Blanche DuBois

The past is seen to haunt our everyday life. In theatre especially, ghosts serve to embody haunting memories and burdens of the characters. In craftful plays such as Hamlet by Shakespeare and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, ghosts symbolize an impediment on the development of the protagonists and the permanent presence of our history. Theatrical presentations on the oppressive effect of the past on the present, these plays portray two tragic heroes and their descent into their…

Her character conflicts with the mid-twentieth century gender roles. Blanche, who is Stella’s sister, is from the south. She’s grown up in Belle Reve, her hometown, a place that formed her. She’s opposite of Stanley in every way. She lives in her own virtual world and barely seems to have faced the realities of life. Perhaps…

despite the valuable lessons that can be learned and discussed while and after reading them. An example of one of these controversial books is A Streetcar Named Desire. Written by Tennessee Williams, this American playwright follows the story of Blanche Dubois, a seemingly pure and innocent woman, who temporarily moves in with her sister, Stella Kowalski, and Stella’s husband, Stanley Kowalski. Throughout the play, Stanley abuses his wife Stella suggesting marital rape in their relationship,…

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…

Williams uses light to portray the gritty truth behind the lies of Blanche DuBois. She tries to avoid light at all costs in order to keep her dream of being seen as innocent and pure. While both Williams and Fitzgerald use light symbolically in order to represent the contrast between the dream and the reality, Williams uses…

In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams depicts Blanche DuBois as someone who relies on a phony world of dreaming and imagination in order to find a good distraction from the cruel reality of life, revealing that it is human nature to avoid negativity and conflict in life. Everyone has a shadow, whether people aware it or not, it remains inside the conscious. Robert…

Dear Blanche, It’s been so long! How have you been? I’ve been thinking a lot about you. Sorry I haven’t written to you earlier, but Stanley wouldn’t let me. Things here at the Elysian Fields haven’t been so good. The baby has been more work than I thought it would be and Stanley has been no help. But Stanley Jr. is what I live for. All my dreams are evil dreams except for the dreams I have about my baby. I dream about him becoming a handsome young man, almost too fine to be human, and finding a…

Rationale This written task relates to part 3: literature- text and context, where we studied the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams. The written task is an extra scene added to the end of the play occurring twenty years later and is written in William’s style but with a more modern aspect. This is done to bring to light the transgressions of the antagonist of the play, Stanley Kowalski. The theme of past and present is explored as the characters pasts catch up to them. This…

Studying the motivations of humanity, American Literature analyzes the positive and negative effects of fearing the unknown. Terror and panic brought on by fear are more paralyzing than any other feeling within the human range of emotions. American Authors assess behavioral changes caused by the crippling fear of the unknown, ranging from personality shifts, to reckless behavior, investigating the way fear affects different individuals. Tim O’Brien uses his war book The Things They Carried to…

While Blanche is in the bathroom during scene two, for example, Stanley confronts Stella about the bill of sale for Belle Reve, the Dubois’ family estate. When Stella reveals that there weren’t any papers, Stanley “enlightens” her with the Napoleonic code, “according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband”…