A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams - Essay Example

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams"They told me to take a street-car named Desire." That is Blanche's first action in the play that is full of confusion, disorientation and ambivalence. These are the reactions that are natural. The concept of naturalism is of the idea that man is often controlled by certain forces that are beyond his control. "A Streetcar Named Desire" depicts naturalism as it goes through the emotional state of Blanche; a story of everyday life of many people. The play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire," by Tennessee Williams, has characteristics of ‘naturalism' that I will discuss scene 1 and 2 in this essay.

A Streetcar Named Desire opens with the arrival of Blanche DuBois, an emotionally shattered woman who has lost her inheritance, at the New Orleans home of her sister Stella and Stella's husband Stanley. She cannot come in terms with reality and she makes it clear right from the start that her actions are involuntary – "they," some unknown entity, told her to take a street-car named Desire. This statement has a deeper meaning because it gives a sneak peak at Blanche’s mind. Here is woman who has lost everything she ever had, her life is falling apart and she has nowhere to go.

The only person she thinks of is her sister and out of desperation and with no options, Blanche finds herself standing at her sister’s rundown New Orleans house. Stella lives in a two story corner building on a street in New Orleans with her husband (Baym, 2008). This play is a mystery, but the writer doesn’t fail to hint at the part of the mystery in the beginning that would be carried throughout the play. The mystery that Blanche’s sheltered mind is riding on two metaphorical streetcars; Desire and Cemeteries both signifying Lust and Death, respectively.

Life is just that; circumstances driven by desire and death. It is a constant struggle to keep desire and death apart. Ultimately, they are paired and who wins later is just a matter of choice.In the first scene, Williams subtly addresses all the major issues: the loss of Belle Reve; Blanche's drinking; the death of Blanche's husband; the fear and adoration Stella feels for her husband; Blanche's fear of the light and preoccupation with appearances; The second scene brings in the elements particular to Blanche and Stanley's relationship, and from there all the foundation is laid to send the story hurtling down the tracks towards its conclusion.

In scene one, Blanche tries to disguise her emotional state by putting up a cheerful face in front of her pregnant sister. At the same time, she leaves no stones unturned to criticize Stella of her lifestyle and social standing. This is a perfect depiction of human nature; the insecurities, bitterness and inferiority complex of a person adopts a defensive strategy by putting down the other person to prove one superior. Blanche’s manipulative truth and lies continues until she meets her match-Stella’s husband Stanley.

The underlying sexual tension between Stanley and Blanche and the intention of Stanley to un-ravel Blanche’s past can be attributed to the natural reaction of man under the given circumstances. Scene two, sees Blanche as coy, flirty and high on her defences; a drastic change from what she was shown in scene one. Blanche is now a confident woman, quite capable of withstanding the cruelty and pressure Stanley intently puts on her. For every action of Stanley, Blanche seems to have an equally opposite reaction.

He is coarse, primitive, brutish; she is dainty, elegant, delicate. He glares at her; she hides her eyes from him. He is direct and blunt; she dances around every topic. While playing a game of card, Blanche admits "A woman's charm is fifty per cent illusion," but she still manages to diffuse Stanley by seeming to put all her cards on the table – except for the one up her sleeve. Nothing hides a truth so well as admitting to other truths. There is a twist in the human behaviour, which is complicated yet quite natural.

The characters, Blanche and Stanley are not exactly what they think they are. Blanche's romantic worldview is as much a desire as anything else – she has seen the truth, and she chooses to ignore it. Stanley, however, sees deceit in Blanche’s every action yet makes a mistake. This is a real life situation and this exact complicated dichotomy is present throughout our lives. William choice of characters has been stripped off from real life situations. Clearly, he has shown Blanche as the romantic, Stella as the timid character who fears as well as adores her husband and Stanley the realist.

William’s play displays all human emotions in the most complicated ways possible; there is love, lust, deceit, insecurity, desire, death, frustration, joy; The idea of naturalism is just beautifully depicted and the characters are real and the setting are apt to pass off as real life situations which anybody and everybody can relate to. References:Baym, N. (Ed.). (2008). The Norton anthology of American literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.A Study Guide complied by Micheal J Cummings (2010).

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