Use the space below to comment on ANY aspect of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Also, note the following extra credit opportunity this Tuesday (October 27) at RZ's at the U of A Union. The following message is from Michelle Miesse, the current UA Coffeehouse Chair.
There is an AMAZING slam coming up this Tuesday in RZ's at 7 pm. It's featuring the Elephant Engine High Dive Revival Tour (long name...), which consists of five poets: Buddy Wakefield (2-time Individual World Poetry Slam Champion), Anis Mojgani (2-time IWPS Champ), Derrick Brown (IWPS Champ and opening act for Cold War Kids and The White Stripes), Shira Erlichman (Pushkart Prize Nominee and amazing person/poet), and Mindy Nettifee (Published writer and fantastic poet). Three of these people have performed at the university before, so here's a chance to see them again! This group is truly amazing. They will do group pieces, poetry to song, and lots of silly things! I saw them perform last year and it was awe-inspiring. This is probably Arkansas' only chance to see this group of poets on stage all at once...and it's FREE!
Wow. I'm first. This is cool. What I really want to discuss about A Streetcar Named Desire are the gory death details left out of the movie. I realize it was the 50s and people didn't talk about things like that in movies, but I think they're really essential to understanding Blanche Dubois as a character. I worked briefly as a nurse's aide and I saw someone die and helped take care of the body until the funeral home came to get her. It was horrible and disgusting and I'll live with the memory forever, and this was a lady I didn't even know. Blanche watched her family members die and took care of them in their illness and death. In her long monologue in scene one (I'm using an old copy or I'd give the page number) she tries to explain it to Stella. The death of Margaret is especially vivid, "so big with it, it couldn't be put in a coffin." I'm assuming either this lady was pregnant or she had a disease that caused her to swell up horribly, either way this is disgusting to really think about. Blanche witnessed this.
ReplyDeleteIf we go back further into Blanche's past there's the suicide of her young husband. Williams gives terrific gory detail here too. "He'd stuck the revolver into his mouth, and fired - so that the back of his head had been - blown away!" Once again, if we really think about this, it's disgusting and horrifying. Blanche saw him like this. She pushed past the people that told her not to look, like almost anybody would have done, and she saw him. No wonder the memory haunts her and the music plays in her head.
If we really think about these horrible experiences, it's not so surprising that Blanche is promiscuous or that she's an alcoholic. A therapist would say she's exhibiting classic symptoms of grief and trauma. We've talked a lot in class about Blanche being a fruitloop, but I think it's equally interesting to investigate why she's this way.
I think the most interesting aspect of the discussion we had on the comparison of the play with the movie was the ending of the two and how much they differed from one another. To me, the ending always seems to be one of the most important parts of a literary piece, and the fact that the movie ending seemed to entirely ignore the ending of the play is extremely vexing. Tennessee Williams obviously had an idea in mind throughout the play of what he wanted to happen to his characters, and this did not take place in the film version at all, which completely changes how each character is viewed. In the Tennessee Williams' version, the ending has an incredibly undone and sexual feel, with Stella crying uncontrollably and Stanley soothing her "voluptuously" while reaching into her blouse. Doing this, Williams makes it very obvious that Stella and Stanley are planning on staying with one another, and that things will probably go back to normal between them (returning to the comment Stanley makes about their "colored lights" without the sister in the next room). However, whether because this ending was much too sexual for the 1950s era, which would go along with other revisions made within the film, or whether the producers decided that people who watched the film would be much happier with an ending when Stella stands up against her domestic situation, it is hard to tell. But the fact that in the end of the film Stella declares that she will never return to Stanley, and she is seen going into her neighbor's home instead of her home suggests that the filmmakers did not agree with Williams at all on the character of Stella, and what she stood for within both the play and the film version. Whatever the reason may be, I think the movie would have been more effective as an adaptation if they had kept the original ending, although it was a very good film by itself.
ReplyDeleteI think Blanche's past plays an obvious role in her insanity throught out the entire play and especially at the end. It's interesting that
ReplyDeleteStella doesn't outright say wherther she believes Blanche or not. She simply says "I couldn't believe her story and go on living with Stanley" (2243). Blanche relies heavily on her sister for support and comfort as she really doesn't have anyone else. The one person that could take Blanche's sister away and turn her Blanche against was the one to send her over the edge. Even Eunice, who had been kind of an anti-male/ woman supporter in the play, says "Don't ever believe it" (2243. Since blanche has been off balance and making stuff up the whole play, the one time she is being truthful, everyone casts her aside as being crazy. It makes sense for them not to believe her, but this is most definitely a reason, put together with her past, to send her over the edge.
Though the movie did leave some things out, Vivien Leigh did an amazing job, in my opinion, of bringing Blanche to life. One part in particular that I really liked was when Blanche murmers to herself about who the woman could be with "Shep Huntleigh." The way her voice trails off and the expression on her face in that moment, we can really see her unstable mind working itself to try and make sense.
I don't agree with terming Blanche as a "stereotypical woman;" I find that phrase very problematic and sexist. What is a stereotypical woman? How does gender get shaped and distorted as it does in Streetcar Named Desire?
