As you read the first five scenes of Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire for Monday, think about the relationships between characters, the role of the setting, and how you would stage and perform the play. Think about names of places, people, and the streetcars. What does the play say about the complicated dynamics of families? What is the role of music in the play?
Stella- star
ReplyDeleteBlanche- white
I find the way the characters interact with one another extremely life-like, but the relationship that Stella and Blanche have as sisters is very much so plausible. I am an older sister, and am very able to relate to the relationship that Stella and Blanche have exhibited thus far. Blanche is constantly needing approval, "fishing for a compliment" over and over, obsessed with her appearance in such a way that being a school-teacher comes second to her. She drops names like Poe, Whitman, and Hawthorne but she is not concerned with appearing smart- she especially does not want to appear savvy or intelligent in front of the men, laughing away her knowledge and profession in front of Mitch. Blanche's name means white, as she is happy to point out to Mitch, and all the things that we associate with white- such as purity and chasteness- jump to mind.Blanche does much to cultivate this by her preoccupation with cleanliness, dress, her gasps at Stella's mentions of her sex-life. But,then Blanche is not what she struggles to maintain, she flirts with Stanley and then Mitch, and is deathly afraid of being associated with the Flamingo by Stanley. Blanche is a magnetic force, a character that draws attention and concern with almost brute force all the while simpering coyly behind a curtain, a pretty dress, or tempered smile.
Stella, in comparison, is much less dramatic. Stolid, almost. She "waits on" Blanche, calms her, reassures her, and thereby loses interest as a character. The drama in her life is acted upon her and not brought by her, such as the drama of Blanche. Stella is the forgiver, the soother, the attentive, and the forgettable one. Blanche draws and attracts attention to herself, soaking and absorbing it like a flower does sunlight while Stella deflects it. Stella appears fixed and solid- like a star.
So, within the very first few acts of the play does Tennessee Williams define and refine the roles of the relationship that Stella and Blanche have, setting each in her own nook.
I find Blanche to be a very interesting character. She is constantly craving attention, whether it be compliments from Stella, Stanley, or attention from other men. She wants all eyes on her and all the men drooling over her. She utilizes all her resources to gain this attention she desires: expensive dresses, furs, perfume, and flirtation.
ReplyDeleteI also found it amusing how she and Stanley interact with one another. They seem like complete opposites. Blanche is a fake Southern Belle who tries to cover up her insecurities, while Stanley is completely up-front and straightforward about everything. Blanche seems drawn to him in the way that she is frequently flirting with him, yet he remains unswayed by her attempts. I just thought they balanced each other nicely through the story, and that Stella acts as a middle ground between the two. I'm interested to see how this relationship plays out. I can't wait to watch the film!
This "broken world" of the, assumed, depression in which we "trace the visionary company of love...but not for long to hold each desperate choice" (Hart Crane) is full of race and sex relations. We see Blanche's fear of race and association of blackness with poorness. The complex racial scene of New Orleans, blending Hispanic and French origins into multi-racial city, is set as lax, so as to make Blanche a radical, set firmly in the past. She is looking for a man to fill the void left by the loss of her husband and the fall of her great house when unable to pay the mortgage. Her first masculine encounter is her sister's husband, Stanley. She is overwhelmed by his manliness, his strength and security in self, though she dislikes his disposition on not complimenting women, something she finds particularly necessary when targeted at her. She then meets Mitch, another character who has lost his love. She enjoys his fawning over her and desire to declare her beauty.
ReplyDeleteHer literary references are also interesting. When describing the messy room as Poe-esque, that is a representation of the main character's psyche, it is her own cluttered mind. She also sets up her subservience to Stanley and looming power over Mitch. In Poe, the woman and man are inverses in the realms of power and beauty. As Stanley's manly body is described, she shrinks back and is not complimented. When meek Mitch confronts her, she bounces back to the top.
Blanche is a very interesting character to me, and yes, I do find myself comparing her to Scarlett in Gone with the Wind. I'm sorry, I cannot help myself.
ReplyDeleteShe's the person I find myself focusing the most on, however. The fact that she's an English teacher that shouldn't make much money, yet she has a solid gold dress, and furs that should be quite expensive. (Even if Stella tries to pass them off as something cheap, and the Blanche defends herself in saying that they're gifts from an old admirer.)
And while the relationship between Blance and Stella (her sister, who is much more timid and not nearly as wealthy) is interesting, I find the relationship with Blanche and her own inner thoughts drawing me more. She knows she's aging and that her looks are fading, she's lost her home, and it seems as though there's more going on beneath the surface that what's going on on the outside. I mean, five mintues into your sister's home and you're already stealing her whiskey? Then not ten minutes later telling everyone you rarely touch the stuff? There's more there than meets the eye.
I believe that Williams captures the complicated dynamics of family beautifully. Being a younger sister to a Blanche-esque character really puts me inside of the play. Blanche’s constant need for formalities and appearances is something completely relatable. My sister does the same thing and ironically both she and Blanche have a lot of contradicting qualities. Blanche’s qualities include the allusion of beauty when her beauty is fading; the fact that she “doesn’t drink” when in fact, she indulges often; her general Southern belle charm and manners when in reality she uses/abuses her sexuality and doesn’t hold back when it comes to her opinion of people (i.e. trashing Stanley to Stella behind his back, so she thinks). Another irony added is that these very faux qualities are what lead her down an inescapable path. Stella, Stanley, as well as all other characters in the play have several faults of there own, but Blanche is the only one who tries to cover hers up, pretending as if the don’t exist. Stanley and Stella’s are as plain as day to anyone, therefore no one really holds anything against them because their faults become who they are instead of a secret and lies. I think that this among many other things adds to a beautiful mixture of the family dynamics that Williams creates through this play.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete