation she took once arriving at New Orleans immediately reveals Williams' use of metaphorical names. Elysian Fields is an allusion to the land of the dead heroes in Greek mythology. Desire is the streetcar she took to come in to town- these metaphors are representative of her life up to this point. Having followed her sexual "desires", she brought upon herself her own expulsion from her past life in Laurel, a death of her former self, and has allowed those desires to bring her to this afterlife in the Elysian Fields. It is in this sort of afterlife where she'll learn and live the consequences of her past life's actions.
OH WOOPS who knew my tiny little brother had a google account! This is HUZAIFA not ANAS.
Thanks for the opening statement, Anas.
I agree with Anas (haha...easier to write than Huzaifa), even though "Elysian Fields" may be too kind for her type of person. It is, in fact, the Hero's afterlife, and not the common post-death world others go to. Then again, some may consider (some = not me) Blanche a hero in her own way.
But, the part Anas mentioned about "learning and living" consequences makes sense.
Although, the "Elysian Fields" could just be her imagination. She may dream she's in a place of heroes and make herself feel better, but we know that (thankfully) reality comes crashing (down?) upon her. She may have just imagined the whole story while in an insane asylum, we never know. Then again, it isn't first person limited, so maybe not.
That's going off on a different tangent, so getting back to just the general discussion:
Blanche lives by desire, it seems, but takes on a more indirect approach where as Stanley is straightforward about it. (I appreciate straightforwardness, unfortunately it's not something for English.) So maybe Blanche being a (former) English teacher has something to do with it.
Then again, as Mr. Munson mentioned "death of the south" being represented through her, you can see the difference in times. The romantic/over imaginary VS the fast, straight, and impatient. Which really does represent the world these days, shifting from (now called) snail mail to email, faster modes of transportation, etc. This gap is much like the generational gap as well (have you seen the kids just six years below us? It's horrific.)
The purpose of showing "we are all savages inside" is conveyed, I think. Not feeling bad for Blanche, that is. But, I find myself wondering why it is I feel bad for Mitch, then, if he is apparently weak (shown by his inability to do anything about Stanley.) Stella, as well, having to go through the pain of signing a family member off to the asylum, and with the knowledge that her husband probably raped her, that I can feel bad for her too. Wanting to be with Stanley over the truth is a sign of weakness too, and I feel bad about that too. For some strange reason, it's only Blanche I don't really feel sympathy for, sure, she's crazy, heartbroken, etc. But if she lives in a fantasy world, it should be no problem. The asylum will be a happy (and perfect) place for her to be.
So, feeling good for not feeling for the weak is a misconception, just feeling nothing (or positive feelings) for a character one dislikes getting what she deserves is probably more of a moral issue, concerning the way someone was raised. Obviously someone raised like Blanche (um...let's hope not) would relate, or not, who knows? But I think it's more of a matter of nurture and morals, rather than just feeling hatred toward whatever "weak" is in general.
Heck, you could consider Stanley being weak for not being able to control outbursts. See? Matter of raising.
Note: This is all on-the-spot commenting. I may have repeated some ideas, or contradicted myself in some paragraph somewhere. Just don't misquote, like last time >:|
In the play, Streetcar named Desire, Williams' view on society and thus his portrayal of it through characters such as Blanche ans Stanley, are not completely false. Although some, with reason, have called them demeaning, it is true that there is a little bit of Blanche and Stanley in everyone of us. sure they are both extremes, but non the less, relate to all humans. Let us take Blanche. She is a middle aged woman with one goal in mind, to be loved and appreciated. Her actions, regardless of they purity, are justifiable for she lost her husband to another man. This can be used to justify her need to be appreciated, noticed, and loved. Sadly, she does get noticed but for the wrong reasons. Blanche becomes isolated in her own world and becomes to involved in this world of hers that she goes crazy.
As for Stanley is rough, manly, and certainly primitive. He, just like any other man, is victim to jealousy. Just like Othello, he let jealousy get the best of him, and ruined Blanche, just like Othello ruined Desdemona. Stanley is jealous because he feels that Blanche will take her sister, his wife, away from him, and thus feels the need to eliminate Blanche, and does so by digging up her miserable past and exposing her.
Therefore, Blanche and Stanley are both just like everyone else, only trying to survive their actions are nothing short of normal.
Hello this is Kyung Ah...
I don't know why but i can't log into my old account..
Topic: Does Blanch DuBois deserve her consequence?
