Banning A Streetcar Named Desire from the High School curriculum Society has a responsibility to protect the minds of the innocent within the world’s corrupt culture. However, some would argue that banning books takes away the freedom of the youth and divulges more about the censorship than if it were not banned at all. As it stands, the matter of sheltering students versus indulging them in inappropriate subject matter has always been of the utmost importance. The line of censorship is crossed in Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire, where Blanche’s physical and mental health deteriorates over the course of her stay in New Orleans with her sister, Stella, and brother-in-law, Stanley. The play’s climax involves Stanley ultimately
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By having violence, one might argue that the reader can become susceptible to aggressive behavior and in turn act it out in daily life. The type of violence used in the play is demeaning and highly suggestible, as Anita Gates explains, “‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ relies on some rickety 1940s cultural assumptions. That husbands who beat their wives are the norm and, while not admirable, are not criminals either” (Gates). Gates’s analysis paints a clear picture of how the domestic violence displayed throughout the play can desensitize students by making domestic violence seem acceptable in daily life. In the play there are multiple scenes where physical altercations take place. One instance of domestic abuse is in scene three between Stanley and Stella, where Stella forgives Stanley after he beats her while she is pregnant, and then willing has sex with him after. Stanley forces himself on Stella and acts as her superior, talking down to her as well as physically beating her. The disturbing and misconstrued part of the play is shown when Stella continually accepts Stanley's violent behavior as normal, and as a sexual turn on. The play's use of raunchy domestic violence can influence students to be submissive to abuse and not stand up to their
By having violence, one might argue that the reader can become susceptible to aggressive behavior and in turn act it out in daily life. The type of violence used in the play is demeaning and highly suggestible, as Anita Gates explains, “‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ relies on some rickety 1940s cultural assumptions. That husbands who beat their wives are the norm and, while not admirable, are not criminals either” (Gates). Gates’s analysis paints a clear picture of how the domestic violence displayed throughout the play can desensitize students by making domestic violence seem acceptable in daily life. In the play there are multiple scenes where physical altercations take place. One instance of domestic abuse is in scene three between Stanley and Stella, where Stella forgives Stanley after he beats her while she is pregnant, and then willing has sex with him after. Stanley forces himself on Stella and acts as her superior, talking down to her as well as physically beating her. The disturbing and misconstrued part of the play is shown when Stella continually accepts Stanley's violent behavior as normal, and as a sexual turn on. The play's use of raunchy domestic violence can influence students to be submissive to abuse and not stand up to their