Tom vs. Stanley
In the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennesse Williams, and F. Scott Fitzgereald’s
novel, The Great Gatsby, both Stanley Kowalski and Tom Buchanan are violent in many ways
toward the women in their lives. They both commit adultery and do not take their marriages
seriously. Also, both men are emotionally and physically abusive towards their wives and other
women who they interact with. The two characters feel that they are in control and have all the
power. Both men like to feel dominant over females to show their masculinity. As a result of the
need to have power and control, they both end up cheating on their wives Stella Kowalski and
Daisy Buchanan.
Both Stanley and Tom like to have control over their wives. Since Stanley feels dominant
over Stella, he ends up raping her sister Blanche. As well, Tom cheats on his wife Daisy as a sign
of power. Throughout the play it was clear that Tom and Daisy had an unstable relationship.
They married each other because they both came from wealthy families and had money as their
common denominator. In result of having an unstable marriage it lead Tom to his mistress
Myrtle. Daisy was just an object to Tom and because he felt he had all the power he cheated on
her. In many ways we can consider the conflict between Stanley and Blanche a battle over who
gets Stella’s love. Stanley uses his sexuality and aggression to show his dominance in his
household. With Stanley being controlling he rapes Blanche and sends her over the edge to
insanity.
The two men in the plays are both emotionally and physically abusive towards the women
they interact with. Stanley sees himself as the provider and respected head of the household.
When Stella starts to change her attitude towards Stanley he feels he is being mistreated and
becomes aggressive. With Blanche being at the Kowalski residence it triggers Stanley’s fits of
rage where he finds himself throwing things and hitting Stella. Tom is in a relationship with his
mistress Myrtle aside from being married to Daisy. When Myrtle continuously says Daisy’s
name in front of Tom he gets angry and hits Myrtle in the face. Tom did this as a sign of power
and control over Myrtle.
Lastly, both Tom and Stanley like to feel dominant over women as a way to prove their
masculinity. Stanley dominates Stella in every way and tries to win her affection over Blanche.
Stanley is always looking for respect from Stella and when he doesn’t receive it he acts out
because he no longer feels in control. Stanley does not treat Stella right and is impolite to her in
front of other people. He has no patience for Blanche’s world of lies and is cruel to her and
shows no sympathy towards her past. Stanley Kowalski is always looking to be in control.
Throwing the radio out of the window, ruffling Blanche’s rich clothes, breaking plates when he
is insulted, and tossing the meat package to Stella are all done to show that he is in charge.
Stanley looks at women as if they are less than men. Tom Buchanan is a very selfish many and
does what he needs to do in order to get what he wants. When Tom finds out that Daisy loves
Gatsby he demands a confrontation. He does this to regain control of his wife. Tom is very
arrogant and domineering. ‘’Two shinning, arrogant eyes had established a dominance over his
face and gave him the appearance leaning aggressively forward.’’(Fitzgerald, 11) This allows
Tom to be controlling with the idea that he has the physical ability to do so. Tom is shown to be
a short-tempered, aggressive man who like Stanley, feels the need to be in control and have
power over women.
In conclusion, both Stanley Kowalski and Tom Buchanan are very masculine characters who
are violent and brutal towards women. They are both unfaithful to their wives and abuse them in
different ways both emotionally and physically. The two men like to feel dominant over the
women with whom they interact with and treat them badly as a sign of power and control. Both
feel the need to constantly be proving their masculinity to others. Through Tom and Stanley’s
infidelity, abuse, aggression and domineering characteristics, it can easily be determined that
they are two very arrogant and self-centered individuals.