When we first started to read and watch A Street Car Named Desire, Blanche Dubois was literally on my nerves. Her voice was so irritating and it constantly gave me goose bumps. I hated the character because Blanche lived in a fantasy world created through lies. Her fear of realism was noticeable from the beginning of the play. She attempted to avoid being exposed into bright light and she hated being a nobody. Even Blanche herself says in the play that she hates realism but she wants magic. Also, her life before she came to New Orleans was so corrupt. She had many affairs with men and “boys”. However, even though Blanche had such an unforgivable past and an annoying personality, I believe that she does not deserve to be raped by Stanley Kowalski, nor does she deserve to go to a mental institution. She does not deserve these consequences because I believe that everybody has some chapters in their life that they do not wish to reveal or like to keep hidden. The action that Stanley took to get rid of Blanche is not much different from what Blanche did it in her past. I first hated Blanche but I started to have pity for her as the play reached the climax.
I do not think it was a coincidence that Blanche DuBois brought herself to Elysian Fields by the streetcar named "Desire." Blanche left her past in the land she departed from to find someone that would love her truly. She only took the unforgettable memories that would help her create the fantasy she longs to live in. However, what she got at the Elysian Fields was nothing close to a "fantasy." Her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, reveals her dirty, unforgivable past to the public and in the end, rapes her to mentally destroy her as a result of his jealousy and her annoyance. As KyungAh said, "everybody has some chapters in their life that they do not wish to reveal or like to keep hidden." But to build a trust in a relationship, one must speak truthfully about his/herself before someone else tells the story, which is most likely biased. I think Blanche got what she deserved for lying and trying to make her "magic" work. Like Huzaifa said, "It is in this sort of afterlife (Elysian Fields) where she'll learn and live the consequences of her past life's actions." Still, I do think what Stanley did to Blanche was over the limit. I think there were other actions that Stanley could have taken instead of humiliating Blanche, raping her, and sending her to a mental institute. Everyone has a past they want to hide and many hold the same desire to "change." What Stanley could have done was at least try to understand Blanche's loneliness and then judge her if she's capable for a change.
I enjoyed the play as well, the only thing I completely disliked about it
was Blanche. She comes out of nowhere and tries to destroy the happy life
of her sister and Stanley only because she has lost everything what was
valuable in her life. I think this is one of the themes Tennessee Williams
wants to show us, he wants us to see what will happen to us if we loose
everything we loved and owned and if we do we will get lost, like Blanche,
in our own little world and try to find somebody who loves us and can
share and understand the pain we are going through. We will also try to
become a part of another persons life in order to fit in somewhere again
and forget about our pain and miserable situation we are in at the moment.
Most of the time though we are destroying someones realtionship between
others as we feel jelous and left alone.
I really enjoyed reading and watching this play because it engaged me and made me think of what I would do if I was put in such a situation. I tried not to put myself in Blanche's shoes, but instead in Stella's shoes when she had to choose between believing the truth; Blanche's story, or Stanley. But siding with her husband, the liar, angered me. Having a sister come to you and ask for help and providing all that, but in the end betraying her is something that is very wrong on Stella's part. Growing up in a family that spends about 14 hours of the day together, i've learnt that family comes before anything, especially when it comes to my sisters. Yes, when you get married you start a new family but that doesn't mean you forget your ties with your first family. Blanche has made many mistakes in her life, but I'm a firm believer in starting with a clean slate, and what better than to get help from your sister, and not from strangers at the insane asylum.
As we started watching the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Mr. Munson constantly reminded us that we would start off with hating Blanche and as the play progressed, we would end up feeling sorry, or some sort of pity for her.
So throughout the beginning, I hated Blanche as a person. I thought she was annoying, conceited and quite deceiving. From the moment she came into the Kowalski’s home, the deception was visible to the audience. However, as the play progressed, I noticed that Blanche did seem quite depressed, and that all of her lines had some sort of double meanings. She was deceived by her husband, which made her turn into this “horrible” person. If Stella does have an honest perspective, then it is true that people forced Blanche to change. The incident with Blanche’s husband, Allan, caused her to change so drastically. When she speaks about Allan, she seems to go into a whole different world; talking about his sea blue eyes and how she worshipped the ground he walked on. She genuinely seemed to be in love.
