1.
In the play "A Streetcar Named Desire", written by Tennessee Williams, the protagonist Blanche DuBois comes to New Orleans to visit her sister Stella, who is married to the Pole Stanley Kowalski. Blanche´s life has collapsed after the suicide of her husband Allan and the loss of the family estate Belle Reve. Blanche is not able to have a sexual relationship anymore and cannot understand the sexual connection between Stella and Stanley. She begins a romance with Mitch, one of Stanley´s friends, but only with the aim of marrying him. But when he gets to know that she had affairs with strangers and with one of her students in the past, he is not willing to marry her anymore. At the end of the play, Blanche is raped by Stanley which leads to Blanche´s final psychic collapse.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Character´s Attitudes towards Sexuality
2.1 The Role of Sexuality in Blanche´s life
2.1.1 The Traumatic Experience of Allan´s suicide
2.1.2 Blanche´s romance with Mitch
2.1.3 Blanche´s duality
2.1.4 The Rape
2.2 The Relationship between Stanley and Stella
3. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This paper examines the central role of sexuality within Tennessee Williams' play "A Streetcar Named Desire," focusing on how sexual trauma and conflicting attitudes toward desire contribute to the psychological collapse of the protagonist, Blanche DuBois.
- The impact of past traumatic experiences on Blanche's sexual identity.
- The contrast between Blanche's repressed nature and Stanley's animalistic approach to sex.
- The function of sexuality as a destructive force in interpersonal relationships.
- The duality of Blanche's public persona versus her private actions.
- The influence of societal expectations and personal history on the characters' motivations.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1.1 The Traumatic Experience of Allan´s suicide
Blanche makes the discovery of love at the age of 16. She falls in love with a boy called Allan Grey, with whom she runs away and gets married. He is described as good looking and talented because he writes poetry. She explains that love came to her “at once and much, much too completely. It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow” (p. 2375).
Stella, Blanche´s sister, explains that Blanche "didn’t just love him but worshipped the ground he walked on! Adored him and thought him almost too fine to be human!" (p. 2379). But Blanche notices that there is something different about him: she describes a "nervousness, a softness and tenderness which wasn´t like a man´s" (p. 2375).
Then one evening Blanche finds out about Allan´s secret by entering a room which she assumed to be empty. The room wasn´t empty "but had two people in it... the boy I married and an older man who had been his friend for years..." (p. 2375). Blanche cannot accept Allan´s homosexuality and so, later that evening, after preventing that nothing has happened, Blanche tells her husband that she is disgusted by him, which leads to the directly suicide of Allan.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the main characters and sets the premise that the play explores the destructive role of sexuality in the life of Blanche DuBois.
2. The Character´s Attitudes towards Sexuality: This section analyzes how different characters, primarily Blanche, Stella, and Stanley, perceive and interact with sexuality throughout the narrative.
2.1 The Role of Sexuality in Blanche´s life: This chapter details how Blanche's traumatic past prevents her from forming healthy adult relationships.
2.1.1 The Traumatic Experience of Allan´s suicide: This section examines the specific psychological impact of Blanche's husband's suicide on her future behavior and perceptions of love.
2.1.2 Blanche´s romance with Mitch: This chapter explores Blanche's desperate attempt to secure her future by marrying Mitch while hiding her past.
2.1.3 Blanche´s duality: This chapter highlights the conflict between Blanche's performance of innocence and her actual flirtatious behavior.
2.1.4 The Rape: This section discusses the pivotal moment of sexual violence and how it strips Blanche of her remaining dreams.
2.2 The Relationship between Stanley and Stella: This chapter contrasts Blanche's experiences with the primal, lust-driven relationship between Stanley and Stella.
3. Conclusion: The final section synthesizes the argument that sexuality acts as a tragic catalyst leading to Blanche's eventual psychological collapse.
Keywords
A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams, Blanche DuBois, sexuality, trauma, Allan Grey, Stanley Kowalski, Stella, psychological collapse, desire, rape, duality, relationships, guilt, marriage
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
This paper explores the role and influence of sexuality as a central, often destructive force in Tennessee Williams' play "A Streetcar Named Desire."
What are the core thematic fields addressed?
The work investigates sexual trauma, the duality of personality, the dynamics of desire and lust, and the catastrophic impact of these elements on the protagonist.
What is the central research question?
The paper seeks to understand how the protagonist's past sexual traumas and conflicting attitudes toward intimacy lead to her ultimate psychological breakdown.
Which methodology is applied in this analysis?
The author uses a literary analysis approach, drawing upon text-based evidence and character observations from the play to support the thesis.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body examines Blanche's internal conflicts, the impact of her husband's suicide, her failed relationship with Mitch, and her interactions with Stanley and Stella.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include sexuality, psychological collapse, trauma, Blanche DuBois, Stanley Kowalski, and "A Streetcar Named Desire."
How does the author interpret Blanche's attraction to young men?
The author argues that these attractions are a direct consequence of the unresolved trauma and guilt surrounding her husband Allan's death.
What role does the "Varsouviana" music play in the analysis?
The music is identified as the leitmotif of the play, signifying the omnipresence of Blanche's guilt and the memory of her husband's suicide.
How does the author characterize the difference between Stanley and Blanche's view on sex?
Blanche is described as viewing desire as an "inferior animalistic feeling," whereas Stanley is portrayed as a character who lives exclusively by the principle of lust.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Kira Wieler (Autor:in), 2009, The Role Of Sexuality in Tennessee Williams´ "A Streetcar Named Desire", München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/187301
