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a street car named desire - Coggle Diagram
a street car named desire
character evaluation
Blanche
:silhouette:
has affairs with men, but young men in particular
she feels guilt for causing her husband's suicide and (in the 40s) his sexual orientation.
feels un-feminine
feels like she failed her husband
calls her late husband a "boy"
When she is with the young men, she feels connected to her husband, and has the chance to correct her mistakes
has nothing
no husband - he commit suicide, partly her fault
no money - fired from her teaching job
no home - she lost belle reve
her remaining family consists only of Stella, and now, Stanley
the fact that her younger sister is married and has a baby makes Blanche jealous and feel even more like a failure. Also accentuates her age.
this might make her extra-eager to get rid of Stanley, she resents him because he represents what she couldn't have.
loosing touch with mental stability
takes anxiety baths
Coping Mechanism
she leaves reality and ignores her troubled past, she drinks and believes in an imaginary millionaire and that he will come and save her.
Tends to withdraw from reality creating an illusion in her life
Evidence
"I don't want realism.I want magic" Rather than facing reality she tend to retreat and go to her fantacy world. This is her way of coping with the tragic events that took place in her life.
Denia
l is one of the coping mechanisms Blanche uses to help her deal with the stress that she’s experiencing. She fabricated lies or scenarios inside her head that she eventually perceive as true. This became apparent when she told Mitch that “Never inside, I didn’t lie in my heart,” (pg.147)
Intimacy with strangers in response to fill emptiness being felt
Her past experiences motivated the illusions and false notions she created for herself.
Hearing hallucination (Polka tune and gunshot)-past events in her life such as the night of the death of her husband continued to hunt her.
Evidence
- "That music again. The Polka tune they were playing when Allan." - "There now, that shot! it always stops after that." The sound of the gunshot continue to repeat over her head causing her anxieties.
she is coping as best she can. She can't not be herself
supposed to be interesting
At the beginning of the play in scene one, Blanche told her sister that the reason she was able to get away from school is that she's simply taking a "leave of absence"(pg.14.) but later on in the play we discovered that she was fired because of a relationship with seventeen years old. Aside from deluding herself from the idea that everything is okay, she was doing this to keep her appearance
Blanche refused to adapt to her new surroundings as she had difficulties grasping reality. She tried to continue living her life under fantasy and withdrawal from the reality of what her life had become. She tried to maintain the idea that her life is still as it was and if she believes in it the others will do the same thing this is evident when she was singing the lyrics from the paper moon which is “But it wouldn't be make-believe If you believe in me.”(pg.120) this created contrast within Stanley's statements about her true self/being.
Past and Present experience
Blanche came from a high-class status. She is accustomed to the delicate etiquette of the high class where she represents herself as graceful and fragile but as time progressed she lost her status and Belle Reve due to the death of their family members. Blanche was traumatized by the death of all the members of her family this was shown when she said “I took the blows in my face and my body. All of those deaths.”(pg.21) she was there with them at their last gasp of breath impacting her psychologically.
Blanche identified herself to be in love with Allan at a very young age but later on, discovered that he is having an affair with an older man. This discovery made Blanche blame herself as she was not able to help him open up about his gender crisis this was presented when she said that “I knew was I’d failed him in some mysterious way and wasn’t able to give the help.”(pg.114) she also blames herself for not being able to fulfill her duties as a wife.
The death of Allan brought darkness and sadness in Blanche's life. The traumatic event continued to hunt her even if the years had gone by due to this she started taking refuge from strangers where she would have an intimate interaction with them as a way of seeking comfort.
When Blanche found her husband in bed with an older man her views towards him changed. She referred to him as “disgusting” (pg.115), this later led to her husband committing suicide. This traumatic event marks the beginning of her dream life’s annihilation.
