A streetcar named desire analysis

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:English

Document 1

Her arrival creates unease in the family particularly with Stella’s husband Stanley Kowalski who is a little bothered by her presence. Blanche dislikes Stanley’s behavior, and their relationship is further strained when he violently assaulted Stella one night. Stanley’s mistrust of Blanche drives him to carry out a background check of her past which unearthed her sexual scandals with random strangers in her hometown of Laurel. The newly discovered information about her past causes her to break up with her new love interest and Stanley’s friend Mitch. Stanley arranges for Blanche to leave New Orleans by giving her a ticket back to Laurel as a birthday present. The characterization of the women in the play including Blanche DuBois and Stella Kowalski from their encounters and relationship with the male characters including Stanley Kowalski and Mitch portrays their little influence and suppressed roles in the society.

Sign up to view the full document!

The first way in which Tennessee Williams reinforce the stereotypical portrayal of women as the weaker sex is from the actions, thoughts, and speech of the three main female protagonists in the play. The characterization of Stella, Blanche, and Eunice all seem to serve the purpose of a gender stereotype of women as weak and dependent creatures whose sole purpose is to subordinate the men in their lives. Stella Kowalski and Eunice perfectly fit this purpose evident from their loyalty to their abusive husbands. Both of these women ignore the ugly sides of their husbands and instead choosing to see their affectionate side. This aspect of the society is reflected in the way the male characters pursued and used Blanches’ history to hurt and dismiss her.

Sign up to view the full document!

Stanley reminded Blanche on several occasions about her failed marriage as well as her sexual scandals with young boys solely for the sake of hurting her feelings. The fact that Blanche also has to keep her history a secret also indicates her awareness of the possible extent to which such information was likely to affect the way people perceived and treated her. This is an aspect of gender stereotype in the play that has also been a topic of discussion ever since the play was first written and staged towards the middle of the 20th century. Other scholars have also approached this aspect from the way women and men were held to different standards on matters of sexuality. Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek.

Sign up to view the full document!

From $10 to earn access

Only on Studyloop

Original template

Downloadable