Personally, I don’t believe that Blanche deserved everything that happened to her in the end. Despite the fact that she was somewhat of a slut and slept around, she did not deserve to be raped by Stanley. It really seemed to me as if Blanche was trying to change after she met Mitch. She wanted him so badly, wanted to be loved so badly, that she was willing to go out of her way to impress this guy. I admit that she started off on the wrong foot by attempting to manipulate him and getting him to fall for her in a very conniving sort of a way. But at the same time, I felt like she had lost the confidence in herself. After she found out that Allan wasn’t “satisfied” from her, she felt that perhaps she couldn’t attract men properly, or if she could, she couldn’t satisfy their needs. That’s why, I believe that she wanted to hide her age from Mitch. Was it really her fault that she tried to go after a guy that genuinely seemed to like her? All the other guys previously were just in it for affairs, but Mitch actually seemed to care about her.
I really wish that Stella had believed Blanche (when she told her that Stanley raped her) and stood up for her. I understand that Stanley is her husband and that she has made vows to this man, but hasn’t he broken his vows by raping his wife’s sister? How can a woman live with a man like that who was accused of raping her sister? I agree with Haya when she says that family comes first. Stella should have at least questioned her husband rather than ignoring it. She should have known that her sister wouldn’t go SO extreme. In the end, I do feel very sorry for Blanche and I really wish that people had tried to understand her better. She had gone through a lot of tough times, and all she needed was someone to help her through all of it.
In the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Blanche DuBois’, a school teacher, arrives at her sister’s apartment in New Orleans in search of a new beginning; Blanche’s previous doings in Laurel, Mississippi causes her to flee as she tries to bury her disgraceful past, which keeps haunting her. In fear of reality Blanche lives in a fantasy world. Throughout the play there are various motifs that represent Blanche’s desire to distance from reality. A noticeable reoccurring act throughout the play is Blanche’s excessive drinking behavior. Tennessee Williams does this to demonstrate a greater significance concerning her drinking. Blanche DuBois drinks in order to allow herself to escape from reality and fantasize about her desired husband, Shep Huntleigh. Another conspicuous motif throughout the play is the light. Upon Blanche’s arrival at the Kowalski’s apartment, she immediately covers all the exposed lights with Chinese paper lanterns. As the light is covered, Blanche lives her life in the dark, in an illusionary state. The reason for that is because Blanche doesn’t want her true age and beauty to be exposed. The only way Blanche can overcome her past is by facing the bright light which symbolizes the reality which she avoids.
I personally liked this play both when reading it and watching it, especially since I’ve watched it before. However, while watching “A street-car named desire” this time knowing that the play was written by Tennessee Williams I came to realize some points of the play which seemed to reflect his awkward position in society. I strongly believe that the two distinct views of the play: the brutal and primal Stanley and the soft-spoken Blanche who doesn’t seem to fit in Stanley’s world, are a way for Tennessee Williams to portray his place in society as a homosexual man. At that time, being homosexual signified weakness and was shunned by society. I think that in a way, the character Blanche was his way of showing readers and viewers of the play how he was not able to fit into society and was labelled as something very derogatory, just like Blanche was labelled a woman who had loose morals since she seems to sleep with any man she comes across. Stanley on the other hand, portrays the brutal outer world in which Tennessee Williams wasn’t able to fit in. His macho character shows the overbearing men in the society that he lived in. Overall I liked the play because it shows two very different characters and I think that it is impossible to completely be one of these two because it is a world of pure fantasy or cruelty, which I find unrealistic.
Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” definitely has a controversial nature which, as Mr. Munson said, “played as much on illusion as it did on stark reality.” On one side, it presented Blanche Dubois’ fantasy world in which she is appreciated but on the other hand, it portrayed the absolute reality that she is not considered fit to deserve love and respect. I think if I relate this play to Williams’ personal life, I can say that he portrays Stanley to be beast-like because he probably experienced this when he was not accepted, being homosexual. Thus, he presents Stanley to be an insensitive character who will go to any extent to shatter a fragile character like Blanche.
As Mehdi said in his post, Stanley and Blanche do represent us and our nature but they are very extreme versions. Perhaps we are all a little insensitive to other people’s feelings when our happiness is at stake just like Stanley and Stella’s relationship is not the same after Blanche’s arrival. Williams presents Stanley and Blanche in this manner to create tension and conflict amongst his audience. We feel that we are sometimes like Stanley because we are selfish and want the best for ourselves. However, most of us also have worries which we cannot share with others just like Blanche does. At the beginning of Williams’ play, Blanche’s character is very irritating and evokes a feeling of disgust and shame. However, as Stanley becomes more and more callous, we begin to understand Blanche’s feelings of “desire” and “magic” resulting from her sorrowful life. This is probably why Williams named her “Blanche” which is the French word for “white” and could represent her purity at heart although this is not seen easily. Despite pitying Blanche at the end of the play, it is sometimes difficult for us to feel this empathy in the real world as the desire to take our revenge and be happy blindfolds us to what is right.
i guess in a way, there is a part within each of us that diverts us from the path towards being a virtuous flower child who loves all the shiny coated beasts of god's kingdom and i guess this is the point my long lost twin (we both share a name now guess whether its William or Hreiki) was trying to bring out.
