Theme of Tennessee Williams plays Essay Example for Free

Theme of Tennessee Williams plays EssayA Streetcar Named impulse conforms to the expectation that a major theme of Williams plays is that of human sexuality. Various aspects of human sexuality are explored through the diversity and complexity of the characters. Whilst Stanley Kowalski epitomises masculinity through his primal strength and power, and the increasingly fragile Blanche DuBois attempts to cling to the feminine role of the southern Belle, these are only aspects of their characters. The occurrence that their relationship is one of conflict, is representative of their worldviews. However, to reduce A Streetcar Named Desire to the level of mere battle of the sexes would be to a fault simplistic and does the play an injustice by choosing to ignore its complexities.Superficially, at least, Blanche DuBois conforms to prevailing notions of gender wherein she adopts characteristics that are seen to epitomise femininity. Such traits are conceived as constituting feminine behaviour, and take on characteristics much(prenominal)(prenominal) as passivity, acquiescence and emotionality. Whilst these traits are certainly evident in Blanche DuBois, she is, of course, a far more complex character than such simplification would head start suggest and, thus, cannot be so easily labeled. It would be perhaps more accurate to consider Blanche in light of Judith Butlers suggestion that gender is nearthing that we do (Selden, 116).This concept more accurately encapsulates the sense that Blanche chooses to adopt a role of femininity, effectively playing a part by conforming to a stereotypical role, in this case, that of the Southern Belle. The adoption of this role provides Blanche with a relatively stable sense of identity, or at least an aspect of identity, prerequisite for her own self-preservation. As with Amanda Wingfield, in The Glass Menagerie, Blanche DuBois seems to struggle in a changing world and by adopting an aspect of identity that is associate d with the past, she is able to find at least temporary pouffe.From our soonest encounter with Blanche, we are made quickly aware of her preoccupation with appearance. Initially this focuses on the appearance of Stellas habitation, this horrible place (120), which compares so negatively when contrasted with the ancestral home of Belle Reve. However, Blanches real preoccupation soon travels evident as she chides Stella for failing tosay a word about her appearance (122)You see I still realise that awful vanity about my looks even at present that my looks are slipping (123).The fact that she laughs nervously whilst looking to Stella for reassurance indicates Blanches insecurity. All that has been familiar in Blanches world has changed, and now that age is changing her personal appearance, her insecurities are heightened. However, the dialogue between the sisters evokes a sense of ritual wherein Blanche seeks approbation and Stella responds dutifully (123) suggesting that Blanch es insecurities are deep rooted and moderate the advent of age. As Stella instructs Stanleyadmire her dress and tell her shes looking wonderful. Thats important with Blanche. Her olive-sized weakness (132).This is a constant motif throughout the play and Blanches little weakness reflects the fact that her sense of self-identity needs constant bolstering, especially now that her youth has passed by. It also reinforces the notion of Blanche as adopting a role and the necessity, as with or so(prenominal) act, for an audience, preferably a sympathetic one. For Blanche an audience is necessary to enable her to perpetuate her constructed self-image. Compli handsts and constant reassurance are required to maintain the role she has adopted it is therefore necessary for her audience to constantly appreciate her performance.When considering Blanches behaviour with others, we find that she is most desperate to impress her young-begetting(prenominal) audience, and it is at such times that she feels the need to rely heavily on her female sexuality. Indeed, the persona that she has adopted is aimed at attracting male attention rather than female sympathy. This becomes apparent through a conversation with Stella wherein Blanche describes her banter with Stanley regarding the fate of Belle ReveI feel a bit shaky, but I think I handled it nicely. I laughed and treated itall as a joke, called him a little boy and laughed and flirted Yes I was flirting with your husband Stella (141).Blanche seems unable, or at least un giveing, to disregard this persona when dealing with workforce. Such behaviour has become habitual, a fact that becomes increasingly obvious in her relationship with Mitch. After a date together, and despite the fact that Blanche did not enjoy the evening, she still be energises in a manner in which she believes she is obliged to do. As she explainsI was just obeying the law of natureThe one that says the lady must entertain the gentleman or no dice (17 5).Blanche certainly understands how to use her sexuality, but she is not driven by her sexuality in the sense of passion and desire. Blanche wants her relationship with Mitch to work, not because