Progressive Perspective on A Streetcar Named Desire As it relates to the meanings of plays time, place and atmosphere are critical to conveying the playwright’s perspective on a particular topic. The particular topic that is focused on in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is modern progressivism. This was a particularly edgy topic to speak on especially for the time period coming out of World War II. Tennessee Williams utilizes three key elements of time, place, and atmosphere to convey his view of modern progressivism. The time period of the mid 1940’s gives significance to the way that people treated immigrants and those that weren’t originally from America. The author gives his perspective from the story of Stanley Kowalski,
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New Orleans is known for having a wide variety of race, sex, and background in the city. The idea of tolerance is played with especially in the opening scenes. One piece of information to remember when considering the interactions between some characters is that Blanche and Stella DuBois both grew up Belle Reve, on a plantation in the South. The history of most plantations is widely known and studied, which doesn’t need to be repeated but the general message is that white and black people have had a difficult time relating, which still goes on in modern times too. So in the 1940’s, one would suspect that tolerance could still not be a prevalent as one would suspect. However, the playwright utilizes the setting and a conversation between a white and black woman to express his opinion on tolerance. In Scene I of A Streetcar Named Desire Eunice and a ‘Negro Woman’ exchange pleasantries on the street, but in the stage directions is where Williams’ gives his opinion. The two characters share a laugh over a joke that Eunice made, there is no hostility between the two and it is a comfortable situation. This is how he made clear that inter-race relations can go smoothly when both parties are willing to agree to act peacefully. The fact that some of these characters grew up on plantations where black people were held as slaves gives even more reason to believe that Williams expresses his opinion that tolerance can be much more widespread in modern-day America. By utilizing the scene of New Orleans and its particularly diverse neighborhoods, Tennessee Williams conveys his message about tolerance and progressivism in his
New Orleans is known for having a wide variety of race, sex, and background in the city. The idea of tolerance is played with especially in the opening scenes. One piece of information to remember when considering the interactions between some characters is that Blanche and Stella DuBois both grew up Belle Reve, on a plantation in the South. The history of most plantations is widely known and studied, which doesn’t need to be repeated but the general message is that white and black people have had a difficult time relating, which still goes on in modern times too. So in the 1940’s, one would suspect that tolerance could still not be a prevalent as one would suspect. However, the playwright utilizes the setting and a conversation between a white and black woman to express his opinion on tolerance. In Scene I of A Streetcar Named Desire Eunice and a ‘Negro Woman’ exchange pleasantries on the street, but in the stage directions is where Williams’ gives his opinion. The two characters share a laugh over a joke that Eunice made, there is no hostility between the two and it is a comfortable situation. This is how he made clear that inter-race relations can go smoothly when both parties are willing to agree to act peacefully. The fact that some of these characters grew up on plantations where black people were held as slaves gives even more reason to believe that Williams expresses his opinion that tolerance can be much more widespread in modern-day America. By utilizing the scene of New Orleans and its particularly diverse neighborhoods, Tennessee Williams conveys his message about tolerance and progressivism in his