Masculine Bravado in Death of a Salesman and A Streetcar Named Desire

Men used to take major initiative in most households during the early 20th century therefore, making wives, female siblings, or basically women in general highly dependent for a man’s authority. The theme of dependency for men continuously occurs throughout A Streetcar Named Desire and most noticeably when Blanche DuBois claims how Stella and her needs a man like Stanley Kowalski who can take command in terms of bravery and fearlessness. Literary features such as foreshadow, indirect characterization and metaphor creates the theme of dependency for men that Blanche significantly shows. She suggests through the use of metaphor that although Stanley is “just not the type that goes for jasmine perfume” by claiming Stanley’s unsophisticated traits such as the ignorance to appreciate poetry or scents like a “jasmine perfume” doesn’t cope with the DuBois’ traditional act of being refined and courtly which is currently what the DuBois family desperately need in their family in order to “survive”

In A Streetcar Named Desire, the theme of violence is very frequent in the character Stanley Kowalski. Stanley is a married, young man, who comes across to the reader as quite an enraged person with animalistic attributes. A prime insinuation of Stanley’s difference to regular humans is when Stella DuBois (Stanley’s wife) explains to her sister that Stanley is of “a different species”, foreshadowing that Williams may be warning the reader that Stanley is capable of things that are not in

Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire portrays a dog-eat-dog world, in which the winner takes it all: a person not just watches out closely for his/her own interest but also preys on the weak. This portrayal is mostly embodied in the confrontation between Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski, the two major characters in the play. The confrontation partly arises from difference in class, Blanche from high society while Stanley from low one. But most noteworthy is that the element that contributes the most to this confrontation is their desires for sex, money, revenge, and even survival of life. Over time, the tension between Blanche and Stanley grows to a climax and eventually goes down with Blanche, the weak, losing the battle while Stanley, the strong, standing out as the victor and taking away Blanche’s soul and body. Given this, in this dog-eat-dog showdown there exists ambiguous moments: Is the physical contact between Blanche and Stanley a rape, a date, or a rape-date? A look into this issue is in order.

A Streetcar Named Desire is a socially challenging play in light of the way in which Tennessee Williams depicts the capacity of human nature for brutality and deceit.  He takes the viewpoint that, no matter how structured or 'civilized' society is, all people will rely on their natural animal instincts, such as dominance and deception, to get themselves out of trouble at some stage in life.  William's has created three main characters, Blanche Dubois, Stella Kowalski and Stanley Kowalski. Each of these characters is equally as civilized as the next, yet all are guilty of acts of savagery on different levels.  Throughout the play Williams symbolically relates these three characters to animals, 'savages,' through the disclosure of

Many different depictions of gender roles exist in all times throughout the history of American culture and society. Some are well received and some are not. When pitted against each other for all intents and purposes of opposition, the portrayal of the aspects and common traits of masculinity and femininity are separated in a normal manner. However, when one gender expects the other to do its part and they are not satisfied with the results and demand more, things can shift from normal to extreme fairly quickly. This demand is more commonly attributed by the men within literary works. Examples of this can be seen in Tennessee Williams' “A Streetcar Named Desire”, where Stella is constantly being pushed around and being abused by her

is true in the extreme for Stanley, he does what he wishes and disregards the consequences. It is not a motto he actually employs towards the remaining characters; thinking only of himself, he does not care if anyone else is "comfortable" or not. Through dialogue such as this, Williams asserts to the reader/audience the fact that Stanley inherently fails to take into account the repercussions his own requirements and desires have on others. He is in total control and the only person endowed with power; therefore the only person he takes into consideration - and the only person his wife is allowed to take

