Class and Gender in A Streetcar Named Desire - Essay Example

Class and gender in “A Streetcar Named Desire” In society, there has always been a difference in the class and gender of mankind as the rich were always superior to the poor, and men were seen as more superior to woman. Of course with time, women have outgrown the dependence on men, yet a certain class issue between the upper and lower still stands today. The author of the play “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Tennessee Williams, lived in a time when men were portrayed as leaders of the household. Williams utilizes specific descriptions of characters, as well as dialogue to illustrate to the readers the different gender attitudes of men and women in the mid-1900s, as well as the great variation of social class forced to come together. The purpose of this essay is to reveal these attitudes of class and gender as they are revealed in the play. Stanley Kowalski, one of the main characters in “A Streetcar Named Desire” is a simple man, who treats his wife Stella disrespectfully simply because she is a woman. Her duties as a wife were to obey his commands and tolerate his behavior. During this period it was considered common for a man to be violent with his wife as he saw necessary in order for her to learn from her mistakes, particularly within the lower classes where violence seemed to be more prevalent. “Girls absorb the message that you just grin and bear it when you’re hit, while boys absorb the message that hitting by men may be appropriate to show love and power in relationships” (“Physical and Emotional Abuse”, 2008). After one of these ‘corrective’ attacks which causes Stella to temporarily leave her husband, Stella states to her sister, “He was a good lamb when I came back and he’s really very, very ashamed of himself” (Williams, 2309). Stella immediately goes back to her husband even after being brutally beaten just because she feels she has to for her own support and in fulfillment of her marriage vows. The reader understands that today this kind of behavior is against the law and is not tolerated at all, and a woman does not need to be married in order to be happy, whereas at that time women were in need of a man for happiness. This emphasizes some of the differences in gender in that men did not feel this need to remain with their wives. Furthermore, after one of her beatings, Stella states, “Stanley doesn’t give me a regular allowance, he likes to pay bills himself, but - this morning he gave me ten dollars to smooth things over” (Williams, 2311). She needs his money in order to survive, especially since a baby is on the way, but she loves him because she cherishes the times they share. This illustrates their class as well as their gender differences. Stanley views it as a part of the man’s duty to ensure the bills are paid and takes that job on himself, meaning that Stella does not need any spending money to get her through the day. This necessarily keeps Stella at a distinct disadvantage as she can’t even save up for her escape should that be something she desires to do. A family of the upper class might not need to hand out money to his wife because she is capable of billing everything to the house or he might feel it important that his wife have spending money so as to avoid embarrassment in the eyes of their friends, but the lower class considered it preferable to keep wives in their place by denying them any chance at freedom. Moreover, women depended on men for both their sustainability and their self-image as is revealed both in Stella’s constant attachment to Stanley as a means of identifying herself and in Blanche’s single-minded pursuit of a life-saving marriage. In order to escape disgrace, Blanche sees Mitch as a method to marriage. However, due to her bad reputation she is rejected. This only adds to her depression and excessive drinking, finally driving her over the edge of sanity. This illustrates that a woman looked for a man as a tool of survival. Blanche’s dependence on men leads to her downfall by relying on men rather than herself she puts her fate in the hands of others. Williams emphasizes the fact that women were not given any respect due to their gender and were too depenedant on men. When Stanley hosts a drunken poker game with his friends at the apartment, the scene illustrates how he provides his wife no privacy even in her own home, and she is forced to watch them get drunk and clean up after them. Also in Scene One, Stanley throws a package of meat at Stella for her to catch. In hurling the meat at Stella, Stanley makes the sexual proprietorship he holds over her clear. Stella’s delight in catching Stanley’s meat signifies her sexual infatuation with him. This was shocking at the time as this type of blatant sexual innuendo had not previously been produced on stage. “It was a play that dealth with for the very first time on the American stage, female sexuality and male sexuality” (Elliott, 2002). Thus, while Stanley feels free to ‘throw his meat around’, Stella remains the begging animal at his feet eager to be the one to catch it. In every way possible within the context of the play, Williams illustrates how women depended on men for every element of their life while men only depended on women to clean up the messes they’ve left behind. Class is another issue which is evident in this play, Blanche and Stella Dubois both came from an upper class family, yet Stella marries Stanley who is from a lower status than her own. This way Williams shows the mentality of the different classes by including characters of different status in the same scene. In Scene Two, Blanche makes a comment about Stanley to Stella, that he is “not the type that goes for jasmine perfume” which is her way of articulating that he cannot appreciate fine taste as Blanche can. She suggests that he is not suitable to be a member of the DuBois family because of his inability to appreciate the better things in life as the girls have been trained to do. This is ironic because Blanche is broke yet she still looks down upon the lower class. “The primary focus of class differences is the ‘socio’ rather than the ‘economic’ – it’s less about what you have than where you’re from. Income level and field of employment are far less relevant than background in recognizing the differences in attitudes, behaviors, lifestyle and relating” (Sheckels, 2007). The differentiation in class is also evident when Blanche tries to convince Stella to leave Stanley after she is beaten, for a better man whose social status equals Stella’s. Blanche suggests that she and Stella contact a millionaire named Shep Huntleigh to help them escape from New Orleans. This not only depicts women’s dependence on men, but also shows that they long to marry a man of great wealth for a better status and image in society. Yet Stella laughs at her suggestion, showing that she could not take the risk of leaving Stanley because she knows she would have great difficulty in finding a job because women are supposed to stay home and take care of their husbands. Tennessee Williams’ goal was to present to the audience the state of living for the people in the mid-1900s. If he’d had the opportunity to learn about today’s society, he would be amazed at how gender issues have developed, how women have become just as independant as men as they have paying jobs, and would file for divorce if beaten. Many couples end up in divorce today whereas in Williams’ day, a woman would tolerate many things to keep of her mariage intact. But, at what cost? Also, the issue of class, while it still exists, is somewhat more relaxed today than it was when the play was written. Social mobility is tolerated to a greater extent, but effort must still be made among those shifting from low to high or high to low to change their behavior so as to blend in with the crowd and their expectations. Works Cited Elliott, Debbie. “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Creation. NPR. (September 23, 2002). November 24, 2008 “Physical and Emotional Abuse.” Total Health for Women. Rodale, 2008. November 24, 2008 Sheckels, Ceetee. “An Overview of Socioeconomic Class Differences.” Associated Content. (March 26, 2007). November 24, 2008 Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: New Directions Books, 1980. Read More