It seems that all the characters has this "savage" element with Blanche being the exception considering that Blanche the (poor?) disturbed thing being shown this element towards the end by everyone. Most people would probably feel some sort of sympathy for Blanche towards the end BUT NOT ME: thats right I "nothing" her from start to finish and it isnt to say that I am some sort of unemotional robot, its just that the feelings i have are at opposite ends of the spectrum which basically cancels each other out; its like the acting in an arabic soap opera, when someone's screaming "OH NO" you cant tell whether they consider their daughter/girlfriend being kid-napped a funny coincidence or a serious situation (its that bad) leaving you with a sense of not caring.
Even the characters dont seem to really care for Blanche being sent off to the asylum which is to say that arent any tears being squized out for her its just that the extent of the protests was Mitch grimacing a bit ("Grr.." says mitch, "wats wrong with him?" replies stanley) and Stella's crying doesn't exactly scream out "OH NO YOU DONT" as she heroically drop kicks the nurse and tosses the doc into a nearby garbage can in order to save her own sister.
My main point is that Blanche is the momentary obstacle that annoys some of the characters and causes major mouchkila for others. in the end everyone gets back to enjoying a nice game of blackjack....or poker...whatever the heck those guys are doing and what i should probably learn for the sake of my evil plan to con people who just arrived on the streetcar named "Desire" (insert mystery music).
I dont like Blanche Dubois and i dont feel sorry for her either at any point of the play/movie. It is right for Stanely to keep putting her down because she this is a struggle between good and evil. In the light, good prevails and in the darkness evil (Blanche obviously) lurks. She is a big (emphasis on big) lair especially when it comes to her trying to make a relationship with Mitch (Walter). For a proper relationship to exist, there should be a strong foundation of trust and honesty which Blanche definately isnt doing. It is right of Stanely to tell Mitch who Blanche really is. Blanche has gotten herself in the position she is in and is making a very big deal to keep it a secret. If she just told everyone about her situation and repented in some way unknown to me, then she could have probably lived a normal life. Stanely saved Mitch because he stopped him from going into a horrible relationship. I especially liked it when he threw the plates and smashed the radio.
Just to start off, this play is the most disturbing play I've ever seen....it shook me in a creepy way. Every scene makes you want to leave, but then you're forced to stay at the same time because not knowing what happens next will only make it worse. It resembles two worlds clashing. On one side, there's Blance who is easy vulnerable, weak, and overall lonely. On the other side, there's Stanley who is strong, ruthless, "primitive", plain, and straightforward. Both are symbols of real life.
What makes this play so real is the fact that it creates an illusion on the watcher that what's going on is wrong, but then, what governs our morals? Is it what we were taught by observing humanity? why is it that when we see Blanche, we feel sorry? Her state is a perfect culmination of weakness, grief, destruction, self-blame, and most of all, insecurity.
On the other hand, Stanley is the perfect image of strength, raw morality, unlimited ego, and extreme "primitive" qualities.
both of these characters combined make us take a look at ideas, not humans... From the second I saw how annoying and imaginative Blanche was from her accent, her clothes, and her tiny lies about the smallest things like drinking, I knew that as an audience member, I couldn't see these characters as humans but rather as ideas, because that cannot explain the inhumanity of the later scenes. When I started to see these characters as ideas governing our personalities, feelings, and emotions, I started to see that the progression of all the scenes and their consequences are reflected the same way in real life.
There are three types of people in this world, those who know what they want, those who follow, and those who are clueless and wander about. Only the first and second can survive because they are stronger, they have a goal, and they know a direction they can lead their lives to. Those who wander will die out as they are weak, vulnerable, and will allow others to destroy them, much as Blanche was totally powerless when Stanley raped her. In the end, she became totally mentally disabled.
As for the other characters, Stella and Mitch, they are followers of the stronger race. They are also vulnerable, but not enough to not notice that what they are doing is wrong and then to correct themselves.
