Stereotypical Representation of Women in a Streetcar Named Desire - Essay Example

Stereotypical Representation of Women in A Streetcar d Desire A Streetcar d Desire is an intricate play by Tennessee Williams, packed with acomplex set of stereotyped roles and conflicting emotions that intertwine with the characters’ life. The playwright reveals a clear understanding about the emotional and social roles of each of the character through his literary excellence. Gender stereotyping is one among the major themes in the play, and the author portrays the sharp contrasting features and the social dynamics that exist between the three main characters – Blanche, Stella, and Stanley. Gender stereotyping prevalent in the play contributes to the antagonistic plot, fueling emotional disturbances and conflicts between the characters. The play becomes an object of feminist criticism as it upholds the patriarchic norms and beliefs in the society. So, the focus in on the way Williams exhibits feminist criticism in his play, A Streetcar Named Desire, and to what extend does his work render to the idea of gender stereotyping. The stereotypical representation of the characters in the play reflects a male-centered thought process of the playwright. Moreover, the extent to which gender stereotyping in the play supports patriarchy can clearly reveal the feminist criticism of the playwright. Blanche Dubois, the complicated protagonist of the play, is left without a dime because of her family’s misfortune. Her sister Stella and her husband Stanley Kowalski live in a squalor apartment in New Orleans, and Blanche’s unexpected arrival brings internal tensions in the family. Stanley is a crude brawling blue-collar salesman, who is often at odds with Blanche and her upper-class fantasies. The sheer contrast between the characters is fueled by their opposing ideals, way of lifestyle, and role of dominance in the household. The pretentious nature of Blanche regarding her social virtues and culture is because of her alcoholic nature and dark lustful desires. However, Stella Kowalski is sympathetic towards Blanche, despite Blanche’s blatant remarks and upper-class mentality that in a way creates tensions between Stanley and Stella. Stanley’s hatred towards the behaviors of Blanche causes emotional conflicts within the household, further intensifying the situation. When he reveals the disreputable past of hers to Mitch, they get broken up and Blanche collapses completely. Her gaudy dress-ups are followed by ostentatious talks and tantrums, which provokes Stanley to the core and consequently, he brutally acts on her. She loses all hope and submits to insanity, confessing her past and accepting her desire for strangers’ love. The play ends with the doctor taking Blanche to asylum; while Mitch and Stella feel sorry for her, Stanley stands hoping that everything happened for good. To analyze the feminist criticism in the novel, it is important to understand the concepts and perspectives behind feminist values, patriarchal structure, and the gender stereotyping. A feminist critic is one who does not go with the conventional assumptions about a female, but supports the challenging ideas of regarding women’s values, experiences, and tribulations in the literature. Feminist critics accept the notion of culturally determined gender differences and interpret the same in their literary works. They tend to focus on male dominance and repression of women in their literature and this play lends naturally to this feminist criticism. The attitudes of men imposing their will on women to establish their power and dominance are evident throughout the play. Women in the play are convinced of their inferiority. This inferiority gets manifested because of the established patriarchal structure. In addition, the way the women in the play interact with the society is determined solely by the suppressive preconceived ideals about the women. That is, the women act according to the preconceived ideals that women has to be submissive at the hands of men and can be abused and controlled. When one views from this feminist perspective, the play is quite enormously complicated. Though it is a women’s story, showing their distinct problems and limitations, it oddly reflects the tendency of a ‘powerless woman’ in the patriarchal society. Feminist criticism examines how the characters in a literary work written by male writers represent dubious perspectives. This is indeed “a means of identifying the ways in which these restricted cultural representations underpin women’s oppression” (Bauer, 2012). Feminists are thus looking for stereotypically passive representations of women characters in literary works. An important feminism tenet is that gender is a socially and even racially constructed concept. Different cultures have different notions on the role of womanhood and how it is perceived. For instance, American South has narrowly defined social role for women based purely on their race than many other societies. white women are elevated to a position of veneration, as nonsexual and fragile personality deprived of power. However, blacks are perceived to be lusty and compliant, totally contrary to the Puritanical view of whites. Williams presents his female characters to be based on the socially accepted gender stereotyping. Blanche’s character is explained as, “mothlike, sensitive, and fragile in a way that is ultimately self-destructive.” (Foley, 2013). This is truly a stereotypical representation of women in any society. Women are expected to be sensitive and fragile, and when this notion fails in a particular person, she is consequently viewed as a ravaging individual of no feminine virtue. On the contrary, Stella is a different kind of woman in the play, magnifying the society’s norms about woman being an incompetent and dependent personality. Even after knowing about the Stanley’s rape of Blanche, she refuses to believe it. Her inability to leave her abusive husband is not only because of her love but for her family’s stability and for the good of her yet-to-be born baby. Masculinity is viewed to be a more stable gender and that is why Stella is inclined to her husband, without whom she feels she would be insecure in the society. In the play, Williams brings forth the contrasting natures of the two sisters, Blanche, the Southern belle of Puritanism, and Stella, the traditional woman adapted to the society’s norms. Both of them are well aware of a woman’s role in the society, as a daughter, wife, and mother but are manipulated differently due to the circumstances in which they were living. They both aspire for security within marriage but are faced with disappointment and abuse in life, because of their unsuitable husbands. Blanche encounters a bisexual husband who commits suicide, dashing her dreams of a happy marriage. Similarly, even though Stella had chosen an aggressive heterosexual man, she is faces an abusive unstable life. However, the way both the characters dealt with their respective problems has contributed to their success or failure in life. Blanche’s inability to comprehend her guilt for her husband’s suicide has