she wants him per se, but because of what such an outcome would represent. The prospect of such a relationship is viewed as an escape from her present circumstances where she considers herself to be a burden. A successful relationship will give Blanche the opportunity to rest and to breathe quietly again(171). Such choice of language clearly indicates the strain involved in continuing her charade, and goes some way to explain her reliance on alcohol for a temporary sense of escape.Of course, in order to adopt the role of Southern Belle convincingly, illusion becomes a necessary factor. Blanche is content in the illusory world that she creates where she can attempt to regain her passing youth, becoming someone that she feels she should be. Illusion is also necessary in that it offers an esc ape from her sexually promiscuous past, whilst masking the truth of the past from her family and Mitch. However, Blanche seems to accept her past behaviour as inevitable considering the expectations of workforcePeople dont see you manpower dont dont even admit your existence unless they are making love to you. And youve got to have your existence admittedby someone, if youre going to have someones protection (169).The fact that Blanche equates people with men highlights the fact that she feels very much a part of a patriarchal society, where men obviously h obsolescent the power and make the judgments. Ironically, but not unexpectedly, such a society is hypocritical in its view of Blanche as it privately condones, indeed enables, Blanches sexually promiscuous behaviour whilst publicly condemning it. Blanches decisions appear to have been primarily driven by her desire for protection, whilst her upbringing and her position as a woman in a patriarchal society, nurtures a reliance on men.In this case, the expectation is that a man will rescue her. Of course, she experiences only varying degrees of failure in attempting to escape from the situations she finds herself in. Yet, despite this, it is still male approval that Blanche seeks. Blanche retains the hope that by becoming part of the illusion, by emulating old-fashioned values, that she will attract Mitch and therefore the protected life of gentility and kindness that she so longs for.I have suggested that an illusory world is a space for Blanche to relive her passing youth, and we find that in order to do so she uses darkness to reinvent herself as young and innocent. Blanche lies to Mitch about her age, telling him that Stella is somewhat older (150) than herself, when Blanche is in fact at least five years older than Stella. Blanche adorns the naked lightbulbs in the flatbed with Chinese lanterns (150) to deflect the harsh light of truth, as it were, from the possibility of being discovered as older th an she has suggested. We learn from Mitch that Blanche refuses to meet him until after six and hence its always some place thats not lighted much(203).Blanche finds the dark comforting (203), as she prefers to reject realism in search of magic (204). The persona she feels is necessary to attract Mitch is also necessary for her own sake as she allows herself to feel young and unscarred again. Her habit of taking baths is symbolic in this regard. The long baths are attempts to wash up absent the past, whilst they also represent an attempt at some kind of spiritual cleansing wherein Blanche always announces after a bath that she feels like a brand-new human being(135). Yet, the fact that she keeps returning to thebath leads to the conclusion that this illusion does not last very long.Whereas Blanche adopts a sexual persona, Stanley, and to some consummation Stella, are driven by their sexuality. Their relationship is frequently portrayed as primal and animalistic, their baby is pro of of Stanleys virility and Stellas fertility an affirmation of an intensely fervid relationship. This is at odds with the genteel expectations of the Old South, the world that Blanche represents. Of course, Blanche has also strayed from the values expected, however, her sexual relationships are a means to an end, she is not sexually driven and does not experience the sense of passion and desire apparent in Stella who finds it unbearable to be apart from StanleyI can hardly stand it when he is away for a nightWhen hes away for a week I nearly go wild (125).Stella has chosen a life build on a powerful sexual relationship which makes everything else seem unimportant(162). With this belief she deems unimportant the fact that Stanley beats her, she forgives him and to restate the physical bond between the two, they seem to have no need for words, instead they come together with low animal moans(154). Their relationship seems to epitomise life through the regenerative powers of desire and procreation, in contrast to Blanches sexual relationships with men as disempowering and lastly destructive.Stanley plays the role of the Alpha male, evident in his need to dominate. This is apparent from the first poker game where Stanley seeks to dominate the group of both men and women. When he is disobeyed, he reacts violently, the violence escalating as events progress. During the poker game, Blanche defies