Essays on Plays

1958

The Imagery of a View from The Bridge's Tragedy and How The Main Characters Are Unable to Show Their Feelings

3 pages / 1494 words

In Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge, Eddie’s death is made all the more tragic because it stems from his inability to understand – let alone articulate – his feelings. The play depicts the downfall and death of a decent man due to a...

A View From The Bridge

1959

"A View from The Bridge": Exploring The Role of Alfieri

2 pages / 1000 words

Introduction In the late 1940s, Arthur Miller penned the iconic play, “A View from the Bridge”, drawing inspiration from the Italian immigration community at the Brooklyn docks. This work, akin to a Greek tragedy, introduces Alfieri as the chorus, offering a unique perspective on the...

A View From The Bridge

1960

The Use of Contrast as a Literary Device at The Beginning of a Streetcar Named Desire

4 pages / 2004 words

The theme of contrast is key to A Streetcar Named Desire as it is so obviously displayed in every aspect of the play. Most importantly, Blanche is in a stark contrast with Stanley – a contrast which ends up being very problematic – and there...

A Streetcar Named Desire

1961

An Examination of The Character of Blanche in a Streetcar Named Desire

5 pages / 2287 words

In Tennessee Williams’ play, A Streetcar Named Desire, the nature of theatricality, “magic,” and “realism,” all stem from the tragic character, Blanche DuBois. Blanche is both a theatricalizing and self-theatricalizing woman. She lies to herself as well as to others in order to recreate the...

A Streetcar Named Desire Character

1962

The Theme of Premeditated Rape in a Streetcar Named Desire

3 pages / 1426 words

The climax of Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire occurs in “Scene Ten,” when Stanley ultimately rapes Blanche, his sister-in-law. Many audiences and readers have debated whether or not this act was premeditated or done impulsively, as to some the play is laden with evidence...

A Streetcar Named Desire Rape

1963

A Close Analysis of Gender in The Handmaid's Tale and a Streetcar Named Desire

3 pages / 1398 words

Through a focus upon gender, both Elia Kazan’s film of Tennessee Williams’ original play, A Streetcar Named Desire (Warner Bros, 1951) and Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (Vintage, 1986) effectively manage to mirror the concerns of both time and place. Despite differing contextual influences,...

A Streetcar Named Desire Gender The Handmaid’s Tale

1964

The Use of Suspense in a Streetcar Named Desire

3 pages / 1491 words

Tennessee Williams uses a variety of techniques to produce a strong sense of dramatic tension throughout A Streetcar Named Desire, as he mainly focuses on the interactions between characters to create an edgy mood. For example, Williams’ presentation of Blanche suggests she is actually the...

A Streetcar Named Desire

1965

The Concealed Homosexuality in a Streetcar Named Desire

3 pages / 1416 words

A Streetcar Named Desire is at its surface, an undoubtedly heterosexual play. Allan Grey, its unseen gay character, makes homosexuality a seemingly marginal topic within the play. But a deeper reading of the text suggests the opposite. Tennessee Williams uses heterosexual characters as surrogates to...

A Streetcar Named Desire Homosexuality

1966

Female Powerlessness in The Duchess of Malfi and a Streetcar Named Desire

3 pages / 1692 words

Power is the underlying current that runs through both Webster’s ‘The Duchess of Malfi’, a 17th century revenge tragedy, and Williams’ ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, a 20th Century modern domestic tragedy. Both plays offer stark representations of power’s tendency to corrupt, a corruption that often...

A Streetcar Named Desire The Duchess of Malfi Woman

1967

How The Entrapment Theme Comes Out in a Streetcar Named Desire and Duchess of Malfi

3 pages / 1677 words

Both Webster in ‘The Duchess of Malfi,’ a Jacobean revenge tragedy, and Williams in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ a 20th century modern-domestic tragedy, use entrapment as a pivotal focus for chief dramatic moments. The playwrights especially focus on the physical and psychological entrapment of females...

A Streetcar Named Desire The Duchess of Malfi

1968

A Comparison into The Themes of Reputation and Chastisy in a Streetcar Named Desire and The Duchess of Malfi

4 pages / 1790 words

In Webster’s Jacobean revenge tragedy The Duchess of Malfi, and Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, written in 1947, both men consider the themes of chastity and the effect chastity has on the main female characters’ reputation within society. Both are widows, but Blanche is desperate...

A Streetcar Named Desire Chastity The Duchess of Malfi

1969

Effects of War: How Ptsd is Depicted in The Life of Stanley Kowalski

10 pages / 4460 words

Stanley Kowalski stumbles home drunkenly to his upstairs apartment. He sees his pregnant and glowing wife Stella preparing him dinner. Without explanation, he feels an uncontrollable rage of emotions. Stella is confused and frightened. Stanley needs to leave without explanation. This is an everyday encounter...

A Streetcar Named Desire Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

1970

The Flaws of Blanche and Why She Ultimately Failed

3 pages / 1428 words

In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, despite Blanche Dubois’ desire to start fresh in New Orleans, her condescending nature, inability to act appropriately on her desires, and denial of reality all lead to her downfall. Blanche believes that her upper class roots put her...

A Streetcar Named Desire Character

1971

The Truth of Blanche in a Streetcar Named Desire

4 pages / 1813 words

Throughout A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche is caught between the contradictions of her own character and the society surrounding her. She persistently fights to conceal the truth of her personality and past, failing to comprehend the changing conditions of post-WWII, post-New Deal America. In the...

A Streetcar Named Desire

1972

Analysis of Blanche and Stella Relationship in a Streetcar Named Desire

2 pages / 1002 words

Introduction: Since the focal theme of “A Streetcar Named Desire” is that of integration and adaptation, Blanche and Stella relationship is important to analyze in this essay. Thesis statement: The function of the relationship between Blanche and Stella is evident: Williams establishes a contrast between...

A Streetcar Named Desire

1973

Reality Versus Illusion in The Streetcar Named Desire

2 pages / 1234 words

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” This timeless saying embodies the ability of imagery to convey multiple messages and themes in an overarching structure. Through detailed nuance, the playwright Tennessee Williams utilizes the imagery found in his characters’ actions and settings to surpass the...

A Streetcar Named Desire

1974

How a Streetcar Named Desire Has Transitioned from a Book to a Film

4 pages / 1816 words

Any time a play or a novel is adapted into a film portrayal of the text, critics will evaluate the film either in a positive or a negative manner. It is necessary to understand the freedoms a director has, and understand that an adaptation allows...

A Streetcar Named Desire Movies

1975

Determining The Tragedy Potential in a Streetcar Named Desire

3 pages / 1428 words

Introduction The tragedy in A Streetcar Named Desire can be interpreted through the medium of not just watching it, but reading it. Williams achieves this through the use of stage directions written in poetic prose, which create imagery with likeness to a novel. Arguably, the...

A Streetcar Named Desire

1976

Similar Themes in a Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and Water by Robery Lowell

3 pages / 1626 words

The postmodernist writers emerged after the Second World War, and their fierce critiques of human nature showed a race that was vile and heinous at best, with Tennessee Williams’s depiction being no different. In his play A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams explores the gruesome nature...

A Streetcar Named Desire