The Tragic Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire...

Tennessee Williams has become one of the best known literary figures on the American Scene and also one of the most controversial. A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play opened on Broadway on December 3,1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. While recognizing his compassion for frustrated and sensitive persons trapped in a highly competitive, commercial world, question whether he has not sacrificed his talent for popular success (Mood 43). â€Å"He [Williams] continued this study with Blanche Dubois of A Streetcar Named Desire (1947).† Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire is epitome of full-bodied male pulchritude and Williams’ most radiant symbol of virility. â€Å"In A Streetcar Named Desire the Southern†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"This play eventually became one of Williams’s most effective blends of lyrical vision and dramatic irony in the agony of Blanche’s cry against Stanley to Stella Kowalski, his wife and her sister† (Mood 53). â€Å"Blanche Dubois cannot live with what Williams and most men of our time unhappily regard as reality† (Mood 57). Blanche Dubois is an aging Southern Belle and an insecure, dislocated individual who pan ics about her fading beauty and constantly attempts to hide from reality. Blanche pretends to be a woman who has never known indignity. Lying to herself as well as others allows Blanche Dubois to make life appear as it should be rather than as it is. Blanche Dubois refuses to tell anyone her true age. â€Å"Throughout A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche Dubois constantly bathes herself† (Qurine 260). Blanche Dubois feels as if these baths calms her nerves. â€Å"Blanche Dubois is a loquacious and fragile woman around the age of thirty. She’s a fading, though still attractive, Southern Belle who pretensions to virtue and culture only thinly mask her alcoholism and delusions of grandeur† (Qurine 262). Blanche Dubois is Stella Kowalski’s older sister who once was a high school English teacher in Laurel, Mississippi until she was forced to leave her post. â€Å"Blanche Dubois is driven by guilt over the very indulgences that give her brother in law Stanley Ko walski life a vital intensity† (Qurine 263). By the way of a FreudianShow MoreRelatedThe Tragic Character of Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire729 Words   |  3 PagesThe Tragic Character of Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire *No Works Cited To state the obvious, a tragic agent is one that is the subject of a tragic event or happening. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche Dubois is this agent. She experiences numerous things, and has certain dynamics that solidify her tragic elements. Many essayists describe these elements and they give clear conceptions of her tragic nature. Aristotle has written of many qualities one must have in order to fit inRead MoreBlanche Dubois As A Tragic Hero In A Streetcar Named Desire1570 Words   |  7 Pagesthrough the downfall of the hero and the resolution of the conflicts resulting from the hero’s tragic flaw, the tragedy achieves a purging of the audience’s emotions† (Masterpieces of World Literature). Tragic plays have one or more tragic heroes within them; A Streetcar Named Desire is no exception. According to Dr. Hebert, a tragic hero must meet the following criteria: they â€Å"must be Noble, have a tragic flaw such as hubris, they go through a sequence of fall, suffering, learning, and punishmentRead MoreThe Tragic Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire Essay1676 Words   |  7 Pages â€Å"Tragic characters are â€Å"efficient† only in courting, suffering and encompassing their own destruction.† (Gassner 463). Fitting Gassner’s definition of a tragic character, Bla nche DuBois in Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire caustically leads herself to her own downfall. In the beginning of the play, Blanche DuBois, a â€Å"belle of the old South† (Krutch 40), finds herself at the footsteps of her sister and brother-in-law’s shabby apartment in New Orleans. Although DuBois portrays herselfRead MoreThe fusion of Eros and Thanatos in A Streetcar Named Desire1084 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿The fusion of Eros and Thanatos in A Streetcar Named Desire Death and desire have been linked closely together ever since Freud identified Eros (the instinct of life, love and sexuality) and Thanatos (the instinct of death and destruction) as two coinciding and conflicting drives within human being (Cranwell). In Tennesse Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) these fundamental drives of Eros and Thanatos dominate the story from the beginning to the end. This becomes particularly clearRead MoreA Streetcar Named Desire By Tennessee Williams1054 Words   |  5 PagesJamie Razo Mr. Baker Period 7 22 September 2017 Tragic Downfalls In the play and book called â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire†, there are numerous amounts of tragic events that not only affected the person in the event, but others around them as well. A tragedy, or tragic event, is known to bring chaos, destruction, distress, and even discomfort such as a natural disaster or a serious accident. A tragedy in a story can also highlight the downfall of the main character, or sometimes one of the more importantRead MoreInsanity of Blanche Dubois918 Words   |  4 Pagesof Blanche Dubois The movie â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire† contains many elements of insanity. The character that displays the most tragic insanity is Blanche Dubois. Blanche is from Laurel, Mississippi were she loses her home Belle Reve, after the death of her relatives. She then travels to her sister’s home where her actions lead her to insanity. She goes to her sister home as a fallen woman of society. She has a difficult time distinguishing between what is real and what is fantasy. Blanche DuboisRead MoreA Streetcar Named Desire : A Tragic Desire969 Words   |  4 PagesA tragic hero in literature is a type of character who has fallen from grace, where the downfall suggests feelings of misfortune and distress among the audience. The tragic flaw of the hero leads to their demise or downfall that in turn brings a tragic end. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as â€Å"a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment.† The characteristics of a tragic hero described by AristotleRead MoreThe Great Gatsby And A Streetcar Named Desire Analysis1041 Words   |  5 Pagesplay A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the past is a key element. First of all, in both text forms Gatsby and Blanche go against their values to get back a part of their life that has been lost. Furthermore, both characters create an image of wealth to mask the tragedies of their past. Lastly, characters past has a major effect on their current lives, however, both characters have different intentions depicted by their past. Similarly in The Great Gatsby and A Streetcar Named Desire theRead MoreTo What Extent Does Williams Present Desire as a Tragic Flaw in Scene Six of ‘a Streetcar Named Desire’1632 Words   |  7 PagesTo what extent does Williams present desire as a tragic flaw in scene six of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ In A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche’s flaws that lead to her downfall are abundant. If we are to view Blanche Dubois as a tragic heroine, then it is in scene six that her tragic flaws are especially evident, and in particular desire. They are so prevalent here as it is arguably the beginning of Blanche’s demise and as in Shakespearean tragedy; it is in the centre of the play that we seeRead More Tragic Comedy of Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire1350 Words   |  6 PagesA Streetcar Named Desire as Tragic Comedy      Ã‚   Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is considered by many critics to be a â€Å"flawed† masterpiece. This is because William’s work utilizes and wonderfully blends both tragic and comic elements that serve to shroud the true nature of the hero and heroine, thereby not allowing the reader to judge them on solid actuality. Hence, Williams has been compared to writers such as Shakespeare who, in literature, have created a sense of ambiguity and