Connection to other Character
Stella
: she is always there to defend Blanche against the accusations Staley was making against her sister. As much as she can she tends to protect her from the cruelty of there surroundings
Stanley
: In the beginning of the play Stanley made it clear to Blanche that she doesn't like and respect her this was shown when he decided to take of his clothes infront of Blanche. There is a contrast between Stanley and Blanche character as he is more into cruel reality while Blanche continue to live with her make believe life. He tried to prove to Stella that everything Blanche says is a lie.
goals
Blanche's goal is to find someone to be both physically and emotionally dependant on. She's looking for support, especially as she ages .
looking through the new historicism lens, the social norms at the time would dictate that women should be married by the time they are thirty. Putting pressure on Blanche to achieve this goal given to her by society.
her inner most desire it to be taken care of.
Key moments that happened to Blanche
1. The death of Allan impacted how she perceives herself and her life
The loss of Belle Reve and her job disabled her to live the luxurious life she once had. 3. She met Mitch the only man that she felt a connection with more than any stranger.But she was later on rejected by him because he identified her as not being "clean enough" (pg.150)
symbolism
through a marxist lens at the start, Blanche would symbolise the out-of-touch upper class. She is dressed in all white and differs to the grey colour of the houses and is appalled by Stella's one bedroom apartment.
Blanche could be symbolic of the Williams's lobotomised sister. Tennessee Williams had who was diagnosed schizophrenic, she was then given a lobotomy and became catatonic, this is similar to Blanche's eventual break when she is raped by Stanley and falls into her delusion fully.
in the archetypal lens Blanche is a stereo typical Southern Belle. It is an integral part of her persona, she is well spoken and traditional and dresses very formally in expensive fabrics
She could represent the link between desire and death. Throughout the play she speaks to her desire of the young man who she married, but he died and she cannot let that go. Therefore she might also symbolise the negative affects of letting desire be your motivation.
through the gender lens, Blanche is symbolic of all housewives. She is very traditional and believes in gender roles: she expects men to be "gentlemen" and women to be "ladies"
Change throughout text
Key moments
Stanley raping blanche
This is the nail in a coffin for her, as Stanley destroys the remainder of her mental esteem.
when she opens up to Mtch in scene 9 and Mitch says that she is "not clean enogh"
the creation of Shep Huntleigh
Stella's pregnancy
She oscillates between sane and illusion
Essential questions regarding the human condition
according to Carl Jung, characters have a persona they put on to appease others. Does this persona also apply to ourselves? Blanche's persona is very innocent, traditional and elegant. She prefers things old fashioned and speaks very formally. She does this to please those around her, but could she also be trying to use her persona to hide her dark past?
conflict
inner
Blanche feels guilt for criticising her husband over his sexuality
In her eyes she sees her worth withering away as she ages. She seems She seems to not see values in herself as an individual but only as a wife/ man pleaser
outer
Her disapproval of Stanley and Stanley's dislike of her
Stanley views Blanche as a division between himself and Stella. Blanche disrupts their sexual lives too, which to the primal basis of Stella and Stanley's marrige.
Stanley
masks his class with his masculinity
believes he is good enough for a higher class lady because of his better looks.
hyper masculine
peacocking
puffs up his muscles
changes in front of Blanche
justifies his actions by saying he is the "unrefined type"
untrustworthy!!!
he has no better a grasp on reality than Blanche
hear's gossip at the bar and believes it
gaslights Stella and Blanche
believes Blanche is a hoe
He is a war veteran and was a high ranking man with his military experiences, with that background he is a man that demands that amount of authority he had in the military in his civilian life. Causing him to be physically and mentally abusive towards Stella like “he advances and disappears. There's a sound of a blow”page 63. Suggesting he hit her when she overstepped his dominance.
Throughout the book Tennessee Williams uses animal-like descriptions for all of the male characters, but with Stanley it is to another extreme. This shows the raw idea of a manly man that was desired in 1947. Tall, strong and most importantly the provider and protector of the family.
