Conflicting Masculinity Ideals - Essay Example

01 July, Conflicting Masculinity Ideals. Tennessee William uses different characters in the play to make evident the discrepant personalities that men in a society possess, and how they relate with women in their lives. Through careful weaving of both male and female characters, the author explores the institutions of marriage, family and friendships. He illustrates to us the differing roles played by both genders in these relationships. The men in the play bring out a variety of character traits and conflicting ideals of what masculinity is. Stanley and Mitch display this sharp contrast and, the reader is left to reflect on what they consider to be right and acceptable. During the time period referenced in the play, men are regarded as wielding higher authority than women and are regarded to be superior. The men expect women to be submissive, obedient and not question their actions because they are the breadwinners in the family. Men are authoritative and expect the women to be obedient and submissive towards them.” Since when do you give me orders?”(Scene 2 pg. 34). Stanley asks Stella this question showing that it is unheard of for her to give him orders and all the orders in the house are meant to come from him. Violence against women seems normal and acceptable. When Stanley gets drunk at the poker game, he beats up Stella even though he is aware that she is pregnant. She acts offended at first, but eventually forgives him and goes back to him. When Blanche expresses her concerns to Mitch about this, he quickly dismisses her worries and tells her not to worry because they are crazy in love. This tells us that the incident that has ensued is a normal occurrence that they are used to. Stella also defends Stanley after the altercation. She tells Blanche to forget about it because Stanley is sorry about it and has given her some money as a sign of remorse. This gesture reveals to us that the women are not financially stable enough to manage on their own, and lean heavily on financial assistance of men. Violence is depicted again by Steve and Eunice after she accuses him of having eyes for another woman. Steve ends up beating her, but get into a quarrel when Stella asks Stanley if Eunice has gone to call the police, Stanley tells her that she has gone to get a drink to which Stella replies: “Thats much more practical!” (Scene 5pg. 81). This shows how the commonly accepted physical abuse was, to the point that Stella, who is a victim of abuse herself has resigned to it and does not find it right to report. They laugh when Eunice suggests she would call the police because of how ridiculous the thought is to them. Eventually, Eunice and Steve makeup and continue relating as if nothing had happened prior. Stanley rapes Blanche later on and even though Stella is a bit convinced that her sister is telling the truth, she still sends her off to the asylum. All these events signify that men simply got away with the violence; facing no consequences that could deter them from repeating them in future. Men expect the women to do all the household chores around the house as is traditional in most societies. When we encounter them the first time, Stanley and his friends are from a poker game and he hurls meat at Stella for her to cook. Stella accepts it heartily showing us that she is happy to do her house chores as Stanley spends time with his friends. Stanley asks Stella to serve him dinner every day and is not comfortable eating anywhere else. “How about my supper, huh? Im not going to no Galatoires for supper!”(scene 2 pg. 26). Men also presuppose that whatever belongs to the women is also rightfully theirs. When Blanche tells them that Belle Reeve has been sold off, he demands to see the papers of deeds of sale as proof because he terms it as a loss to him too. Stanley finds it hard to believe that Blanche is capable of buying anything for herself even though she was a teacher previously. Women are not perceived to be able to acquire anything by themselves. Mitch on the other hand shows a different side of men. When Stanley suggests that they host the poker game at his house, he quickly reminds them it is not possible because his mother is not feeling well. During the poker game, he reminds them that he has to leave early and go take care of his sick mother. This brings out a softer representation of men, for he is not ashamed to say he is taking care of his mother, even though normally the roles would be reversed. He is courteous in the way he greets women and often refers to Blanche as Miss Du Bois at first bringing out a respectful side of men. He treats Blanche decently and obeys her requests such as turning down the lantern. When Stanley starts a fight, he shows his blatant opposition towards his violent behavior insisting that “Poker shouldnt be played in a house with women” (scene 3pg. 60, pg. 61). He exhibits empathetic emotions towards the women and helps Blanche in looking for Stella’s clothes so that they can seek refuge upstairs. Before unmasking her secret past, Mitch treats Blanche gently and exudes romantic gestures such as buying her flowers, taking her out for dates and talking to her politely. He is never arrogant or domineering. Even Blanche appreciates the fact that he is a gentleman; she says he is among the few left in the world. His polite nature also comes off when he calls off his engagement to Blanche. Despite feeling betrayed, he is not abusive and violent which is certainly what somebody like Stanley would have done. Steve and Pablo are representatives of the softer side too, as seen in the game when they were playing poker. Stanley wants the women to switch off the music, but the rest is advocating for them to listen to the song of their choice. Unlike Stanley, they are willing to treat women as equals who have freedom of choice and want them to enjoy themselves as the men are. Additionally, women are viewed as objects of sexual gratification by the men. Stanley is described as a man who sizes up women with perverse glances insinuating sexual clarifications. He tells a lewd joke of a man who hopes to never be so hungry that he would let a sexual encounter pass. When Stanley rapes Blanche, he is not remorseful about it and says that “Weve had this date with each other from the beginning!” (Scene 10 pg. 146). He does not perceive anything erroneous with his actions and justifies them by saying that Blanche has wanted it from the start. By sleeping with his wife’s sister, the author shows us just how degraded Stanley’s morals are and how little his regard for women is. He has no remorse for his actions and assumes that because of Blanche’s past promiscuity, he is justified to rape her. His sexual relationship with his wife is extremely important to him and one of the reasons he is enthusiastic for Blanche to leave their house is because he feels she has disrupted their sexual relationship. He desires for it to go back to normal and tells her “Stell, its gonna be all right after she goes and after youve had the baby. Its gonna be all right again between you and me the way that it was. You remember that way that it was? Them nights we had together? God, honey, its gonna be sweet when we can make noise in the night the way that we used to and get the coloured lights going with nobodys sister behind the curtains to hear us!”(Scene 8 pg. 122). Mitch Harbours is smitten by Blanche at first sight and harbours desires for but he is more reserved about it and not as blatant as Stanley who flirts openly. Mitch treats her delicately and is more concerned in making her feel safe and comfortable around him. Unfortunately, despite Mitch’s more humane and gentle nature of relating to women and other people, Stanley, who is rough and aggressive is seen to be the ideal man by both genders in the society. Ironically; even though he has assaulted her in the past, Stella says that Stanley would get ahead in life more than Mitch because of what she refers to as his drive. This symbolizes how in that society a gentle and soft man is seen to be weak and his loud counterparts are viewed as a strong macho man and are more preferred. During the poker game, although Pablo, Steve and Mitch do not approve of the way Stanley treats the women and his violent outbursts, but they are not audacious enough to stand up to him. They simply leave him alone without telling him that what he is doing is wrong. His loud and aggressive nature makes him more ‘manly’ than them and he is regarded as top in command of the other men. When Blanche is being sent away, Mitch makes an attempt to go and sort of rescue Blanche from all the events but he is pushed back by Stanley. He sobs because he seems to know that what they are doing is wrong, yet there is nothing he can do concerning it. The events in the play clearly illustrate how the society embraces men similar to Stanley, who represents violence, physical dominance and masculinity. Mitch represents those who are refined, sensitive and well-mannered. The former are viewed to be attractive and more sexually appealing than the latter type that is labeled as weak. There seems to be a conflict about the differing ideals of masculinity, but the author gives us hope that the breed of the kindest men might eventually be the more acceptable type in the society by intentionally portraying the doctor who at the end of scene eleven talks to Blanche kindly and humanely. Blanche recognizes him as a rescuer because of his calm and reassuring nature that gives her a chance to leave the house with her dignity intact. Works cited A streetcar named desire by Tennessee William. Read More