Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

StreetMalf - Gender - Coggle Diagram

- - - - 'ever heard of the Napoleonic Code?'
        
        Stanley here uses an interrogative that he knows his wife does not know the answer to, thus putting her into a position of submission
        
        his command of the formal economic language such as 'Napoleonic Code' is used to further alienate his wife
        
        Stanley uses deliberately formal language such as 'according to which' and 'vice versa' which contrasts hugely with his previous monosyllabic 'meat!'
        
        this serves to disillusion and confuse his wife, and it works, as she hyperbolically says 'my head is swimming!', with the exclamatory emphasising her confusion and desperate need for Stanley
        
        this is because after WWII, when women were working in factories to support the cause, gender roles returned back to their former rigid structure. During WW2, the percentage of women in the national workforce rose from 27% to 37%
        
        men were expected to have command of the financial affairs, whereas women just dealt with domestic issues
        
        this put women into a position of financial dependance, which hindered their freedoms, showcased by Blanche
        
        'whenever Blanche is stuck in trouble, men are always the ones to whom she resorts' (Fang), because they have the money and financial power
        
        therefore, Stanley exercises control over his wife by exploiting the gender roles at the time, so that 'whatever belongs to my wife is also mine'
        
        Stella is wholly dependent on Stanley 'life with Stanley...is of her highest value' (McGlinn)
        
        the problem is perpetuated because Stella is 'a girl who closes her eyes' (Kazan) who 'feels helpless to change the way he treats her' (Bloom)
  - - - the Duchess decides to remarry, and it is not for dynastic purposes as she already has a son
      - rather, she questions why she should not be allowed to remarry and have sex whilst she is still alive
      - 'this is flesh and blood sir, tis not the figure cut in alabaster, kneels at my husband's tomb'
      - the use of 'kneeels' here offers a sense of subjugation, and suggests that the Duchess is willing to break gender roles to gain some agency
      - the contrast of flesh to alabaster is also representative of how much the Duchess still sees life as worth living, despite the usual convention that widows were outcast from social circles
      - widows were feared in society as they represented a woman who had her own financial independence, and who no longer needed a man. thus, they were threatening.
      - moreover, it was considered improper to wed twice for sexual reasons, which is echoed by Ferdinand when he claims 'they are most luxurious, will wed twice'
      - therefore, the Duchess is interesting and able to gain power as she balances 'virtue with powerful sexual desire' (Callaghan)
      - this is because she is a good, morally sound woman who is also sexual. Most sexual women in literature were portrayed as sinful, such as Julia, who cuckolds her husband
      - a contemporary text at the time 'the arraignment of all lewd, idle, froward, and unconstant women' (1615) claimed that 'women are all necessary evils', yet the Duchess opposes this, making her likeable and her death all the more tragic
      - this is thus 'a cautionary tale that shows what can happen when women marry without being granted the "proper" consent' (Roider)
- - - - one of the first instances of violence is with the radio prop, which acts as a prolepsis for the eventual rape
      - it is written that Stanley 'snatched' and 'tosses' the radio 'with a shouted oath'
      - the aggression in his actions showcases his naked male power, as he is able to physically dominate the women
      - it is also written in the stage directions that Stanley 'stalks', with the animalistic imagery here displaying his raw aggression, without logic or reason, he acts instinctively to defend his territory
      - this may be due to the fact that after the war, soldiers like Stanley had to come to adjust to what they now had at home, his new territory was a small dwelling with two rooms. Before, his task was to be violent and kill the opposition, remnants of his past life have dissipated into his home life
      - this is showcased also by his domestic violence, in which he deals a loud 'blow' to his wife Stella
      - it is said that Williams based this character on an amalgamation of men from his life, such as his coworker. However, the elements of domestic violence are akin to his own father, who Williams once described as a 'volcano' due to his frequent aggressions, akin to a 'powder-keg'
      - thus, Williams utilises the character of Stanley to showcase the reality of many contemporary American relationships, in which domestic violence and rape within marriage was normalised as there were no laws against them
      - Stella later claims that Stanley was 'as good as a lamb when I came back, and he's really very, very ashamed of himself'
        
