The Dark Side of A Streetcar Named Desire :: Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

In A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams, the characters presented even up Williams own view of society. In Streetcar, Williams has created a medium to observe and gleam upon the darkest aspects of society and the result of these societal downfalls. Williams has portrayed numerous societal downfalls, such as the idea that he (or she) who tries to hide his true self and double-dealing to the public ends up, above all, hurting himself. This statement, which lies just below the surface in Streetcar, reflects the difficulties Williams had in finding his own place in life. Williams created that this play as a sort of slap toward a society which rejected Williams and his musical mode of telling the world, If you keep behaving like this, the whole place will go stark-raving mad This is distinctly seen in both the suicide of Blanches young economise and her own decent into madness. A nonher collapse highlighted by Williams is the idea of the macho-male, which exten ds to homophobia. Stanley is obviously Williams characterization of this type of personality, and it is his brutality and chauvinism that lead Blanche to sink wholly into the depths of insanity. By raping Blanche, Stanley is not only exerting his physical power over this profuse woman in his life, but is attempting to show the world (and himself) that he is not a homosexual. In the character of Stella, the readers primary reaction is to support and list with her, but in reality she represents the type of person who has given up on the ideals she once knew and has, in a sense, joined forces with the enemy. She deserted Blanche at Belle Reve and has now settled for mediocrity. By the end of the play, our sympathies lie with Blanche because she was searching the world for security and ended up alone and mad. Williams is reminding the reader that, in this world, everyone is stress for a security and it was this natural desire that brought upon Blanches descent into madness.