The Gender Struggle in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams E

After two world wars, the balance of ca mapping between the genders in America had completely shifted. Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named trust is a harsh, yet sourceful play that exposes the reality of the gender struggle. Williams illustrates high societys changing attitudes towards masculinity and femininity through his eloquent use of dramatic devices such as characterization, dialogue, setting, symbolism, and foreshadowing. Stanley, the protagonist, is a symbol for societys view of the stereotypical manly. He is muscular, forceful, and dominant. Stanleys domination becomes so fire that he demands absolute control. This view of the male as a monolithic animal is revealed in the opening of the play where Stanley is described as bestial. His power and control throughout the play are foreshadowed in the opening coiffe directions. She cries out in protestHer husband and his companion have already started back around the corner.Stanley does not take notice of his wifes co ncern, but instead continues on his original course, asserting his own destiny, without whatsoever thought to the effect it may have on those around him. This fetching blood at any cost to those around him is foreshadowed in blastoff one, with the packet of met which he forces upon his wife. It is through actions such as these that Stanley asserts power, symbolic of the male dominance throughout patriarchal society. He also gains a s... ...iking play, Tennessee Williams poses a question to society, as to whether or not these representations are accurate. Works Cited and Consulted Bloom, Harold. Introduction. Tennessee Williams. Ed. Harold Bloom. raw York Chelsea House, 1987. 1-8. Londre, Felicia Hardison. A Streetcar Running Fifty Years. The Cambridge Companion to Tennessee Williams. Ed. Matthew C. Roudane. untried York Cambridge UP, 1997. 45-66. Nelson, Benjamin. Tennessee Williams The Man and His Work. New York Ivan Obolensky, 1961. Williams, Tennessee. Tennessee Williams Interviews Himself. Where I Live Selected Essays by Tennessee Williams. Ed. Christine Day and docking facility Woods. New York New Directions, 1978. 88-92.