The two ideas of a Streetcar named "Desire" and a streetcar named "Cemetary" are paths, just as streetcars follow a route around a city. Symbolically speaking, Desire is life. and within life is love; a desire to continue and have a reason to live. Cemetary is the downfall and those times when one feels downright bad about themselves. Its the defined as the loss of that reason to live. Both streetcars work together to run a "city": the world of choices and consequences. If you take either one, you can go to another part of the city much as making a choice and ending up at the consequence. That is how life works; Blanche and Stanley are just the pawns Williams used to show the order of this world. Take a choice and end up at the consequence. Blanche took the choice of showing her vulnerable past and look for a future, but she cannot survive because the idea of weakness, grief, destruction, self-blame, and insecurity are all undesirable traits. Nobody wants them, and that is why the order of the world moved to destroy those traits.
I find it very interesting how all the guys appear to be totally apathetic towards Blanche. In spite of the “we’re-not-being-cold” claims they’ve made, I still find it completely heartless. No doubt she got on my nerves, but I don’t think anyone ever deserves that sort of fate. As horrible as it may sound, try putting yourselves in her shoes. Having lived through most of your relatives’ deaths, being with a boy who committed suicide, losing everything you have (money and dignity), you, like Blanche, will also be desperately holding on to the last threads of hope, even if this means lying. Of course it does not justify her deceit but it sure does buy her some ounces of sympathy. So she lives in a fantasy world…so what? Don’t we all do that sometimes to escape reality? Except in her case, she’s slowly losing the ability to snap back to what is real. Another reason why I feel bad for her is because she has absolutely no one, and the people that she thinks she has are all helpless under the savage control of Stanley. Even her own blood gave her away at the very end (which I really cannot comprehend because like Haya, I’ve always been the blood is thicker than water type).
hello all. First off i would like to thank huzaifa and zaher again for leaving nothing for anyone else to say... Just joking just joking...
In A Street Car Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, the idea of "survival of the fittest" is being depicted throughout the play. We see a rattled ( i dunno if this is spelled correctly) middle aged woman move into a neighborhood where it is owned by Stanley at the very beginning of the play. We can see immediate dominance of Stanley's character over his wife as well as his friends. For example, Stella's crazed love for Stanley makes her forgive him even after being attacked by him. It is because Stanley has some sort of magical power over Stella that he persuades her to send Blanche over to a mental institute. Furthermore, Stella does not believe Blanche when she says Stanley raped her because she is so caught up in Stanley's world that she can not simply leave it. Moreover, Stella finds it a necessity to stay with such a primitive and savage man in order to survive in the harsh reality. Stanley is also seen as being the dominant male or 'alpha' male in his society. This dominance is shown when Stella says that Stanley is probably the most well off out of his friends and that he is the only person that would ever get somewhere in life. It is because of this dominance throughout the play (in indirect ways) that it eventually becomes direct when he rapes Blanche. Everything seems to go in Stanley's favor simply because Stanley is the fittest and so he dominates on top of everyone else. yaaa you bye bye i finish comment.
Reality and illusion are the rock and the hard place that every man is embedded eternal. Depending on ones strength in character, one falls closer to one than the other. Character depends highly on experience, as well as the trials and tribulations one has endured. While some of us battle through these itches and scratches, others are vulnerable to these setbacks causing admission into the realm of illusion. We tend to reside in that realm for as long as the pain is needed to heal. But some pains chain us forever causing an inability to escape. Falling hostage to a mental drug so addictive, the only rehabilitation is complete death. It’s like a cancerous virus, after spreading thoroughly through the leg the only cure is amputation.
A Streetcar Named Desire is a book with two strong opposing forces. Stanley Kowalski is one of these opposing forces & Blanche Dubois the other. I do sympathize with the rape of Blanche & it is something terrible that should never ever be wished upon a person. But maybe it was Blanche's karma... I think that Stanley does hold a certain magnetism that is undeniable. I feel that he truly represents the primitive mind, the id of the three sections of the psyche; according to Freud. He does what pleases him, acts upon his instincts, & stands up for himself. His primal ways are obviously what keep Stella attracted him & she doesn’t deny this. Blanche puts off an air that she is disgusted by Stanley but I think that she is attracted to him as well. The id & super-ego oppose each other, ergo Blanche is the super-ego. The super-ego is all about right & wrong & adapting to society & acting in a socially acceptable way; which is very much like Blanche. I guess it can be said that Stanley wins in the end but Blanche might not really have lost as well. Her going to the insane asylum may be what is best for everyone & she can continue & create the happy fantasy life she wants.
I don't think Blache deserved to be raped but it was her wn character flaw which put her into a situation like that. Throughout her whole life. she has lived in the past and has wanted things her way. She interferes with Stanley and Stella's happy marriage. Even Stanley himself admits this in the play. She cannot accept change and the fact that her sister was able to live with such a lower classed man.
