Compare and contrast the ways in which Duffy and Williams present relationships relationships between men and women in ‘The World’s Wife’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ The relationships that occur between men and women in ‘The World’s Wife’ and a ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ have both similarities and differences in such that some of the women presented are subjected to subservient positions and some overcome these demeaning roles whereas others continue to be shown as staying in the portrayal of the inferior women. The men, on the other hand, are mostly presented as using their sexuality to attract women, or use them. Many relationships are founded on sex and little romantic feelings are involved. Relationships in both ‘The World’s Wife …show more content…
In ‘Thetis’, Duffy shows how women in relationships often change themselves in order to please themselves or their man. Thetis changes to ‘a suitable shape’ in which she is a ‘size 8’. The word ‘suitable’ may suggest that she is changing to a shape in which suits her and is right for her. However, it possibly indicates that women change the way they look to attract men. Indeed a ‘size 8’ which is a smaller size is deemed to be more attractive and so in a relationship this might suggest the women must have a ‘suitable’ body so she can still engage the man’s attention with her body. In ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Williams shows Blanche as acting different for different men. Her relationship with Mitch shows her as being an innocent lady as she tells him to ‘unhand’ her but she ‘rolls her eyes’ at his expense, in secret. This shows a rather deceiving nature as it shows, possibly, that women must be shy and lady-like in order to gain the security that is needed from men like Mitch. In contrast, Blanche’s relationship with Stanley is filled with sexual frustration. Indeed, from the first instance that she meets Stanley she ‘draw{s] involuntarily from his stare’. This could suggest her fear of him and his evident domineering presence in the room. However, her nervousness might also imply that she is attracted to him and she cannot control her desire which makes her apprehensive and unsure as to how to approach him. In addition, Stanley mocks Blanche for the extensive use of his bathroom for ‘soaking in a hot tub’. this could show that she does this so often he knows exactly what to say. Williams might also be reflecting on how the bathroom is Stanley’s bathroom and thus Stanley’s sense of possession is challenged by Blanche in such that she uses his bathroom, she drinks his alcohol and she flirts with him but will never be his and so this angers Stanley to the point of complete
Comparing the play versus, the movie versions of A Streetcar Named Desire has been entertaining and enlightening. Originally written as a play, Tennessee Williams later adapted it into a screenplay for the film version. Consequently, both versions were extremely popular in their own right. Drama and social taboos create an emotionally charged viewing adventure. Williams characters are complex, exciting and just crazy enough to keep the audience spellbound. The DuBois sisters are complete opposites sharing only their love for each other as common ground. Blanche, the older sister, shows up for an impromptu visit with her sister Stella Kowalski. Stella and her husband Stanley live in New Orleans, in the French Quarter. Blanche has become destitute and has lost the family plantation. Stanley, incensed by the idea that Blanche has taken the plantation from him, sets out to destroy her by any and all means. The characters and performers provide a riveting and consequently soulful performance that is hauntingly unforgettable. Williams writing moves the audience to tears with dynamic characters, conflict and catastrophe of unimaginable depth.
Tennessee Williams is one of the greatest American playwrights. He was constantly shocking audiences with themes such as homosexuality, drug addictions, and rape. He broke free from taboos on such subjects, paving the way for future playwrights. He also was a very good writer. One of the things he is famous for is his dialogue, which is very poetic.
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”
Based on Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire, Elia Kazan creates an award winning movie that helps readers visualize Stanley’s primal masculinity, the inner torments of the Kowalski women and the clash of the other characters’ problems which create a chaotic mess. Using stage directions in the play, William hints that Blanche is not who she appears to be while the movie subtly sheds light on Blanche’s strange little habits that suggests a bigger issue. The movie also censors many of the main themes in Williams’ play but makes up for it by having its actors flawlessly portray the characters’ emotions, allowing the readers to see the
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
Social upheaval in many senses was explicit through the beginning of the twentieth century; two world wars had - for a short time - shifted the balance of power between men and women. Women were increasingly employed to fill positions which had previously been considered masculine. This was not to last however, and by the fifties men had reassumed their more dominant role in society. People were finding new voices at this time by taking pre-existing forms and pushing the boundaries to re-voice established literary forms. Tennessee Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire around the time this reversal was occurring in American society. Williams was a homosexual from the deep south of America, and his play is about physical, emotional
Throughout Tennessee Williams’s play, “A Streetcar Named Desire” one can learn a large portion about his personal life. In the play the character, Blanche has a mental illness the same as his sister Rose had in her lifetime. Blanche’s ex-husband was also homosexual and he made the point to say that he left her for a man and Williams himself was also a homosexual. Tennessee chose for the story to be based in New Orleans, which was a crumbling town at the time and Williams was living a crumbling life, due to he was battling depression. In his plays a reader can see that he has different views than most men of his time, he developed many of these views due to his travels throughout his life. ““Streetcar” tackled themes of desperation, sexual
In the opening two scenes of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams, the audience has its first and generally most important impressions formulated on characters, the plot and the mood and tone of the play overall.
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
While Blanche represents hope of women being able to be free and outspoken, however she also represents the idea that women are very dependent on men for everything. The idea of representing Blanche to be both proper and improper with the society’s rules and regulations is because Williams may have wanted to prove the idea that despite being independent, women will still somehow be dependent on men. Stella represents the submissive nature of women during that time period and is conveyed to be a submissive character, as Williams wanted her to represent what society thinks of women that time. Williams ultimately represents these women in this way in order to infer to the message of shattered dreams, which A Streetcar Named Desire also
Desire is prominent in Stella and Stanley’s relationship; Stella is drawn to Stanley because he has a strong male sexuality and he is drawn to her because of her traditional feminine sexuality. Stanley abuses Stella, and when Blanche finds out she is perplexed. Stella explains that, “there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark—that sort of make everything else seem—unimportant.”(1.4). Stella and Stanley stay together because they use sex to smooth out their disputes. Stanley views sex as an important aspect in marriage (Panda ). He views women as sexual objects; Williams gives an insight on Stanley, he says, “[Stanley] sizes women up at a glance, with sexual classifications, crude images flashing through his mind”(1.1). Stanley ends up raping Blanche at the end of the play; thus causing Blanche to lose her sanity. Although Blanche’s husband is only mentioned a few times in the play, the audience is able to see that his own sexual desire leads to his
Overall, both Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire and Miller’s All My Sons inform their audiences about various social issues with similar and different devices in order to achieve their purpose. Both plays utilize outer dialogue in order to present the issues with the American Dream in Miller’s work and mental health with Williams. However, they also use different devices such as motifs or mood to raise other problems in society such as spousal abuse and social
In his plays, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams uses different ways to show in the play of social realism. It show each of individual character and focusing on how particular way of viewpoint contrast with men, and the perspective of looking at women. The play explores struggle of two character Stanley and Blanche, between appearances and reality which made the play’s plot more affected reality. Throughout this play, it show the symbolize of the gender roles and the power of men over women in the 1940’s in New Orleans.
The play A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, is a play about a woman named Blanche Dubois who goes to live with her sister after she loses her home in Mississippi. Between the hardships of her previous life and the way she is treated now, she is not in a good way by the time the play ends. She basically has a mental breakdown. There are three stages of Blanche’s mental state. She lives in a fantasy, Mitch rejecting her, and Stanley raping her, Blanche is mentally unstable by the end of this ply.
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.