Tennessee Williams- A Streetcar Named Desire

'A Streetcar Named Desire' is an American play written by Tennessee William's in 1947, the same playwrite who wrote 'The Glass Menagerie'  which was the subject of an earlier post. William's sister suffered with mental health issues and had to undergo a lobotomy, perhaps an insight into the deteriating mental state of Blanche Dubois, the 'beautiful southern relic' who clashes with Stanley Kowalski, a member of the rising industrial working class in American cities.

The play was written at a time of increasing civil rights for immigrants in America. For example an important detail of the play is Blanche's loss of Belle Reve, an ancestoral southern plantation that would have once employed many slaves but had began to struggle. Blache's assessment of Stanley as a "different species" and "sub-human" may also be a clue of underlying racial discrimination.

The role of women is important in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' because it is Blanche's failure to conform to the status-quo which eventually leads to her downfall. For example Blanche's sister Stella is happy to settle down and prepare to have Stanley's child whereas Blanche is a less steriotypical women. Blanche constantly battles with Stanley and his masculinity, eventually leading him to subdue her in the only way he knows; force. Blanche is eventually labelled as insane by Stanley and Stella and sent off to a mental institute.

Offred, the fictional character of Margaret Atwood's novel 'The Handmaid's Tale' is similar to Blanche in her struggle against the 'social norm' and eventual labelling as a tragic heroine. Offred is stuck in a dystopian society where women are used merely for child bearing and rebellion causes Offred's downfall at the hands of the Gileadian regime.

In a 2009 review of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' they talk about William's explicit stage directions: "you are instantly struck by the evocation of New Orleans, with its spiral staircases and ornamented balconies extending right around the theatre." Detailed stage directions are a key feature of William's work; from Stanley's description as a "richly feathered male bird" to the music: "tinny piano being played with infatuated fluency."

William's play is typical of the struggle for identity because it exposes the unofficial laws of society; the status quo. This status quo is revolved around the portrayal of the different genders and races, such as the juxtapositon between the two sisters, Blanche and Stella, and Stanley's racial difference. The context of economic, social and policital issues also helps make Tennessee William's play typical of the struggle for identity in modern literature.