Themes: ‘Atonement’ And ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ This essay will compare the themes of Tennessee Williams’ ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ (ASND) and Ian McEwan’s ‘Atonement’. The two stories are different in several ways as they have different backdrops and are set in different time frames but manage to attain similar themes. In ‘ASND’, Blanche enters the play already lying. She mentions how she has come to visit due to the loss of Belle Rive and her leave of absence from work, when in actual fact, Blanche was fired for having an affair with a 17 year old student. She also constantly lies about her age and relations.
The theme of loss is important in understanding the motivations of Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire. The choices Blanche makes when dealing with the loss of her job, Belle Reve, her young husband, her youth and her power shape her character and eventually lead to her into self-ruin. When Blanche arrives in New Orleans, she is immediately forced to confront her loss. Although overjoyed to see her sister, Stella questions Blanche as to what brought her all the way to New Orleans in the middle of the school year? Blanche is a high school teacher in Laurel, where Stella and Blanche once lived together at their family estate, Belle Reve.
The first aspect about Stanley that we can see is his posture with Stella. At the begining of the play he throws her a package of meat saying “catch!”. He is somehow treating his wife like a dog, telling her to cathc that. He does not like women taking part in waht he considers men’s activities, for example, poker. He does not give any money to Stelle, and even hits her.
A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche DuBois is a very diverse character in the play A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams. She is a tragic and dynamic character throughout the play. Blanche does not know exactly how to handle losing everything she has lost and seems to be confused about life in general now. The way she lives after arriving at Stanley and Stella’s seems like she has turned away from reality and lives in her own fantasy world, or a world where she lives by how things should be instead of how things truly are. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois, feels she is better than others, constantly changes, and often escapes from reality.
Her unhealthy self-love can be seen in her relationships in which she uses sex to control men and always appears to have a hand on them, especially turning to sex when the man gains any sort of will or power to insult or leave her. Because of this narcissism she is extremely self-centered, trusting no one and even attacking her family when they disrupt her perfection. Her damaging and corrosive psyche was likely caused by the pressures of the movie industry in which she claims to have worked her up form nothing. The pressures of competition and treachery have caused her to from extremely egotistical defense mechanisms that prevent her from normal interaction with other people, even her own children. As for her insecurities and ensnaring of men for her own benefit it is possible that she may have had an abusive father or a domineering mother who was likely divorced, abandoned, or abused, obsessing her with the need to have power over men either as compensation for her powerless childhood or as a result of her mother’s teachings and distrust of men.
In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois is a southern belle who was formerly a part of the upper class. Once she loses everything she has – from wealth to her sanity – Blanche sees it best to stay with her sister and sister’s husband, Stella and Stanley. Blanche’s main motive is to persuade Stella to return to the lifestyle they had back in Mississippi, while she also attempts to prevent her own past from being exposed. To share false information with a second party is a way of convincing one’s self of fraudulent information. One of Blanche’s first signs of fabrication comes into play at the start of Act II Scene I.
To What Extent Does Tennessee Williams’ Symbolic Use of Light Play a Part in His Tragic Representation of Blanche DuBois in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’? A Streetcar Named Desire centres on a desolated woman named Blanche DuBois; reared in Old South aristocratic traditions, she lived elegantly in her family homestead, married a man she adored, and pursued a career as an English teacher. Her life was tragically and dramatically ripped apart when she discovered that her husband, Allen Grey, was having a homosexual affair; disgraced, he killed himself and Blanche’s life crumbled down around her along with the walls of her beloved Belle Rive. Williams uses intricate, clever and powerful imagery and symbolism throughout the play in order to build up a sense of poignancy and tragic drama. These help to build up a very convoluted and elaborate character within Blanche with whom the audience can emphasise with and get a clearer understanding of.
A Streetcar Named Desire Critical Essay ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ written by Tennessee Williams is a play which the dramatist explores the conflict between reality and illusion. Blanche DuBois, a character who represents illusion and fantasy, goes to stay with her sister, Stella, and her husband Stanley, who represents brutal reality. From the start, Williams portrays the conflict between Blanche and Stanley and uses various techniques, such as costume, characterisation and symbolism, to convey their ongoing battle. Blanch lies as her desire to be loved and protected from her traumatic past is overpowering, and, in the end, she is defeated by the harsh reality that is Stanley. This resolution is satisfying as it shows that desire is destructive, and that merciless reality wins over illusion every time.
They become obsessed, maybe even sexually attracted but they have a deep fear of this man. When the narrator brings up Pocha she describes her in a way as a dirty human being. If she could, she would refer to her as something degrading than a human, “I hope he doesn’t do any of those repulsive things to her before killing her because she might like it, the dirty thing. I hope he kills her straightaway by plunging a knife in her belly” (Venezuela, p. 187). The girls welcome violence to her and prove their own self
There may seem to be many motivations for villains throughout the times but as we study these scoundrels we find that generally they are motivated by pure jealousy, or a need of superiority. They utilize manipulation, both physically and mentally in order to achieve their goals and show a lack of remorse. Stephan King’s “Misery”, provides us with a very graphical depiction in Annie Wilkes a sadistic, mentally unstable retired nurse, who has a desire for power and control. Annie goes to tortuous extremes on her captive Paul Sheldon to realize this. Iago from Shakespeare’s play Othello is also a power hungry villain who enjoys having people under his control, he is driven by extreme jealousy and the motivation, revenge.