possibly led to promiscuous behavior of her part. The passionate love for her husband, her elopement with him, discovery of his homosexual behavior, and her ultimate disgust because of his deviation from social norms has a major role to play in shaping her character. Her behaviors were truly an outcome of the blemished past events, which made her into a person longing for love and affection from strangers. This could be evident through her emotional responses to Mitch’s courtships and love letters. “When Stanley handles the letters, she becomes hysterical and nauseated.” This is why Williams describes her as “she seems to be a prisoner of her memories” (Tischler, 2000, p.56). On the other hand, Stella is portrayed as a traditional woman conforming to the society’s standards and beliefs. The social stereotyping including aspects such as women has to be protected by men, should be faithful with chastity, and must carry out the womanly tasks like teaching or nursing have shaped Stella’s character as a wife. The author has portrayed Stella as a woman who aptly fits the society’s stereotyping of woman, which is to be a pampered doll who is cherished by her husband and children. Although, her acceptance of spouse abuse appears appalling to the feminist critics, she is portrayed as an adaptive woman who tolerates her husband’s brutality and the subsequent penitence. In addition, she is also comfortable with his protection and ascendancy. She is also shown as a dumb woman who believes his improbable denial of rape, despite knowing his clumsy gestures and violent abuses. The author seems to imply that by accepting her husband’s bad attributes, she is able to ensure a secure home for her and her children. She deliberately thinks that it is essential for a woman to adapt to the behaviors of her husband for maintaining her social status as well as for securing the future of her children and hers. Williams has portrayed women as victims and losers in the entire play. Though he considers Blanche as a liberated courageous woman, living an independent life, the life of hers has never been a fulfilled one. This is because she is left with constant quest for love through courtships, leading to promiscuity. When it comes to Williams portraying Stella as a victim of abuse, it could be understood that women tend to remain in abusive relationships not mainly because of social norms, but for other reasons as well. In Stella’s case, it could have been the curious attraction she has towards him, or the economic circumstances that stopped her from fighting the psychological and physical abuse. By showing such abusive victimization of women, the author brings to the attention of the readers that women are socially expected to endure the male behavior, despite any consequent actions. Masculinity is used as a means by men to belittle women and when they fail in doing so, they use violence in an abusive manner to get what has to be done. Williams had particularly portrayed women as powerless ones in the men-dominated society. Though it might be true to some extent in the medieval times when he wrote the plays, from the perspective of feminist criticism, it is an unacceptable concept. Male dominance is portrayed by Williams to imply the existence of the patriarchal structure in the society. The domineering nature of Stanley in his household through crude remarks, confrontation and hollering of his wife, portray the power of masculinity he has in his home. He wants to establish superiority in all affairs of the home, and when it fails, he behaves furiously, to maintain the male authoritarian role as the head of the family. According to his view, women have to be treated as inferior and submissive to men. When this ideal is violated, it infuriates him, subsequently persecuting everyone around. It could be seen in the play that when Stella or Blanche fails to be submissive to him, he gets outraged and tempestuous. His attempts to want his wife to return home, despite his violent abuse, shows the male patriarchal view of women to be dependent and confined to home. The arrival of Blanche is viewed as a threat to his dominance because of her elite prejudices and independent nature. Blanche is extremely opposing to his view of a women and this is why he could not tolerate her existence at home. When Stanley acts out his outrage and domination on Blanche through his sexual encounter, he takes out his aggression and subdued repressions on her. The rape for him is the outcome of male vitality and penalty for her promiscuous acts. This view of women as a fair target for rape is opposed by the modern feminists, suggesting that rape has to be viewed as a reprehensible act of violence, not a stud’s right. It has to be noted that the terrified Blanche defends herself during the confrontation, which leads to the outrage of Stanley overpowering her. Her promiscuous past and aggressive acts cannot be taken as a justification for rape; and she has the complete right to refuse, whatever her sexual history might be. From the perspective of Williams, Blanche is portrayed as a fallen women, who is worthy of the punishment that was subdued on her. Even worse was the notion that she was willing and attracted to the masculinity of Stanley. She was described as nymphomaniac, a word that demotes the women’s rights for sexuality. When Williams mentions, "strong attraction between them which is satisfied," he misconstrues the rape as an ‘affair’ between the two. (Dace, 1994). From a feminist perspective, Williams had portrayed Blanche as a contrary to the social gender stereotyping. She was not expecting any kind of deference and protection from men, as most women do, but was relentlessly extracting and demanding the expected behaviors from men. Her obsession towards external beauty corresponds little to the social norm for any married women. Though she was aggressive and promiscuous, she was also depicted to be graceful and virtuous throughout the play, conforming to the stereotypical Southern belle. However, the bossy commanding nature of Blanche is in sharp contract with Stella’s submissive character. Stella even justifies Stanley’s rude behavior, and even plays it down saying it was not as serious as it might seem. “But it wasn’t anything as serious as you seem to take it…. He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he’s really very, very ashamed of himself. (Williams, 1981, p.44). The strength, aggressiveness and violence in Stanley’s character are based on patriarchy and its values, which he tends to hold strongly throughout the play. His desire to be the leader in the household clearly supports his notion of Works Cited Bauer, Christian. "Stereotypical Gender Roles and their Patriarchal Effects in A Streetcar Named Desire." (2012). Dace, Tish. "A Streetcar Named Desire: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 28 Nov. 2014. Foley, Ruth. "Women as Victims in Tennessee Williams First Three Major Plays." 2013. Tischler, Nancy Marie Patterson. Student Companion to Tennessee Williams. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire: Play in Three Acts. Dramatists Play Service Inc, 1981. Read More