She refuses to accept reality and refuses to expose her true identity and her past. The lantern is symbolic in this case. She covers the light with paper showing that she doesn't want to see the world clearly as it is. Instead, she chooses to remain in darkness which represents her past. The darkness also shows that she doesn't want others to see her true identity.
I don't think Blache truly loved MItch, he was just like any other man who she tried to seduce by hiding her true age and past. Even Mitch himself never saw Blanche in the light which indicates that she tried to decieve him. Even if they did get together, Blanche would never have been loyal to him. Even after she tells Stella she 'wants' him during the middle of the play, she later attempts to seduce a young boy right after. Even during the end she says that she always relies on the comfort of strangers when she walks away with the doctor.
Here are some postings of people who were unable to log in but sent them via email:
AYA AGHABI:
I find the theme of illusion versus reality in A Streetcar Named Desire to be very fascinating. The different symbols used to portray this theme enhance the meaning of the play. When Blanche wears her white suit, it portrays her fake innocence because she is impure. She wears it to hide her true identity and desire. Blanche constantly hides from light, or asks people to turn down the light when it is on because when she is under the light people can see her true identity. An interesting image used throughout the play is papers. Blanche uses “paper legal documents” to show proof o floors of Belle Reves, which is involved in a whole level of illusion and secrecy on how it was lost and what had really happened. Also, when the paper boy comes to give the news paper, we see her reality when she tries to seduce him. Also, when she is bathing, she sings “Paper Moon”. This theme is mostly portrayed though Blanche and her deceptive nature. She hides behind costumes and stays in the dark to mask her true identity.
LANA EL-RISH:
Desire is planted in everybody's mind and body. It is also portrayed from the beginning till the end of the A Streetcar Named Desire, even in its title. Blanche rides on a street-car called Desire to Elysian Fields hoping to leave her daunting past and go off into a "magic" world, away from reality. However, her past continues to haunt her; from the memories of the "boy" she gets as the varseinova plays, to the letters that Stanley Kowalski finds and the past he digs up about her. No one can run away from their past, and Blanche learns it the hard way. She dreams about living the perfect life with the perfect man that will treat her right and when she tries to fulfill those dreams with Mitch, he finds out about her past from Stanley and turns away from her. Slowly, Blanche begins to go crazy. She imagines scenes of herself dressed up in her beautiful dress flirting with men. Stanley notices her insanity growing and so he suggests putting her in a mental institution. He also sees her need for desire completely different than his. Stanley is the manly, primitive husband, who may at times handle relationships roughly. He slaps Stella and yells at her. Blanche is shocked when she sees that. She asks Stella why she is still with Stanley when he treated her with such roughness. Stella says she loves him even if he does that, and she'll always be with him. Blanche can't understand that sort of relationship; she needs a gentleman who is kind to her. Stanley does not like the fact that Blanche is getting in between is relationship with Stella. He is aggravated by Blanche, which causes him to do ruthless things. In my opinion, Blanche does not deserve the consequences she ends up with. Everyone does mistakes, and passes through phases that are not pleasant. They should face their consequences, but never should some have to face rape as their consequence. Stanley pushes his limits, and that is when I started to feel disgusted by him and feel more pity towards Blanche.
MR. MUNSON'S COMMENTS
I would also like to piggyback on the discussion of Elysian Fields. It is highly ironic that ANY seedy neighborhood in the French Quarter would ever hope to be considered the resting place for heroes, but it is also so in keeping with the mythos of New Orleans that they would think that way! Blanche would consider herself heroic and even virginal. She refereneces this with Stanley when she talks about her astrological sign being Virgo, and at the end of the play when she makes sure everyone knows the dress she is wearing is the same color as the Madonna wore. No woman deserves the treatment Blanche receives, I would agree, but she definitely reaps what she sows. It just seems unfair that Stanley escapes pretty much unharmed. Why is it that brutality in our world so often gets off scotfree?
The worst that ever comes of Stanley is that he briefly feels this loss of his love as he stands in the rain screaming "Stella!" And we as an audience are moved. The world loves to see big strong, stoic characters break down and show some sensitivity and we are willing to forgive a multitude of evils when they do. But have the same breakdown occur with a tragic drama queen like Blanche and we will "whistle her off down wind" as Othello would say.
In the game of life, "Streetcar Named Desire" seems to say, "No one wants to hear your sob story, and no one has any pity. Just play the cards you have been dealt, stop whining, and get on with the game."
Next time I am given the chance to take the streetcar named Desire or even Cemetery, I think I will opt to just walk, thank you.
