Street Car Named Desire by Tennessee Williams - Essay Example

A Street Car Named Desire by Tennessee WilliamsIntroductionTennessee Williams, the famous American playwright, composed the play ‘A Street Car Named Desire’ in the year 1947. For the same play, he also was conferred Pulitzer Prize for Drama in the year 1948. Apart from being the socio-political discourse of the contemporary American society, the drama also introduced a specific style in acting, setting and plot which was marked by the critics and scholars as naturalism or use of stark realism in the forthcoming years.

Naturalism in A Street Car Named DesireThere are manifold manifestations of the style of naturalism in the play, ‘A Street Car Named Desire’. Through plot, setting, characterization and theme the style of naturalism gets profound expression in the play. The way the contemporary social issues are delineated within the precincts of the play, the language and the references of events along with personalities it indicates towards a stark use of naturalistic style while incorporating the play on stage (Baym, Franklin, Gura, Klinkowitz, Krupat, Levine, Loeffelholz, Reesman, & Wallace, 2007).

The ample use of the fact that during the period the science along with technology especially in the domain of medicine was developing rapidly finds enough mention in the play while discussing Stella’s nervous breakdowns shows naturalistic style of expression. The characters are depicted in the natural light without any scope for role reversal. Under the most plausible natural light, the characters develop, explore and retain their individuality within a world which is beyond their control (Williams, 2009).

The location of the Stella’s house, the projection of its dirty locale with dogs barking and at the outset of the play, playing of the Jazz music and the yelling of people all indicate towards the delineation of naturalism within the play. The description of Stanley and the way he rapes Blanche taking the advantage of time all depicts naturalism in the play as it reflects the actual heinous side of human character and its lowest vice where the evil aspect of man and his nature of hitting others and causing pain evolve out quite natural to the pragmatic world.

Conclusion‘A Street Car Named Desire’ is the play in which naturalism evolves out at its best through almost all the facets of the play starting from its dialect, setting character portrayal and actions of the characters. The play ‘A Street Car Named Desire’ shall remain eternal for its use of naturalism in and out. ReferencesBaym, N., Franklin, W., Gura, P. F., Klinkowitz, J., Krupat, A., Levine, R. S., Loeffelholz, M., Reesman, J. C., & Wallace, P. B. (2007). The Norton anthology of American literature.

(Shorter Seventh Edition). United States: W. W. Norton & Company. Williams, T. (2009). A streetcar named desire. London: A&C Black Publishers Ltd.