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Williams: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE   Term Paper ID:27906 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Discussion of conflict between Blanche & Stanley, illusion & reality, in Tennessee Williams' A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE.... More...

4 Pages / 900 Words 1 sources, 3 Citations, MLA Format $16.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Discussion of conflict between Blanche & Stanley, illusion & reality, in Tennessee Williams' A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Paper Introduction: In A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, a key conflict in the play is the threat Blanche poses to the domesticity of Stanley and Stella, and from Stanley's point of view this is bound with his belief in reality as contrasted with Blanche's desire to live by illusion. Stanley is a character who is open and direct. From the beginning of the play he is made to seem elemental. The first line of the play is Stanley yelling up at his wife, "Hey, there! Stella, baby!" (p. 13). He tosses her a package of raw meat, emphasizing his brute nature and the sexual relationship always between them. He is rough and crude, but he is also honest and open. He says what he means and challenges anyone to dispute him. Stanley is happy with his domestic life as it is, and Blanche enters and disrupts all that. When Blanche and Stanley first meet, both are uneasy. Stanl Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. In truth there is always a residue of Blanche and her illusions that willbe left behind. ForStanley, though, the act was not rape but the shattering of an illusion andan act of self-defense against an invasion of his home and a challenge tohis sense of manhood and self. When Blanche is leaving, Stanley again cites the illusions bywhich she has tainted his home and makes certain she takes those illusionswith her: You left nothing here but spilt talcum and old empty perfume bottles-- unless it's the paper lantern you want to take with you. Not once did you pull any wool over this boy's eyes! He rejects the illusions brought by Blanche and in fact destroysher to do it. As Blanche stays on, Stanley becomes less and less content with theway she disrupts his domestic arrangements. Work CitedWilliams, T. When Blanche and Stanley first meet, both are uneasy. We see repeatedly in the course of the play Blanche trying to bringStella into her view of the world and failing to see that Stella is sincereand happy in her domestic life. Hetells Blanche that he has known from the start that she was not what shehas said she was: I've been on to you from the start! He offers her adrink and she refuses, stating that she rarely touches it when in fact shedrinks all the time. In A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, a key conflict inthe play is the threat Blanche poses to the domesticity of Stanley andStella, and from Stanley's point of view this is bound with his belief inreality as contrasted with Blanche's desire to live by illusion. Stanley makes a cogent remark here: "Some peoplerarely touch it, but it touches them often" (p. Stanley sees theworld without powder or cover of any kind, and that is the way he prefersit. The major conflict in the play is between Stanley and Blanche, andBlanche is the loser. Stella tries to make this clear afterpoker night: "I said I'm not in anything that I have a desire to get outof" (p. New York: Signet. Blanche believes in her illusion so that she can never admitto herself what her own life has been like. You come in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light-bulb with a paper lantern and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you the Queen of the Nile!Here, Stanley cites different things with which Blanche covers up reality,from a paper cover for the lights to perfume and powder. 13). Stanley's anger at Blanche'spresence is only made worse by his feeling that Blanche has somehow stolenStella's childhood with the loss of their ancestral home and that Blancheis further stealing from both of them--both because of the Napoleonic Codehe keeps citing--by taking all the money from the sale of the home andkeeping it. He is rough and crude, but he is alsohonest and open. Stanleyis a character who is open and direct. (1947). Stella, baby!" (p. A streetcar named desire. He is immediatelyable to see that the illusion and the reality are quite different. Stanley'scrudeness becomes more apparent in social situations of this sort, and heis uneasy before her put-on airs of a grander social position. She may suspect that Stanleyhas actually raped her sister, but she can never admit this to herself orshe will have to leave him. 65). Stanley ultimately reclaims his home and brings it back to the realityhe knows. Stanley exposes Blanche to Mitch and ruins her chances with him, andhe does so to protect his friend from any illusion, from any falsehood. For Stanley, truthis very important, which is why it is ironic that he and Stella remaintogether, in essence living a lie that Stanley did not rape Blanche. He throws his knowledge into her face andshatters this illusion in the only way he knows how, by forcing himselfupon her. From the beginning of the play heis made to seem elemental. This sense ofbeing robbed only makes his basic concern about his life being disruptedall the worse, for any challenge to Stella and her past is a challenge tohis power over the present. Stanley quickly seesthrough the illusion that Blanche has built up around her. He is presented always as an elemental force, andsubtlety is beyond him. The first line of the play is Stanley yellingup at his wife, "Hey, there! 3 ). He throws open her trunk to prove it to Stella, but whileStanley is always a realist, he is not a good judge of value and does notunderstand that Blanche's possessions are cheap imitations. And she, for her part makesthe mistake of criticizing him and of talking to Stella about him in a waythat challenges his place in the household. He tosses her apackage of raw meat, emphasizing his brute nature and the sexualrelationship always between them. Stanley wins, but his victory is tempered by thecaveat just noted, that Stella must accept a lie in order for Stanley tocontinue as before. Yet, blanche has thrown an aura of illusion around his own home, andhe does not like it at all. Stelladoes not hold that over him, but Blanche does. The reality that Stanley thinks he hasreclaimed is a reality now touched with this major illusion which is theonly thing keeping the household together. Stanley, however, can seethrough her and also investigates to learn the truth. Hewill himself now live a lie, though, by denying what he has done andpretending that all has returned to the state before Blanche came to visit. He is reality, and he forces that reality to prevail over herillusions. He istotally different from this woman, and to this degree it reminds him thathe comes from a totally different background from his wife, Stella. He does not accept it in others any more than hetries to use it himself, and he is instead direct and usually honest. He says what he means and challenges anyone to disputehim. Stanley is happy with his domestic life as it is, and Blanche entersand disrupts all that. You want the lantern? He jeopardizes his marriage in this act, and the irony isthat Stella now has to live by an illusion of her own in order to stay withhim, something that was never true before. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.