ReplyDeleteBlanche isn't to blame here; gender is a cultural taught and encoded into a person by their society. She was raised in a heavily patriarchal South where women, especially in the upper class like Blanche, were supposed to go along with the male establishment and just twitter, sigh, bat their eyes on command.
Who can blame Blanche for putting on the facade that her culture had deemed desirable and had proven effective in dealing with men? This is all she knew. The Cult of True Womanhood is still persisting in the South; once again, male-established values of maternity, purity, and domesticity pertaining to women.
Blanche is not a "stereotypical woman;" she is what a man thinks a woman typically acts and what they desire women to be like. They have to play the role of the hysterical and irrational only to further the male views that they are rational and logical of the sexes. Women have put on masks, faking delicate, sensitive natures for the sake of bolstering a male ego and maybe finding a husband in the process. They have to give themselves up for culture norms. Even from Greek times, women were "hysteric" as "hysteria" was considered to be a disease of the womb since the uterus was believed to roam around the body.
Tennessee Williams is showing how society has made these two polar opposites in Blanche and Stanley and how these are not what men and women are supposed to be. We should not be wholly this masculine or wholly feminine in nature or else people become distorted and fall apart. They become self-destructive as they try to repress aspects of their personality to fit into a cultural mold of gender.
Blanche tries to hang on to the view of women in order to maintain her standing in society. She is fickle, shallow, and showy because that is what her surroundings has deemed appropriate and the norm. She couldn't break out of the facade that was pushed onto her and she had put on to function in the world around her. When this mask began to crack, Blanche did too.
I agree with Megan C. to an extent. I don't think there is such a thing as a "stereotypical woman" either. The OED says that a stereotype is "an idea of a particular type of person or thing that has become fixed through being widely held." The key word here is "type." For instance, June Cleaver is a stereotype of a house wife, but to say that she is a "stereotypical woman" is entirely too broad. What is sterotypical in one society and culture, isn't in another.
ReplyDeleteWhat Blanche does is use her femininity to lord power over men. Being overly feminine isn't being a stereotypical woman. A woman isn't necessarily a "type." Blanche may contain stereotypical characteristics of a southern belle, but she isn't a stereotypical woman. Blanche has found a way to gain control of her life, through sex appeal, and for some years this technique has worked.
Stanley is the foil to Blanche's technique. Because he seems overly masculine, Blanche and Stanley constantly clash. He doesn't let Blanche's sex appeal get control over him. He maintains the power in that relationship, and as we mentioned, he does this through the alleged rape.
I do think Blanche deserves some blame. Admittedly, I think the homosexual trauma mixed with the deaths, that Ellie mentioned, play a huge role in Blanche's promiscuity, but Blanche still has fault in what becomes of her. She has made herself into an object and because of that she is treated as such.
I have kind of mentioned this idea in class already but the whole "desire is the opposite of death" concept can be taken several different ways. I think Blanche is more preoccupied with being wanted and admired by others...I guess you can say "being desirable" rather than having an ambitious desire. When she mentioned that death was sitting close to her once, I think she was referring to the fact that she is aging and she is becoming less desirable in the eyes of many. This need for constant gratification helps reaffirm the fact that she needs to be wanted and seen as worthy of such praise. This also can be attributed to the amount of time she takes getting ready and the false persona she puts on whenever there is a man in the room.
ReplyDeleteFor Stanley and Stella, they have an abusive relationship that has gone on for this long because they need to feel wanted by each other. One of the reasons why Stella puts up with Stanley is because he makes her feel wanted, especially when they are being intimate. Stanley feeds off of this and feels desirable himself because he knows that Stella will take him back everytime. Death to them would be waking up in the morning and not having each other.
My favorite aspect of a Street Car Named Desire was Tennessee William's deliberate use of lighting throughout the play. I never thought that the use of light could add so much of an underlying meaning to the play itself. We know that ultimately this use of light as an enemy to Blanche was used to literally "highlight" the fact that her age and physical features we're being hidden in the shadows. It was Blanche's goal to deceive those around her into thinking she was younger than she was, and to gain a sense of self-gratification with knowing she could manipulate people into falling for her fasod. An example is when she asks Mitch to help her put the lantern cover on the lightbulb in the room and says, "I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action." It's an odd thing for Blanche to compare an inatimate lightbulb to these situations of harsh words or unwanted actions. Obviously Blanche looks at the light with fear of exposing her true character. And this is seen throughout the play on numerous occasions, especially since we now know her true past, as it was revealed in the last scene for us. Light is also used as a play on death, moods, and ultimately sets the stage for the audience to infer hidden meanings behind Blanche's character.
ReplyDeleteThe above comment is actually from Leclark!! Roommates username popped up because she was signed in! Oops- sorry!
