A Streetcar Named Desire Themes Play - Essay Example

A Streetcar Named Desire Themes Play A streetcar Named Desire Themes is a play that reflects loneliness and desire for companionship as one of the primary themes that informed the writer of the play. The main character Blanche is dying of loneliness upon the death of her beloved ones, Stella her only sister appears to be the only person she is left with on earth. Her world seems to be growing small as her only sister gets married to Stanley, whom she has no love for him. Loneliness drives her to overprotection as a self-defense mechanism against the harsh reality that hits her on realizing that Stella was in love with Stanley despite her overt hatred towards him (Hezaveh 54). In fact, she has a feeling that their god background characterized by education, lavish life and foreign language acquisition contrast that of Stanley. He is uneducated, dirty, and she considers his companionship with her only sister inappropriate and unfortunate. Additionally, the desire for companionship by Blanche stems from solitude and excruciating thoughts of being alone range in a hostile world (Page 417). In her quest to enhance her personal attraction and safety, she desperately finds herself seeking protection from the arms of strangers. Her struggle to seek companionship and love that she fondly misses after the tragic death of her husband, Blanche exposes herself to the world of men who would take advantage of her circumstances for self-gratification. Notably, in New Orleans, she finds her brother-in-law Stanley, who is cruel. According to her, there is no cure of harshness and the predatory nature of Stanley (Page 418). With this reality, she is determined to take Stella with her a means of getting a companionship and securing her from the husband that is ruthless and inhumane. Surprisingly, Stella appears happy and satisfied in her marriage, despite the conflicting background between her and the husband, she finds the companionship the best cure to life challenges irrespective of the circumstances. In addition, the director of the play demystifies the theme of loneliness using a susceptible woman, Blanche, who gets attracted to anyone she perceives to share similar or closer background. In addition, the director of the play portrays Blanches' companionship desires as the driving force that would see her leave the town to seek what she desires most-companionship. Desire is closely related to solitude, as life reality dawns, Blanche desires towards inner personal conflict and an outward desire for companionship. Loneliness causes her great pains and tribulation that tortures her soul through constantly reminding her of the death. One of the fundamental determinants of the play, is a romance and realism that provoked by the desire to have companionship (Page 419). Blanche takes streetcars that were named "Desire and Cemeteries." This was a symbolic act and like the French's "la petite mort,"the racing of the cars symbolized the run towards Blanche's final destination (Hezaveh 56). The play, therefore, uses imagery, and figurative actions approach to exemplify its central theme. However, Blanche appears to be living in her world full of pretense and lies. She assets her loneliness in broad daylight, but pretends to be a woman of a different social class whom Stanley and partying friends were far from her reach. She makes strides to ensure that everyone and everything around her remains in the dark. In fact, she never wants to be seen in real self "daylight never exposed so total a ruin" (scene one) when she falls in love with Mitch. Furthermore, she reveals herself as a woman in search for romance, but she prefers darkness because she is hiding her age and her physical appearance that she believes would compromise her relationship with Mitch. In reference to this Blanche says "I like the dark, it is comfortable to me" (scene nine), her commitment to seek companionship without revealing her true self portrays her self-esteem that seemed to have gone below a trench after years of loneliness (Page 419). Her encounter with the partying group that she describes them as dirty and uneducated reveals her prejudice and negative attitude despite her consistent efforts to remain relevant in the love affairs and kill loneliness. In contrast, Stella is portrayed as a person who enjoys others companionship. Her case is a self-fulfilling relationship adventure in companionship with her husband, she enjoys both the darkness and the light. She has nothing t hide, life appears to be real and nothing treats her badly unlike what Blanche thinks of her husband. Play Analysis Blanche spends most of her appearances wearing white and presenting herself clean and attractive. It is a total contrast in Stanley house and the partying friends. The producer of the play uses this contrast to depict Blanche as a relatively rich and classy woman who finds herself in loneliness. Despite her conviction on class and education, loneliness drives her to the dirty house of Stanley where she meets Mitch for companionship. The dark lighting and Stanley breaking bulbs create an artificial darkness that serves to create romance in the room and at the same time helps hides Blanche agony. Blanche notably prefers darkness and the producer of the play offer darkness as the desire f Blanche to have her story concealed from those around her. Light is used to present Blanche's world of reality in addition, she refers darkness and light in relation to the poetry and music; this help brings out her background reality that she wishes it away. The Modern Play Comparison As played in the 1940s, the play remains significantly relevant to modern day. With new dimensions of the play, Lamothe as the main character representing historical Blanche, she presents a quite different character of a modern woman, educated and rich (Page 421). Unlike the initial role of Blanche in the 1947 of a woman who is scarcely educated, but pretends to be rich, the new character presented in a contemporary play is rightfully rich but misses the companionship. While Blanche's role served its purpose of advancing the theme of loneliness, it is downplayed by the fact that there was an existing contrast of characters. Despite her pretense and hiding her real self, a new character enriches the theme by showing the actual contrast in class and social stratification. It displays a rich widowed woman who is in constant conflict with compromising the social class to seek companionship from the poor and dirty Tim Richard, who represents Mitch in the original play (Hezaveh 59). By adopting this character adjustment in what they represent, the play will have the intriguing effects to its audience because the sharp contrast will help bring out the contrasting effect. Conclusion Loneliness remains a relevant theme to date; William uses desperate characters like Blanche to advance the theme of loneliness and double standard life. In addition, the pursuit for companionship presents as the most dramatic and chilling experience as the character came under the mercies of strangers and foes in equal measure. Irrespective of the experience, loneliness is presented as one of the experience that can plunge one into a series of light and tribulations. Works Cited Hezaveh, Leila Rezaei, Nurul Farhana Low Bt Abdullah, and Salleh Yaapar. "Fragmented identities on the stage a psychoanalytical analysis of the characters in A Streetcar Named Desire based on abjection." Journal of Language and Literature 4.2 (2013): 54-59. Print. Page, N. "A Self-psychology Analysis Of Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire." The Arts in Psychotherapy 23.5 (1996): 417-422. Print. Read More