9853018 Jade 林 玉
The Self-revelation of Tennessee Williams
in A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams , the writer
of A Streetcar Named Desire
Most of the time in his life went
into the perpetual struggle against
lunacy and work.
his mental disorder resulted from
his sister Rose and family
background.
However, hard-working for him
was to release his mental suffering
rather than paralyzing it. It was a
curable way for Tennessee Williams
that writing about his own
experiences could make him feel
satisfied.
A Streetcar Named Desire is not
only a simple dramatic text, but is
a revelation about something in
Tennessee Williams’s life.
The world in script of Streetcar is
very pessimistic and helpless, and
there were many critical issues in it,
like homosexual, nymphomaniac,
and the self-value of women.
Everything in the play is not
absolutely in playwright’s life, but
it can’t be denied that something
in the play is the true reflection of
the playwright.
Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar
Named Desire (1951)
Blanche Dubois, the heroine in
Streetcar, is the most symbolic
character for Tennessee Williams’ alter
ego. Her husband killed himself by gun
after Blanche found out he was a
bisexual and told him how much he
disgusted for his wife. Belle Reve that
she inherited from Dubois family, had
almost declined because of the
excessive desire of the Dubois men,
the great cost for sickness and dying
that finally let Belle Reve bankrupted..
Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar
Named Desire.
A Polish middle class man that works as an
auto parts salesman. He is a forceful and
aggressive character throughout the play.
Stanley’s figure could refer to Tennessee
Williams’ father－Cornelius, whose drunken
brutality to Edwina(Tennessee’s mother) just
as Stanley’s violence to Stella. Blanche tried to
persuade her sister to leave the madman. And
Stanley considered Blanche as a unwelcome
intruder, who interfered in his relationship
with Stella.
Kim Hunter as
Named Desire.
Stella Kowalski in
A Streetcar
Stella is rejoined with her sister Blanche, when she comes to
stay with Stella in New Orleans after losing their childhood
home, and as she slowly gets sucked into a whirlwind of insanity.
Karl Malden as Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire
One of Stanley 's Poker buddies .Mitch is different than
Stanley and his friends in that he dresses and acts much
more properly and lives with his sick mother whom he
takes care of. Malden is perfect in the role being an
excellent foil against Marlon Brando's Stanley.
Stanley and Stella, the typical husband and wife in
America Old South
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1A0p0F_iH8&feature=g-vrec
Blanche and Mitch, fallen in love with each other at first. After
Mitch knew Blanche’s scandal in her past, they broken up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoj
2ywRLJRw&feature=related
Stanley exposed the fact about Blanche’s past,
separated her from Mitch, and raped her.
Blanche spent the rest of her life in the asylum in
the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxGN29njs3
Q&feature=related
How Williams revealed his life and mental
suffering in Streetcar.
Blanche and Rose both spent the rest of their life in the
asylum . But, Stella didn’t left Stanley in the end(this ending
according to the script written by Tennessee Williams), just
like Edwina never left Cornelius.
Tennessee Williams has both indicated he couldn’t stand up
for his sexual orientation under the heterosexual power and
the weakness of his mother, who still stayed with his father
to endure the domestic violence . Just as Kazan said that
“ the overtly patriarchal system of the old South where a
woman’s survival was dependent on her ability to attract
and hold a male protector ”
Stanley and Cornelius won in the society at that time.
Blanche and Rose became the sacrifices of this system .
The self-revelation of Tennessee Williams in
Streetcar
Tennessee Williams not only revealed his guilty for Rose, but
expressed the great fear of excessive desire of himself in it.
Blanche’s miserable experience achieved pity from the
audience (strangers). The desire, the common weakness of
human nature, let her become a tragic character in the
story.Just like Blanche said “She has always depended on the
kindness of strangers” in the
end.(Williams,2000,scene11,p564) Tennessee Williams was
also repressed by social systems, values and religion, sought
mildness and sex what he thirsted for from strangers, and
frightened that excessive desire would swallow up himself.
He really tried to achieve the kindness of the audience by
Blanche.