        the tautology and repetition utilised in this quote may represent the double standards in society that Williams was trying to expose
        
        the imagery of a lamb has biblical connotations, linking to sacrifice, as Stella is sacrificing her own physical safety to be with Stanley
      - this leads to Stanley's 'final penetration - rape' (Shead), as he had been penetrating the psyche Blanche the whole time, invading her privacy and digging up her past. this is facilitated by Stella and her acceptance, as Stella 'contributes to Blanche's disintegration' (McGlinn)
      - when he rapes her in scene 11, she is described as an 'inert figure'
        
        this showcases her complete powerlessness and passivity, as she is unable to move and is allowing her fate to take place
        
        the ambiguity of the word 'figure' may be Williams' attempt to portray how this could happen to any woman, and how Blanche is not alone in suffering rape at this time
        
        the first showing of the play in 1947 applauded when Blanche was raped
        
        they felt that 'a madwoman...had been successfully exorcised' (Spector)
        
        this explains the root of Williams' preoccupations, and why he wanted to showcase these themes in the play
      - this is why Brilley suggests that Williams has used the 'tragedy of Blanche Dubois to illustrate the changing face of the postwar South' and how this affected both genders in readjusting to their roles
      - 'chief ape-man Stanley Kowalski' (Clurman)
  - - - Ferdinand clearly has incestuous feelings towards his sister
      - this is represented when he speaks of a 'strong thighed bargeman' when imagining his sister having sex, an action which is problematic in itself
      - the description of this man is filled with disgust, as he fears what a more masculine man could do to his sister, he is threatened
      - the German playwright Bertolt Brecht, when he adapted The Duchess of Malfi in 1946, appended a prologue in which Ferdinand confesses his incestuous passion for his sister.
      - Ferdinand also asks 'what cannot a neat knave with a smooth tale make a woman believe?'
      - the interrogative here introduces an element of insecurity to Ferdinand, as if he is truly asking the question
      - 'smooth tale' is also a sexual innuendo, as he recognises the sexuality of his sister and is simultaneously fearful and wanting of it
      - Ferdinand wishes he was the 'neat knave'
      - it is this jealousy that leads to Ferdinands own 'perverse and turbulent nature' as he attempts to make his sister mad
      - Ferdinand employs a 'deadly dogged howl' to try and break his sister's mind and spirit, as 'she'll needs be mad'
      - it is this violence that eventually leads to the Duchess' death, as Ferdinand's incestuous jealousy reaches its peak
      - the Duchess regains some power through her death though, as she says 'I am Duchess of Malfi still' and the play does not end after her death, as was the convention. Instead, she comes back as an echo, still with the power to influence events
      - this is done by Webster to consistently ensure that the Duchess, as a woman, subverts expectations and gender roles, in a proto-feminist fashion.
      - however, her death is still tragic as it is performed by 'naked patriarchal power' (gibbons)
      - moreover, Webster chose to make the family from Spain, rather than Italy. Spain was known for its invreeding and incestuosu royal family, that led to many birth defects in a grotesque way. This at once hints to Ferdinand's feelings and makes them wholly dislikeable
- - - - Blanche frequently criticises Stanley for his class, as she claims he is 'sub-human', 'ape-like', and also a 'polack'
      - the use of animalistic imagery here exposes Blanche's own prejudices as she believes Stanley to be less than her, suggesting that he lacks reason, logic, and higher thinking due to his origins
      - Blanche herself is from a higher class, represented by Belle Reve. She is meant to represent a Southern Belle, a stereotype which she frequently exploits, such as when she is 'daintily dressed in a white suit' in the beginning
      - as white represents purity and virginity, this costume immediately represents Blanche's attempts to cling onto her high class, as well as her willingness to deceive, as she has been previously promiscuous
      - Blanche's white is contrasted by Stanley as he is pictured carrying 'a red-stained package from a butcher's' with the contrast between them immediately visibly pictured
      - this is an example of Plastic Theatre, a practice that Williams himself created as he believed meaning could be conveyed not only through dialogue, but also setting, costumes, lighting, and props.
      - Williams also presents the difference in class by using the setting of New Orleans, which was 'a city of extremes, a place operating in contrasts' (Brilley)
      - indeed, the city had previously been French, seen by its still existing French quarter, which links to Blanche as her name is French
      - However, New Orleans at this time had come to signify a new society, a melting-pot of cultures that was more accustomed to the likes of Stanley, showing how he had more power in this setting
      - Thus, Williams has used 'the tragedy of Blanche Dubois to illustrate the changing face of the postwar South' (Brilley)
      - the eventual downfall and rape of Blanche has been said to represent the death of the Old South and its customs
      - this is why Stanley is so proud that he 'pulled [Stella] down off them columns', which is a reference to the architectural style found in the south, complete with columns, connoting a higher class as it draws upon classical styles
      - the use of the emphatic verb 'pull' highlights a violence and relish to Stanley's actions, as he takes pride in lessening Stella to his level. The misuse of grammar is also representative of his respective lower class
      - Blanche is applying the language of black racism to the lower classes when she says 'ape-like', her family is so involved with slavery
  - - - the Duchess asks Antonio to marry her, although this is against custom as she is a woman
      - she is 'thereby excitingly reversing the gender roles' (Gibbons)
      - Moreover, Antonio is far below her class, which further complicates the marriage as it
      - 'challenges Jacobean society's views' (Jankowski)
      - this is represented when the Duchess says to Antonio 'this godly roof of yours is too low built, I cannot stand upright in it'
        