What makes a man, a “man”? Is it how much money he makes? The car he drives? The life he lives? Or, the amount of “Masculinity” that he shows? These are some of the stereotypical question that becomes the ideas of what men should have or strive to achieve. In Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Disney/Pixar by Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden, they bring forth the ideas/thought of what the characteristic of men should be, by the overly influential control Disney and Pixar have on us and our future generation. Similar to what Matthew Immergut, in his article Manscaping: The Tangle of Nature, Culture and the Male Body, they both share ideas on the thought of man. The argument addressed in the question is either the way we view masculinity should be changed or not to determine us as men. In which the answer is, yes it should. Male or man, is a gender identity which show/ categorize, us separate from our female counterpart, Female or woman. But then are criticized on their place a “males” by getting in situation the emasculate them. Just because men independent or allowing for help, either overly sensitive or possess a lack of emotion, or whether or not “he” shaves his body or not should deter what the worlds thought on his masculinity

Miller amalgamates the archetypal tragic hero with the mundane American citizen. The result is the anti-hero, Willy Loman. He is a simple salesman who constantly aspires to become 'great'. Nevertheless, Willy has a waning career as a salesman and is an aging man who considers himself to be a failure but is incapable of consciously admitting it. As a result, the drama of the play lies not so much in

What does it mean to be a man? How does one qualify for the title? Is the term "man" simply referring to male human beings, or does it hold a greater measure of meaning in society. In order to get more insight into this subject matter, I consulted, " The Tormont Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary". As I anticipated, the first definition for man stated as following: "An adult human being as distinguished from a female". This definition, did not surprise me, but what did ,was what followed it , it stated: A male human being endowed with such qualities as courage, strength, and fortitude, considered characteristic of manhood". To be a man in our society one must posses such qualities, along with honor, reliability and endurance. This

Tall, dark, and handsome has long been the standard of a desirable man. There is undoubtedly something about a “man’s man” that is intriguing and beguiling. However, there must be a point where too much masculinity becomes a problem. As society continues to praise men with the biggest muscles, the nicest cars, and the most women, it is becoming increasingly hard to draw the line between healthy masculinity and toxic masculinity. In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, toxic ideas about what it means to be masculine ultimately ruins several characters, but most overtly Stanley, Stella, and Blanche, showing that toxic masculinity is a threat to everyone’s well-being, both male and

Stanley Kowalski created gender roles to maintain control of Stella Kowalski and will allow nothing to get in the way of feeling superior. Stanley “wants to live as lord of his domain, in sexual union with his wife. He wants nothing to interfere with his dominion (Welsh 27).” When Stanley’s status is threatened, the frustration

In ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Stanley Kowalski is portrayed as a very stereotypical and animalistic man; he feels the need for dominance and is very condescending towards not only the women in the first three scenes, but those who he considers friends too. He is a common working man and his intentions with women are always sexual and demeaning.

The play Death of a Salesman greatly portrays a specific ideology in regards to values, dreams, goals, and success in our consumer-driven society. It helps showcase the American dream that society tends to strive for even in the early 1900’s (the play is set in the 1940’s). That dream of being a successful business person or vendor. As well as the theory that image and physical attributes are most important to gaining fruition. Willy Loman plays a man in his sixties who has strived for this American dream for over 30 years but realistically has failed miserably on his goal in life – a wealthy salesman like his idol Dave Singleman (a fellow who could make a fortune selling without even leaving his hotel room). He spends his entire life in

Throughout history empowerment and marginalization has primarily been based on gender. In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, this idea of empowerment is strongly flaunted. Tennessee Williams’ characters, primarily Stanley, Blanche, Mitch, and Stella, conform the expected roles of men and women at the time. Although World War Two temporarily allowed women a place in the work force, they were dismissed from such empowerment when the war came to a close. Characters in A Streetcar Named Desire are accurate representations of the social historical context of that time. The power struggle between Stanley and Blanche conveys dominant ideas about gender such as the primitive nature, aggression, and

In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, the representation of male and female characters are based on gender stereotypes, which represent a patriarchal society. The way in which Tennessee Williams portrays the main characters: Blanche, Stanley and Stella, by using gender stereotypes demonstrates the patriarchal society`s value, norms and beliefs of the 1940s.