You even see in the film A Streetcar Named Desire Stanley is constantly eating, eating with very little manures and uses his hands instead of utensils alluding more to the symbolism of an animal.
relationship to others:
Stella: Their relationship is very toxic and abusive. Stella is beaten and attacked by stanley. He is the epitome of a classic abuser because he has the ability to manipulate stella into being the one who apologizes. An example of moments like this is on page 65 “ he breaks into sobs, then he goes to the phone dials, still shuddering with sobs” he sees the power he has over her, because she is in love, and he is in love with her in a twisted way.
Blanche: Stanley was very clear from the start of the book he doesn't like blanche. She took away one of the things stanley loves most stella, and also sex with stella. So she became the villain in his story. She in his eyes is deceiving and a liar which is somewhat true throughout the film considering she lied about her job,passed(being a prostitute) etc… Stanley is clearly a man of pride, it is one of the only things he will always have, so when blanche comes into his life with a big head like requesting the men to stay sitting as if she is used to getting a standing ovation when walking into a room upsets him. She is one of the only characters if not the only that challenges him. He is also the one who finally breaks blanche in their final scenes together.
Stella
naive
easily fooled by her husband
Stella is the emotional stability of the play for all of the characters, she is the femimine voice and soothing to Stanley's animalistic lifestyle. Though Stella is depicted as someone who is always the weakest character, when you look deeper into who she is , she is in reality the strongest. She can take verbal, physical and mental abuse for Stanley on a daily basis. But she also has to handle Blanche and mother him away.
is the living in bodyment of a motherly women
Despite Stanley’s abusive nature, she stayed with him because of dependency and intimate connection. There is a good reason for her to suspect that Stanley might have really rape Blanche but she refuses to believe it. She chooses to believe that Blanche is lying so she will be able to continue to live her life. Just like Blanche, she desired to live in denial in order to avoid reality.
Conflict
Internal
When she decided to disbelieve Blanche and send her to a mental facility. Although there is a good reason for her to believe Blanche she chooses to live in denial that Stanley is capable of doing such things. (avoid reality)
Just like Blanche she live in denial as she continually choose to be with Stanley despite of the fact that he physically abused her.
External
She desired Staleys love and Blanche well being
A contrast to Blanche's character who refuses to adapt to change, Stella, on the other hand, learned how to adapt her lifestyle to the male-dominated society.
Key Moments
Being Pregnant became one of the reason she stayed with Stanley
Deciding to place Blanche under a mental facility
Despite of being physically abused by Stanley she still choose to be with him
Regardless of discovering that Blanche had lied to her she still defended her
devices
motifs
blue piano
when a major plot point or source of controversy occurs, the blue piano can be heard. It acts as a tone indication, and usually signifies romance or passion, but mainly, the point when desire takes over reason.
sub-human creatures
evidence: Blanche/Stella frequently refer to Stanley as a species and even Stanley refers to himself as the "unrefined type"
bathing
Blanche frequently takes long baths where she sings one song.
the baths represent Blanche's attempt to clean herself of her past and the desire driven affairs she had.
when she is in the bath she feels disillusionment
drinking
stanley drinks when he is with his friends to have a good time
blanche drinks to "calm her nerves" but really to mask her past and make her feel better about her reality
bright lights
Blanche dislikes bright, revealing lights, suggesting that she has secretes she (literally) likes to keep in the dark
She asks Stella to "turn off that over light!" immediately after meeting her again in New Orleans.
Being with her husband, Blanche described as having "turned on a blinding light on something that had always been half in the shadow" and when he died she said "the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light that's stronger than this- kitchen - candle"
the paper lantern is often referred to. Mitch puts it up, marking opportunity for Blanche to obtain the future she always wanted, and Stanley tears it down, reflecting that the future will never occur and it is partly his fault
at the climax of the play, Blanche says "I like it dark. The dark is comforting to me" and Mitch accuses her of hiding from him by resisting any light.
symbolism
themes
sexual desire
Blanche has lots of passion and sexual desire as a way to fill the void left behind in here husbands suicide, trying to escape the role she played in his death
Stanley/s sexual desire is displayed as more of a "weapon" as it gives him power in the house and displays him as the "man of the house" This is shown when he rapes Blanche towards the end of the text, showing his need for dominance.