        this suggests that the class of Antonio is far below that of the Duchess, so that she cannot acclimatise herself to his reality
        
        the use of the word 'godly' suggests that class was divinely appointed and inherent
        
        this is represented by the Great Chain of Being, in which classes were ranked, with the lower classes being closer to the bottom, and thus to hell and the devil
        
        this is because it was believed that lower classes had poorer morals, and that the upper classes were divinely appointed and most pure
        
        Williams subverts this contemporary belief by painting Ferdinand as completely sinful, with a 'most perverse and turbulent nature', whereas Antonio is morally good, despite his class
        
        therefore, it is clear that the duchess and Antonio differ in social standing, but this is not posited as a reason for the destruction of their marriage. Rather, it is Ferdinand's poor morals that does this
      - Although the Duchess and Antonio marry and are happy: 'Prithee, when have we ever been so happy?',it must be seen that their difference in class contributed to Ferdinand's madness
      - when Ferdinand is incestuously thinking of his sister's sex life, he speaks of a 'strong thighed bargeman'
        
        bargemen were of a lower class
        
        this reflects Ferdinand's insecurity as he is threatened by a man who is of a lower class, yet is more masculine
        
        he would have taken personal offence to the fact that the Duchess chose Antonio over him
      - thus, although the duchess gains power in subverting the expectations of class, she loses her life for it
      - 'the noose was a wedding ring of death' (Gibbons)
      - this shows how she loses power and agency due to the brothers' 'naked patriarchal power' (Gibbons)
      - therefore, Webster wanted to do this to expose the poor treatment of women in his time, as they were believed to be 'all necessary evils' (Swetman) according to contemporary text 'the arraignment of lewd, idle, froward, and unconstant women'
      - therefore, this play is a 'cautionary tale trying to show what can happen when a woman marries without being granted the "proper" consent' (Roider)
- - - - 'Ticket! Back to Laurel!'
      - the use of exclamatories and monosyllabic words and short sentences here helps emphasise the haste with with Stanley wishes to be rid of Blanche
      - he has put her in a difficult position as he gives her this 'gift' in front of Stella, and on her birthday
      - 'Stanley is an agent of Blanche's destruction' (Lart)