In many relationships between a man and a woman, there is generally
a controlling figure that is dominant over the other.
In the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” written by Tennessee Williams,
it is absolutely clear that Stanley Kowalski is the more dominant figure
over Stella.
During the development of the play, we can find a large
number of examples of the power he possesses of her. In fact, we understand
that Williams reveals Stella as a little girl who lives around in Stanley’s
world and despite the fact she does what he wants and takes his abuse, she
still loves him.
In the first scene of the play we realized Stanley has just thrown a piece of meat up to Stella as he turns the corner heading for the bowling alley. He makes no motion to stop, run up the stairs and explain to his wife what’s going on, similar to what would occur in an equal relationship.Instead he continues down the street like a boy with no responsibilities. Stella yells, “Where are you going,” and then asks if she could come to watch, he agrees but doesn’t stop to wait for her. This scene demonstrates how Stella follows Stanley along, and serves him according to what he wishes to do and when he wants to do it.
In scene three, Stanley is having his poker party and he is very drunk. Blanche distracting Stanley by listening to the radio instigates him to grab it off the table and toss it out the window. Stella in a state of panic tells everyone to go home which angers Stanley so he chases after her and hits her.
In the first scene of the play we realized Stanley has just thrown a piece of meat up to Stella as he turns the corner heading for the bowling alley. He makes no motion to stop, run up the stairs and explain to his wife what’s going on, similar to what would occur in an equal relationship.Instead he continues down the street like a boy with no responsibilities. Stella yells, “Where are you going,” and then asks if she could come to watch, he agrees but doesn’t stop to wait for her. This scene demonstrates how Stella follows Stanley along, and serves him according to what he wishes to do and when he wants to do it.
In scene three, Stanley is having his poker party and he is very drunk. Blanche distracting Stanley by listening to the radio instigates him to grab it off the table and toss it out the window. Stella in a state of panic tells everyone to go home which angers Stanley so he chases after her and hits her.
During the last scene of the play Blanche is being taken away by a doctor. This is an extremely emotional time for Stella, so she really needs someone to comfort her. Stanley being insensitive toward her kneels down beside her and reaches under her blouse. He makes no effort to hug or hold her close to him. This demonstrates his lack of sensitivity. The idea of him reaching under blouse cries out I am the one who needs you now focus your intentions on me she is gone. Even in Stella’s time of need Stanley is there only for himself and doesn’t extend himself to his wife.
All in all, the relationship portrayed by Tennessee Williams is clearly a male dominating over the female. Here Stella is the follower to her husband Stanley. She acts in relation to him and is the one in need at all times. His desires come first and shall not be disrupted by his wife.
Do you think this kind of relationships exist nowadays? Do
you think women would act like Stella in her situation?
ResponderEliminarWell, first of all I totally agree with your statement, because the whole play is a representation of how men dominate women. And despite the fact that I really enjoyed the novel, and I really liked it, I refuse the idea of considering a positive example for society nowadays.
Secondly, in our group discussion next week, we are going to talk about Stella's roles in the play, and one of them involves this submission from her. She is always giving up to Stanley and even though she had a moment of revelation she ends up choosing Stanley's side. Moreover, is not only Stella the representation of submission, but also Blanche, because her character is always looking for male approbation, and her ideals of a better life are directly related to relations with men.
And finally, answering to your questions, I believe that these kinds of relationships still exist. Elderly people have this concept of life, and I can see that in my grandmother’s opinions “That's how men are, and there is nothing to do about it”, this is kind of shocking for me, but some younger women grew up thinking like that, and they would probably act like Stella, but we can stop that teaching our future generations.
I think that Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire criticises women’s dependence on men in the early 20th century. Every woman in the play shows an overwhelming necessity of being with a supporting man in order to be successful regarding economic progress, motherhood, emotions and sexuality. However, the women’s behaviour is not intrinsic; the male characters, particularly Stanley, are the ones that oppress female independence by their powerful patriarchy.
ResponderEliminarBlanche DuBois characterises the battle against that patriarchy, unlike Stella, who takes Stanley’s authority as something normal. But even though Blanche seems to be a free, unconventional and modern woman, she has the same dependence on males; when she feels unconfident, she runs to men in order to feel appreciated, when she feels rejected or troubled, she turns to “Shep”, her imaginary hero.
Everything has a reason, thought. Stanley represents the north while DuBois sisters represent the south and the north is meant to dominate the south. So it is not a surprise that exacerbated ‘machismo’ in the play.
And finally, as Gabriel said, those kinds of relationships still exist. Unfortunately, people tend to depend too much on their partners.