Stella is drawn to Stanley's animal like sexuality's and is so drawn to it that his aggressive and abusive relationship is overlooked due to their sexual dynamic
reality/ illusion
Blanche uses light as a use of illusion. The hides in dark and dim lights reflect on how she has felt without Allan, who made her life full of bright and vivid lights. She searches desperately for protection and someone to give her that bright light again, but all of her sexual affairs with other men have left her stuck in the dark
Blanche lies about her past throughout the text to make herself seem like the life she's living is much better than in reality, she hides lots of her negative habits and creates an illusion that everything is going to plan.
Stanley and blanche are opposites in the sense of truth, Stanley is a brutally honest man who uses the truth to inevitably "attack" Blanche. He exposes Blanches lies and stories with the real truth of her past. Where blanche lives in a world of fantasy to escape the descending life she is living
dependancy
Blanche feels lost in her life, as she has let everything important to her slip away. She feels it is her fault that her husband died and that their families estate was lost, so she attempts to tie herself to her family or a husband.
Blanche sees mitch as a sanctuary and someone that can turn her life around
she views the solution to her problem is finding a husband to protect her. He would also be able to take responsibility off her so that she doesn't have to feel so guilty.
Stella's dependency on Stanley is very clearly shown through their relationship. Stella uses Stanley to provide for her sexually and materialistically
traditional femininity
Masculinity
Stanley and Mitch both share a sort of Alpha and Beta male throughout the text, with Stanley being a more aggressive and alpha male of the group while Mitch (who is still very much a masculine guy) shows a much softer and well defined side to him
Stanley is shown as a very macho and masculine individual, he is portrayed and stated to be like an animal by blanche (Scene 4, pages 81/82) He acts very brute and aggressive especially during scene three in which he treats everyone at the poker night like they are much less than him
lenses
Gender
Male
Male figures adhere masculine code with power, dominance, and reponsability to provide for the family
the men always comfort eachother even after doing wrong
it is protrayed that men should be hard, brash, gluttonous,aggressive, and predatory. In addition, they are the initiators of physical contact and are allowed a greater degree of sexual expressiveness than their female counterparts.
Female
female figures are very passive and provide a comfortable home enviroment.
female characters reside in a world in which they are expected to uphold an ideal of grateful subservience while providing a comfortableenvironment and serving as the physical outlet for their husbands desires.
reader responce
stanley
stanley being portrayed as polish and liked hard exersises such as bowling puts a typical image of a blue-collar immagrant
generally spealing people tend to be in favor of a woman when a woman and a man are in conflict this makes thereader not like stanley from the beggining
blanche
marxist
Blanche sees herself as above stanley because she is polish and stanley does not like blanche because of her old south roots
Tension between the socil groups
Conflict between the north and south for social, political, and economic adavantage.
Marxist lens applies to the text because of the social tentions, decline of the south, and the economic change
archetypal
Blanche is the stereotypical heroine.
new historicism
It is the point just after WW2 when women are being told to go back to doing house work as opposed to being out working
Stanley enforces this by being hyper-masculine, making Stella seem less dominant as the woman of the household
Tennessee Williams
Childhood
Born in Mississippi
Father was a traveling shoe salesman and was a alcoholic and was frequently away from home.
almost died from diphtheria
Sister
Was subject to a lobotomy
sister was dignosed with Schizophrenia
Personal
Death
Education
attended university of Missouri from 1929 to 1931where he enrolled in journalism classes
in high school won 3rd place prize for an essay titled "can a good wife be a good sport