Responding to Haya and Carmina's blog, I'd like to say that I don't agree with them taking pity on Blanche. Carmina said that the guys were being "heartless" but I'd have to disagree. I can't fathom putting myself in her shoes because the decisions she made and the actions she carried out are all unethical, rash, spontaneous, and childish. She created her misery, she wanted to go into another world of illusion because of her actions. She doesn't deserve a better life after all the things she did. We can control our lives and if we fail at it, is it right to deserve pity and receive humble gifts from people just because we are in that situation? I definitely don't want pity and aid if I mess up my life and end up not going to university or not having a job. That fault was created by me and I have to rectify it on my own and not run away from it and delve into an illusionary world like Blanche. Sure family is important but that doesn't mean that a family member can abuse the kindness of that relationship just because that person is of kin. Blanche wasn't even trying to rectify her mistakes the proper way by looking for a place, job and fixing her lifestyle. Even when she met Mitch she tried leading him on the first time, but then it became more serious for her. That is the only amount of effort she put in for an honest relationship which broke down because of her deception so basically she deserved it.
I want to take this play from a different approach and relate it to a Doll's House. Since we all read the book, it is obvious that Street Car named desire is in fact discrete scenes that can be fragmented into their own theme and story. I believe the characters in a Doll's House are very much alike the ones in Street Car named Desire. In a Doll's House, we seem to realize that the female characters dominate the whole theme and control the male characters. Nora for example lies to Torvald and deceives him throughout the play. On the other hand, in Street Car named desire, Stanley seems to be the omnipotent of the play by controlling all the female characters and dominating their actions e.g raping Blanche. They are also different structure wise. Street car named desire can be taken by each of its acts separately but a Doll's House is composed of acts where they complete the overall theme.
Yoo class, good discussion going onn ;), after reading the comments i have seen that an interesting point of topic is Blanche. I want to propose this idea, does anyone think that Blanche might have gone through some process of abuse during her life to lead her to her current character? are there many people out there that act like her and have a distorted view of reality? My opinion is that Blanche had to go through some form of abuse during her formative years. Personality is purely shaped on our experiences and if she has such a distorted personality when it comes to everything from love, to money, to even the most basic social skills, then there had to be some experiences that she went through to make her be that way. Also another thing that is interesting is how she can be so different from her sister stella? yet they were raised in the same house hold. Stell a does refer in some instances in the play to her husband that Blanche is a very delicate creature that went through a lot as a child. So the ultimate question is should we pity Blanche, should we value Blanch or should we hate or love Blanche.
My take? i think all of it. We should feel all of this towards her and i think that is what Williams wanted us to do in the first place. He wanted us to appreciate her as a character, for all of her faults and all of her conditions, he wanted us to realize that there are people like her in our world, and there are people just as complex as her and possible even more complex. Imagine if the play did not have Blanche? honestly what would be the point of it? Blanche is the representation of drama in the play and she is the impetus for all of the complications with both Stanley and Stella, Stanley and Mitch, and Herself and Stanley and Stella. We learn a lot from this play, well at least i learned a lot, in terms of relationships and drama. All thanks to Blanche. :D
Another aspect i want to touch on is the ending of the play. How it was so contriversial that the play ended with Blanche being sent to an insane asylum and Stanley and Stella living on. How can Stella really live with such a beast? such a figure that would rape her sister? Worst of all Stella would never know what he did and she would live in this fantasy world that he never commited such a thing. Truth is again that we have to resepct that ending. If justice were to rain on Stanley and everyone evil would get hurt, then that would not represetn real life. Because in real life people get away with horrific things, and life is not fair which is exactly what Williams was portraying in this ending. Yet through it all, through all this drama and corruption we are still living. It shows the power of the human spirit to withstand so much, and at the same time, shows how much damage and drama we can really do to each other.
Blanche also as a character in herself is so complex that just from this story we still cannot understand her and her motives fully. She is so complex that she confuses us as an audience and gets us thinking about her character the most specifically because she is so not typical. She is hard to understand, her motives are very weird, and her past is not clearly known. Noneless what we do know about her past, with the teenage boy, is enough to tell us just how troubled her mind really is.
So my take on Blanche? Respect her as a character, respect her purpose in the play and realize that she acts as the contrasting factor to society. Without her we would not see all the bad things we see in the play, such as Stanleys rape. So respect her character, and appreciate Williams for coming up with a character so complex and real.
- Amir K.