ReplyDeleteI've been going back over a few of the scenes we discussed in class and a particular statement jumped out at me as regards Blanche's spiral of behavior over the course of her life. In the conversation between herself and Stanley just before the rape scene (page 2240), when Blanche lies about Mitch's return, she says, " But some things are not forgivable. Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable. It is the one unforgivable thing in my opinion and it is the one thing of which I have never, never been guilty." This seemed an odd interjection to me in her attempt to be blithe about the entire convoluted scenario she presents to Stanley. It made me wonder--does she really believe this? I believe she seems as if she's attempting to convince her self as much as Stanley at this point.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this as well as the above posts emphasizing the severe traumatization that the suicide of her young husband must have caused Blanche, I tried to imagine the weight of such a memory so heavy with guilt and what it might do to a person over a lifetime. Empty and hollow inside, as she says. Searching for respite in any form or fashion, until her confused mind hums from one supposition to the next.
I was going to continue discussing the interconnectivity of death/desire/sex/life in "Streetcar," but after having read Elaine's post, I think she's definitely on to something. While it seems the first goal of drama is to cause an audience to empathize with the characters on stage, I personally tend to avoid taking that big of a step. What I mean is that while reading/watching "Streetcar," I constantly found myself trying to justify character's actions; attempting to put myself in Blanche's dainty slippers as it were, and see how I'd react. But this approach really seemed to only render a sense of understanding, a disconnected "I can see where she/he is coming from." But what Elaine writes from what appears to be a genuine sense of empathy, and I think I could benefit greatly from trying to push myself beyond understanding and closer towards some sort of identification with the characters via - empathy. Elaine's observations really made me consider Blanche in a new light. She's right in noting that, while I've been fortunate enough to have never been that close to death, it is a life-altering, and in these cases, an apparently gruesome ordeal that would put a great deal of strain on even the most stoic of Stanleys.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about what was discussed yesterday about the relevance of the poker game. I think I may have found something else about it.
ReplyDeleteConsider Blanche's facade as a southern belle is her "ante" if you will. It's what she puts on the line throughout the whole play. And, as we know, Stanley calls her bluff, and she loses it all. But there's another great enemy to Blanche's game, and it's something the film version greatly succeeded in portraying: light. We've talked about the importance of light, but there are some moments in the play/film in which light is used which I feel are particularly telling.
It is light that unseats Blanche's pseudo-sophistication. Remember in the film scene where Mitch confronts Blanche? Did you notice what was going on with the light? It was blinking in a very steady tempo, almost like a heartbeat or a metronome for Blanche's "dirge" here. Light begins to creep its way toward Blanche, trying to steal a peek at her "hand." Mitch, of course, very blatantly throws the cards on the table when he tears off the paper lantern and casts the light directly on her.
Earlier, when telling Mitch about her ex-husband, she speaks of light as a blinding force. As we discussed in class, we often are well aware of things but simply refuse to acknowledge or even believe them for our own benefit. A good poker player doesn't say anything when he has a bad hand of cards, he simply puts up his game face and makes sure the other players are kept in the dark. Blanche doesn't spill the beans for the same reason; she's played this game before and knows what to say and what to keep to herself behind that poker face. Blanche's greatest enemy is a "blinding light"--others' epiphany about who she really is--which she can't escape from.
We see the poker game played in a relatively dimly-lit setting. Darkness is a player's best friend. It helps hide his hand, hide his face, and hide his movements. Good poker players know every little subtle action can be a tell. The darker the setting, the harder it is to spot these little inconsistencies. Blanche needs darkness for this very reason. Unfortunately for her, she can't keep up a defense against the light which Stanley and Mitch assault her with, and when the blinding light is finally cast upon her in full, she loses that game face and her cards come into full view for all the players to see.
There are two things that I think worth discussing further. Actually there are many more, but two come to mind at the moment. We have examined Stanley as Blanches destroyer, but I am tempted to point that finger at Mitch. Their confrontation is just as violent, and the Mitch's "rape" of Blanche is far more psychological that Stanley's. This is not to say that either are forgivable, but it seems that Blanche went made after her encounter with Mitch, tiarra, cruise and all.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, there is an implied violence to the way tha Stanley suduced Stella. "I pulled you down off those columns and you loved it" certainly give an image of force to say the least. I won't go so far as to say that it was a rape, but it certainly wasn't a gentle experience. Perhaps it was a game of cat and mouse taken one step too far, which ironically ended on a "good" note. When this is acted out again with Blache, however, it leads to much different circumstances.
In the end of A streetcar named desire We see how the breakdown of Blanche has been ultimately cused by the decisions she ha made. She put herself in every position possibly to be torn down, after her husband killed himself, she wandered from man to man, or boy to boy searching to fill the large void in her life. The problem is that she does not realize that by letting all these things be such a big part of her life she is letting things enavle her to put them on the back burner. Her job, her ability to love, and even her ability to communicate and tell the truth to her own sister. She wants to be the center while playing the "southern belle" and she puts on a front or a mask with the term of light throughout the book. Light is a symbol for truth, virginity, whiteness, and the southern pride she has. This is the front she puts on and mitch finaly discovers that she hasn't been telling the truth at all, and after stanely rapes her, this is the complete donfall of Blanche DuBois. Everything she has been a part of or stoo for now, no longer exists.
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