In the film “A Streetcar Named Desire” there are multiple scenes that have conflict between appearance and reality. The plot of the film is ambiguous and it ends without a resolution. The incredible camera work and techniques that Elia Kazan did, created a feeling of confusion and misjudgment, making the audience want to see more. On the other hand, Kazan’s film main character Blanche DuBois, is played by Vivien Leigh. Furthermore, Vivien Leigh, creates a divergent character in the film who fights between her reality, fantasy and the judgements that are made towards her.…
Where someone not great is put into a situation where they are forced to try and cope when a situation puts them are under pressure. The audience finds this type of tragedy entertaining because of the way the hero/heroine reacts under pressure. For example in Arthur Miller's tragedy 'A View from the Bridge' - Eddie is under pressure when two immigrants come and live with him, and his main flaw is jealousy. To begin with, A Streetcar Named Desire is considered as a tragedy because it has a tragic heroine. Each tragic hero or heroine has the potential to do, they are characterised as being the perfect hero except for his/her flaws, they are in conflict with at least one person around them, they are trapped in situations that they cannot get out of, they seem to be doomed from the start and they bring about their own downfall.…
Similarly in A Streetcar Named Desire one of the main characters Blanche Dubois has the same problem with being delusional. She goes and meets her sister Stella and begins to fabricate a story about what has happened to her. She tries to go about finding love by telling Stella, Stanley and countless men lies about her past. When Blanche arrives at Stella’s house she is talking to Stanley and he asks her if…
Throughout the play, Williams presents the relationship between Stanley and Blanche as an ever-changing conflict. It begins with Blanche in control, taking Stella upstairs in scene three as well as degrading Stanley with derogatory terms such as ‘common’. This continues in a push and pull cycle for the duration of the play. However, in the final act of the play Williams reveals Stanley to have taken control by using the poker game as an allegory. For the extent of the play the poker game stands as a symbol of Stanley’s virility, moreover he is strongest when the game is played.…
Blanche hides from reality, illustrated when she flees from her hometown after her wanton behavior and her school teaching incident with a male student. At first, she lies to everyone and herself by telling Mitch she is a school teacher at Laurel High School even though she has lost her job. Lying allows Blanche to give the illusion of a normal and chaste past. However, her past mistakes come to light and Stanley exposes her as a liar, ruining her relationship with Mitch and leading to her destruction and descent into madness.…
Illusion, a deceptive appearance or impression, is an idealistic escape from reality, the state of things as they actually exist. Ultimately, finding the correct balance between the two is crucial to surviving this barbarous world. Connection in a disconnected world drives people to steadily move forward in their lives. In the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Blanche DuBois desperately yearns for this connection but fails to find it. Her isolation will become her ultimate defeat in the aggressive, merciless world she simply is not fit for.…
Family has their ups and downs, their arguments and their times of reconciliation. It shows you how much one person can change your whole routine, your whole life. The relationships are solid in the beginning have problems towards the end of the play. There are exciting moments and there are moments when you get frustrated. In “A Streetcar Named Desire” Tennessee Williams demonstrates real life conflicts and relationships through two sisters, a new marriage, and different friendships.…
Blanche DuBois: Functioning through Fantasy “We 're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we 're not alone.” This statement from Orson Welles perfectly sums up Blanche’s philosophy about life in A Streetcar Named Desire. Blanche DuBois is a young woman from a formerly rich southern family. Her life has been full of mistakes and tragedies that she can’t get over.…
Blanche has been so affected by this experience because of both the depth of her love and because she blames herself. Blanche knows that Allan shot himself because of her words to him, which reveals death to be a major theme in ‘A Streetcar…’ because Blanche is unable to think about his death without with an immense sense of guilt and sorrow. Williams also uses these deaths to serve the purpose of leading Blanche into what becomes her bleak and dangerous past. Blanche’s explanation of her actions shows how psychologically scarred she is as a result of a life burdened with death. She tells Mitch she lived in a house where “dying old women remembered their dead men” and of how after Allan’s death she sought protection “in unlikely places.”…
Most people consider themselves pretty ordinary, fairly normal, and maybe even a little common. Stanley Kowalski, from Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire, certainly considers himself common, a fact he is both proud and ashamed of. He lives in a rougher city, where love is not always well understood. When his wife’s sister, Blanche, lives in his house for a while, Stanley is outraged and wants her gone, as she is everything he is not. Throughout the play, Stanley seems to dominate the scene with his loud presence.…
In Tennessee William's, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” he uses his main character Blanche Dubois, to demonstrate how her current experiences relate to her past. Throughout the play, Williams uses Blanche’s life experiences to illuminate that the hardships she has faced, were also faced by many women throughout history. In “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Williams was able to use Blanche’s story to call attention to the injustice of gender inequality. In the beginning of the play, Blanche moves in with her sister Stella and her husband Stanley, in New Orleans.…
Blanche started off successful, she had a great job as a schoolteacher, and had a loving husband. However her true colors slowly start to unveil…
Both plays display these strong endings with new beginnings ahead. A major theme of both plays involve gender. In A Streetcar Named Desire the theme is built on society’s opinion of how a…
On Thursday, December 10th at 7:30pm, a friend and I saw the play A Streetcar Named Desire. This play too place at the UW-La Crosse Center for the Arts and Tennessee Williams created this romantic drama production. The plot of this story takes place in a 1940’s New Orleans setting, in a run down old duplex where actors, Stanley and Stella Kowalski live. The house is really run down and looks as if it is falling apart, however I quite enjoyed the scene.…
The play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams is a play about social realism. Stella is living a fantasy life because she is reluctant to accept the truth of her and Stanley’s relationship. The realism of their relationship occurs when she says “I couldn’t go on believing her story and live with Stanley” (Stella, 1232). This demonstrates that if Stella believes her sister it would destroy her seamless illusion of her and Stanley’s ideal relationship. Stellas sees nothing wrong with there relationship, but in reality its just her sexual desire for Stanley that’s keeping her from seeing the truth, Stanley isn’t this amazing person.…