This is a practise exam question for my set text "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. The question is "Analyse Williams' presentation of women and femininity in the opening scenes of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' ".
Analyse Williams’ presentation of women and femininity in the opening scenes of ‘A streetcar
named Desire’.
During the initial scenes of his play ‘A streetcar named desire’ Tennessee Williams presents the
trope of women and femininity in a variety of ways. Williams’ does, on occasion, portray a
shattering of female stereotypes and symbols of rebellion against female oppression. For
instance, through Blanche’s open language and reference towards sexuality (‘that one seems
superior to the others’ ‘is he a wolf?’) she challenges conventional expectations of women;
openly sexual remarks would not have been acceptable in female conversation. Nevertheless, it
would be inexact to suggest that this is Williams’ principal message about women and
femininity. Foremost in the play, Williams’ represents women as abused, manipulated and
oppressed by the Patriarchy and societal expectations.
Arguably, the two paramount representations of women and femininity in the play are the
personas of Stella and Blanche. Blanche is portrayed as completely dissimilar to Stella in an
abundance of ways. For instance, whilst Stella now has a growing family and stable future
prospects - Blanche is alone, unmarried and has just lost her family's house and fortune.
Blanches femininity is based largely on deception and lies. Her obsession with sustaining the
illusion of her ever fading outer beauty means that throughout the majority of the play she
pretends to be someone that she is not - lying about her age, her job and her issues with
alcoholism. Blanche constantly feels the need to be reassured and complimented - ‘you haven't
said a word about my appearance’, ‘ “You are as fresh as a daisy.”..”One that’s been picked a
few days” ’ her introspective negativity is done purposefully to provoke compliments as losing
her youthful appearance seems to be her biggest insecurity. Blanche’s obsession with her outer
appearance is a great example of where women are shown to be corrupted by
patriarchal/societal expectations in the play. Perhaps williams is implying that Blanche feels as
though her only pathway to holding any power as a woman in a patriarchal society is through
her attractiveness and that is why she is so concerned about conserving it.
Stella portrays the ideal characteristics of a woman in 1947 (when the play was written and set).
She is married, has a relatively nice house and a child on the way meaning that a 1940’s
audience may have viewed her as having an idyllic life. However, a modern audience may see
Stella as much more of a victim of both domestic abuse from Stanley and the patriarchy. At
points in the play, Stella tries to appear strong and assert herself as holding some dominance,
shouting to Stanley ‘Don’t holler at me like that’ - the imperative verb ‘don’t’ suggests an
endeavour to seem confident and authoritative. However, Stanley almost makes a mockery of
her attempt at claiming some power by aggressively throwing meat at her, implying his status as
the dominant figure in their relationship.
A pivotal scene in the play is scene 3 ‘The Poker Night’. As this was originally a working title for
the play, it is immediately established as a scene of great importance. This scene is one of the
biggest reflections of patriarchal abuse of women and female submission in the play. Stanley’s
physical abuse towards Stella ‘He advances and disappears. There is the sound of a blow.
Stella cries out.’ This abusive demonstration of dominance represents the extremes that Stanley
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