Stanley by turning on the radio his reaction evokes images of animalistic behaviour as he is set forth as stalkingfiercely through the portieres into the bedroom. He crosses to the small white radio and snatches it off the table. With a shouted oath, he tosses the instrument out of the windowpane (151).When Stella admonishes him for his behaviour he physically attacks her, a forewarning of the treatment that Blanche will ultimately receive from Stanley. There is certainly a sense of inevitability in the final violence that Blanche experiences at the hands of Stanley, as he tells her, weve had this date with each other from the beginning(215). Blanche has been a consistent threat to Stanleys authority, especially in regard to Stella.Stanley is the self-appointed King, (195) evidence of his sense of male dominance, a secure position that has been undermined by Blanche who is seen as adversely influencing Stellas opinion about her husband. Stella appears to have become influenced by Blanches perception of Stanley as uncouth and animalistic, and this becomes apparent in the language she uses to admonish Stanley. He respondsDont ever talk that way to me Pig Polack disgusting mutual greasy Them kind of words have been on your tongue and on your sisters tongue too much around here(194).But Stella is ultimately complicit in Blanches destruction as she chooses Stanley over her sister, despite the fact that she is aware of the violence that Stanley is capable of. Stella chooses to believe Stanley, using illusion just as Blanche has done, because she c ouldnt believe her taradiddle and go on living with Stanley(217).Another aspect of sexuality that plays a significant role, is the sexuality of Blanches young, dead husband. It is clear that Blanche is haunted by the discovery of his homosexualism and the resulting guilt that she feels regarding his suicide. Beyond this however, it is clear that the discovery of her husbands sexuality caused irreparable to Blanches sense of identity. Stella describes Blanches attitude toward AllanI think Blanche didnt just love him but worshipped the base he walked on Adored him and thought him almost too fine to be human (190).It is clear that Blanche was left lost and isolated by Allans death, and she admits that she searched for comfort by sleeping with menintimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart withI think it was panic, just panic, that drove me from one to another, hunting for some protection(205).However, the purely sexual relationship does not offer the kindn ess, comfort and protection that Blanche is so anxious to find. Her pattern of behaviour becomes a vicious cycle as Blanche becomes more and more desperate to exorcise memories of Allan, she adopts increasingly inappropriate ways of behaving thus adding to the memories that she is attempting to exorcise. Although Blanches intimacies with strangers do not provide emotional fulfillment, they do provide the male attention that she craves in order bolster her sense of identity as an attractive woman. It is ironic that Blanche views the old love letters and poems that Allan wrote for her as her most treasured possessionsEveryone has something her wont let others touch because of their intimate nature (139).The poems and the emotional relationship that they represent are far more intimate than the physical relationships Blanche has had with other men. The fact that Blanche has a preference for young men, conforms to her use of illusion where she seeks to recreate, to re-experience, the idealised relationship which she has so desperately longed for. Her inappropriate relationship with a seventeen year old student, the relationships with young soldiers at Belle Reve, and even in New Orleans we gain a fleeting glance of this behaviour with the young man from the Evening lead (172), whom she kisses and reluctantly dismissesRun along now It would be nice to keep you, but Ive got to be good and keep my hands off children (174).Guilt haunts Blanche as does the rapid, feverish polka tune, theVarsouviana (200), which only fades after the final gunshot has been heard. Just as Blanches expression of disgust undo Allan, it is Stanleys disgust at the charade that Blanche has been playing, that ultimately destroys her. The events of scene ten, where Stanley rapes Blanche, are accompanied by the sound of inhuman jungle noises which rise up (215) like cries in a jungle(213). This parallels the primal, animalistic image that has been built of Stanley, and the expectation that he will react violently to anyone that he feels is a threat.It has been said of Williams that his plays seek to capture the truth of human experience(Bigsby, 36). Indeed, A Streetcar Named Desire conforms to this view in as much as the characters are far more than stereotypes but rather complex characters that are influenced by, driven by and destroyed by aspects of human sexuality.BIBLIOGRAPHYWilliams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire, in A Streetcar Named Desire and Other Plays, ed. E.Martin Browne, St. Ives, 1987.Bigsby, C W E. Modern American Drama 1945-1990, Cambridge, 1992.Selden, R. modern-day Literary Theory, Prentice Hall, 1997.