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Explore the Presentation of Death in A Streetcar Named Desire
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Explore the Presentation of Death in A Streetcar Named Desire - full essay plan - includes quotes, critics, analysis, context
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Explore the presentation of death in “A Streetcar Named Desire”Ideas:
● Allan - death due to repressed desires - hamartia
● Blanche - psychological death due to vulnerability from fragile psyche
● Death of the old south against the rise of new America
Thesis:
Tennessee Williams’ 1947 play “A Streetcar Named Desire” is a modern American tragedy,
where death is utilised to highlight the fate of characters who are unable to adapt to the
emergence of a meritocratic society following America’s industrialisation post-WW2. These
characters are ultimately deemed incompatible with society's evolving standards, leading to their
tragic deaths.
Point 1:
Allan's tragic death stems from his succumbing to societal expectations of sexuality, as his
repression of desire emerges as his fatal flaw, ultimately leading to his demise.
Point 2:
Blanche's vulnerability, stemming from her fragile psyche, manifests in a psychological
deterioration that culminates in her metaphorical death, symbolising the tragic consequences of
internal turmoil and societal pressures on the individual psyche.
Point 3:
Williams positions Blanche as a scapegoat for ritual sacrifice in order to cleanse the New
American consciousness, rendering her death inescapable.
Point 1:
Allan's tragic downfall stems from his succumbing to societal expectations of sexuality, as his
repression of desire emerges as his fatal flaw, ultimately leading to his demise.
Evidence:
1) ‘Nervousness, softness, tenderness”
2) Varsouviana polka ‘major key’ ‘minor key’
, 3) ‘He’d stuck a revolver in his mouth and fired, so that the back of his head had been -
blown away!”
4) ‘In the quicksands clutching at me’ ‘slipping in with him’
Her description of Allan’s feminine qualities, such as “nervousness, softness, and tenderness,”
underscores his lack of physical aggression within his character and emphasises the adversity
he faced due to his fragile nature. However, the vagueness of Blanche’s recollection reflects the
extent of her denial, bringing light to issues of the past and the victims created by society’s
heteronormative codes. Blanche employs ambiguous nouns to describe Allan, repeatedly
referring to him as a “boy,” connoting inexperience and reflecting on Allan’s weaknesses: he
would never become a man due to his sexual repression. This could alternatively be read as
Blanche feeling emotionally stunted by Allan’s death. Blanche goes on to reveal that “he’d stuck
a revolver in his mouth and fired, so that the back of his head had been - blown away!”
Blanche’s fragmented syntax expresses the ongoing distress felt by Allan’s death and the use of
colloquial language highlights how emotionally stunted she has become - her usually
flamboyant and crafted diction has now been reduced to an unrefined expression of anguish,
reflecting the remains of her once sophisticated facade. The stark transformation of Blanche’s
language marks the fragmentation of her psyche, following the exposing of her carefully
constructed past. Stella’s labelling of Allan as a “degenerate” during a confrontation with Stanley
implicitly references homosexuality, exposing the repressive era of the 1940s in America, where
sexual freedom could not be asserted or expressed by homosexuals. Through this
characterisation of Allan, Williams may be reflecting on his own transgressive desires which
were frowned upon by society, similarly to how Blanche rejects her husband’s true identity.
Blanche recalls how Allan was “in the quicksands and clutching at me,” resulting in her “slipping
in with him.” Here Williams evidences through metaphorical language that Allan’s death acts as
a catalyst for Blanche’s mental deterioration throughout the play. The metaphor of “quicksand”
conveys how they are both inescapably sinking, highlighting the inevitability of Allan’s death but
also conveying how society disposes of those who oppose the societal codes of normativity,
non-transgressive expressions of sexual desire). Blanche highlights her destructive nature but
simultaneously concludes that Allan is ultimately deceived by his own illusion. The recurring
motif of the Varsouviana polka, a form of plastic theater, is utilized by Williams to represent
Allan’s lingering presence and mental torment for Blanche, ultimately resolved in the
punishment of madness. This illustrates how death chases the most fragile, and in this case, it
is Blanche’s repressed shame and trauma that positions her in this state. The “polka music
sounding in a minor key” evokes dissonance and inner turmoil as Allan, who cannot freely be
who he desires, destroys others in the process. The transition to a “major key” signifies Allan’s
capacity to embrace his authentic sexual orientation only in death, highlighting the internal
conflict that pre-existed to his demise. During this period, his struggle to accept his true identity
inadvertently causes harm to those around him, including Blanche, rendering her a victim too.
Moreover, the music mourns Williams’ incapacity to openly express his homosexuality, the
polka,therefore, serving as a microcosm for the societal constraints imposed on such
individuals, forcing them into repressing their desires.
Point 2:
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