AHMED SHAMIM gives this comment:
In the play “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Tennessee Williams portrays reality versus illusion through the character of Blanche Dubois. Blanche is a typical southern lady who is forced to stay with her sister, Stella Kowalski, in an environment that she is not accustomed to. Blanche’s actions and fate led her out of Laurel, her previous home, and into the Elysian Fields. Throughout most of the scenes in the play, Blanche is seen as drinking excessively. She uses the alcohol to escape from reality into a fantasy world where all her problems are forgotten. To emphasize the fact that Blanche is trying to escape, we see her hiding the alcohol she is consuming and pretending as if she has not been drinking whenever she encounters another character. Blanche is afraid of reality and prefers to stay away from the light. The light is another method Williams uses to show us how Blanche prefers illusion to reality. Throughout the entire play, we see Blanche residing in the dark and Mith even comments on this aspect wondering why he has never seen Blanche in the light. Blanche replies by saying that she likes the dark indicating that, indeed, she has been hiding from her problems and living in a fantasy world.
MR. MUNSON adds:
This whole idea of light and darkness permeates all the plays we have studied. It shows the real power of lighting in theater. So much that can be done on stage communicates messages in a much moree emotional way than words on a page. I noticed, like Faizaan's comments, that there was a tendency for students to ask to go to the bathroom when the scnes got intense. No one probably thought about it except that we tend to want to escape anything that is uncomfortable. That's why I prefer theater to video or film -- you must endure it all to the end and not give yourself a way out. By the way, just read that a new production of "Streetcar" is going into rehearsals Off-Broadway this week.
Speaking of the power of lighting and sets, I saw a video of a new musical that opened a few days ago on Broadway called "Next to Normal." It is hardly typical musical fare as it is about a woman who has bi-polar disorder and the effects this has on her family. The set is a three-level scaffolding representing different settings of teh story and also symbolizing the conflicting areas of the characters head. The lighting for it is bright pinks and blues and the music is pure rock and roll. Very creative looking.
So, this whole darkness thing becomes so important in our three plays. In "Streetcar," we are forced to find our way in the dark of the show for most of the play. When Mitch rips the paper lantern (pretense) off the light bulb and exposes Blanche for who she really is, the brightness of that truth is just as stunning to the audience as it is to Mitch because Tennessee Williams has made sure our eyes have become accustomed to the dark so the light will seem almost blinding to us when it is turned on. It is interesting to me that Mitch opts to turn the light back off and there is a sense of peace that gives us in the audience as well -- we prefer that these scenes NOT be harshly lit.
My favorite line from the play, which is also part of this light motif, comes when Blanche is telling Mitch about Allan's death at the Moon Lake Casino. She says, "And then the searchlight which had been turned on in the world was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light that's stronger than this -- kitchen -- candle . . . "
Mr. Williams, you are still The Man in my book. Especially if you can cause us to get uncomfortable and see the world in a whole new light. And THAT is a pretty tough thing to do with a bunch of seniors heading out into that darkness. Sounds to me like some of them were taking notice.
While both men and women are portrayed in demeaning ways, towards the end Stanley got what he wanted, he won – this was not necessarily a fair victory – the strong conquered the weak. The play shows that our world is truly ruled by survival of the fittest; things like sympathy, family, and love are overruled by things like power, money and other selfish desires. Although Stanley got what he wanted I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Blanche, she is trying to repent for her mistakes and start over and find love after a life filled with pain, rejection, and loss – and she gets degraded and raped in return. She was extremely annoying with her dramatic lies and obnoxious personality but still Stanley should not have done what he did; it was selfish and totally uncalled for in my eyes. If this is what I thought of Stanley's actions then maybe he didn’t win, he got what he wanted but sympathy is granted to those that were abused and sacrificed for the sake of the strong getting what they want.
KARIM KHALIL said . . .
Tennessee Williams took us through a journey that no other playwrite could ever do, especially at that time when he wrote it. Blanche and Stanley are characters both demeaning to their sex. She represents a snobby woman who always wants more and wants to be desired. Maybe she is the streetcar called desire, and Stanley was the one who drove that car by force. They are showing the worst of men and women; with Blanche hitting on the little child, and Stanley raping her. Although, both these characters are physically good looking, which shows that things could look good from the outside but we never know what lies beneath. This brings me to the theme of reality and imagination, the way someone sees you and the way you really are. This really is a good play; and even though Williams brought the worst of his two main characters, we (as in the audience but mostly me), were still moved by them. I kind of understood Stanley and at the same time felt a little bit sorry for Blanche. A Street Car Named Desire, the title sums it all up indeed.
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