Belle Reve

their name. However, in actuality, second chances and rags-to-riches stories are a rare find. Reputations are difficult to escape, and temptations can cause old mistakes to reemerge. After Ms. Blanche DuBois journeys her pilgrimage from the lost Belle Reve plantation to the raffish Quarter in New Orleans, she endeavors to start fresh in a place away from home. Through Blanche 's many failed attempts to wash away her soiled past, Tennessee Williams suggests that a person can never have a…

teacher, Blanche Dubois, who moved in with her sister and husband, Stella and Stanley. Blanche Dubois has been through many difficulties in order to fulfill the emptiness that is within her. Her young husband, Allen Gray committed suicide, she lost Belle Reve, and she lost her stature in Laurel. The driving force behind these actions were the empowerment of her desires. Williams uses allusions to develop the theme of desire as seen in Blanche and those allusions are Arabian Nights, My…

terms rather than his own, suggesting Blanche’s power over him in this passage. Blanche’s responses here are similarly indicative of her victory in the situation of the Napoleonic Code -- she refers to the legal papers pertaining to the “loss” of Belle Reve as “some papers [...] somewhere,” clearly expressing a dismissal of Stanley’s financial…

Within the last hundred years, American women were given the right to vote. It was understood that a woman was more than the property of the male authorities in her life. She had just as much right to have her voice heard. Moreover, women now have the opportunity to make a living for themselves; they do not have to be dependent on men for survival. Society began to realize that women were capable of being more than a homemaker; that the idea of a woman wanting more from life than just being a…

In the beginning of the play she pulls of her persona as having it all. She got on break from her job early because she needed to calm her nerves from losing Belle Reve. When she later moves in with her sister she decides to put up chinese paper lanterns to cover the light bulbs. The chinese lanterns symbolize her illusion of magic covering the harsh lights of reality. “Blanche has disguise a failed life by decorating…

In what ways is the reader challenged or alienated by the ideas in the works studied? Refer to the two literary works you have studied. Literary works have often come under criticism from audiences and critics alike as they often challenge commonly held societal beliefs that support the perception of how a ‘proper’ society should function. A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen in 1879 and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams in 1947 are two examples of two such literary works written by…

“A Streetcar Named Desire” has many interesting themes, relationships, and situations laid out in the play. The play takes place in the 1940’s in New Orleans with the main character being Blanche DuBois, an ex-elite, high class teacher who lost just about everything she had, save for her sister whose name is Stella Kowalski. Stella lives in a poorer part of New Orleans but does not seem to mind. So already we can see that Blanche and Stella come from the high class socialites but chose to go…

had committed suicide, and she is justifying to herself that he died and it was not her fault. These events are similar because both are dealing with people they love. Blanche’s “beacon of hope” is in her mind, she believes that running away from Belle Reve will find her love. Gatsby believes that living so close to Daisy will re unite him with her and they will fall in love. They have up rooted themselves and moved for love. After the war Gatsby is a very poor man and he begins to work…

Like a Moth to the Flame Throughout history, there have been double standards in gender roles that expect women to appear in idealized fashions; foot binding in the song dynasty, Spartan expectations of women’s motherhood, and even in modern day as manifested in social-media driven expectations for women’s looks and behaviors. These patriarchal societal pressures force upon women the notions of an idealized woman and are often unattainable, to the point that women struggle and suffer trying to…

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…