Deception and Illusion in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.
Blanche DuBois succinctly summarizes herself and her vision of the world with two words: "I misrepresent."" (A Streetcar Named Desire, hereafter SND, p. 117 ). In fact, she misrepresents virtually everything about herself and her world. For Blanche DuBois, the world is composed of multiple elements in which she either deceives herself unknowingly or intentionally embraces an illusion. Blanche shows up at her sister's home in New Orleans, having lost the family plantation in Mississippi. She holds herself blameless for this loss "a deception of personal responsibility. Symbolically, the plantation's very name, Belle Reve, implies a beautiful dream of a life style that may never have been a reality. Blanche further deludes herself by maintaining a contradiction about the importance of her own physical appearance and constantly misrepresents her own age. She has a personal illusion about love which was tragically shattered when she was very young, and pursues a relationships with Mitch which is, itself, shattered when the deceptions of her past are revealed. This illusion is highlighted by the dynamic tension between Blanche and Stanley, culminating in a harsh rape scene wherein he enacts the reality Blanche has been trying to avoid. As she slips totally into a world of unreality, Blanche even speculates that a knight in shining armor, Shep Huntleigh, an alleged millionaire, is going to come for her. In each of her illusions, Blanche clings to unrealistic views of herself and her world, in order to deny the sad reality to which she has descended as a charity case in her sister's meager existence. .
Blanche comes to her sister Stella Kowalski's home with a valise full of clothes and trappings from another kind of life. It is a life she wants desperately to believe she once led. It bears no semblance to Stella's rather drab reality, or to the people and circumstances to which Stella has learned to adjust.
Tennesee Williams' Use Of Stage Effects And How They Change A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire is mastery of the use of lighting, setting, and sound to add to emotion and meaning to a play. ... It seems that the minor details of music, sound effects, lighting, and setting were actually some of the most important points of A Streetcar Named Desire. ...
In A Streetcar Named Desire the part that Tennessee Williams' life plays in the text is fairly large. ... His father withdrew him from university to work at the International Shoe Company, where he met Stanley Kowalski, who Tennessee Williams' has plastered all over A Streetcar Named Desire. ... Quoting A Streetcar Named Desire: The Playwright (http://hipp.gator.net/scarplaywright.html): 'He was noted for bringing to his audiences a slice of his own life and the feel of the southern culture. ... A personal interest/experience in the themes/issues and characters would not have...
The purest language of plays" - just by studying 'A streetcar named Desire" the reader can identity the numerous symbols Williams' uses to add depth to the plot as well as unveil his characters' personalities, strengths and weaknesses. ... Light, animal characteristics, music and the streetcars Desire and Cemeteries are symbols that Kazan puts emphasis on in the film just as Williams does in the play to lead up to the climax of Blanche's disintegration into insanity and Stanley's brutal triumph over her. ... "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire and then tr...
Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire- Tennesse Williams is known as one of the greatest American playwrights. ... Among his most notable and successful plays were "The Glass Menagerie-, which he refers to as "memory play-, "A Streetcar Named Desire-, "The Rose Tatoo- and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof- for which he was appreciated winning the Pulitzer Prize. ... "Streetcar Named Desire- which was firstly entitled "The Poker Night- emerged right after the theatrical success of "The Glass Menagerie- when the authour learned to play poker game. ... The moment Blanche appea...
That play was A Streetcar Named Desire. ... It is no surprise that Williams again turned to Mielziner to design A Streetcar Named Desire. ... Thanks in large part to A Streetcar Named Desire, the duo of Mielziner and Williams helped to change theatre. ... At the time of A Streetcar Named Desire, "it was more like an accusation" (Murphy 1). ... When it came to A Streetcar Named Desire, Kazan's collaboration did not come cheap. ...
" A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams Bruce, Smith. ... "It's a French name. ... She tells him the origins of her name, which she treasures. ... "A Streetcar Named Desire" did not grab my attention at all. ... "A Streetcar Named Desire" was written in 1933, and many things have changed since then. ...
Viewing of A Streetcar Named Desire Although the basic story line is the same in both the book and the live play of A streetcar Named Desire, some things were different. ... For the most part, reading A Streetcar Named Desire was very similar to the live performance. ...
In the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, there are several prevalent themes. ... This is allegorically represented through Blanche DuBois's riding of the streetcars named Desire and Cemeteries. ... In "A Streetcar Named Desire", Tennessee Williams states that one can not shield himself from the harshness of reality by creating a fantasy alternative. ... This desire for physical relationships brought her to a more troubled state of reality. ... Tennessee Williams uses his play "A Streetcar Named Desire" to demonstrate the problem one faces with creating a fantasy...
Tennessee Williams uses symbols to help communicate his ideas in A Streetcar Named Desire. ... Clothing is a recurring symbol in A Streetcar Named Desire. ... Death, as told by Blanche, is the opposite of Desire, and Blanche wishes to be desired. ... The streetcar named Desire leads to a streetcar named Cemeteries, and both of the most important characters suffer death in one way of another. Without this desire, this play would be completely different and have less meaning. ...
