A Streetcar Named Desire - Commentary Essay Example for Free

A Streetcar Named Desire Commentary Essay In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams, Blanche the protagonist who is mentally fragile and depends on her sister’s help to overcome various adversities as her husband’s passing away and her paying many debts decides to move to New Orleans, where her sister lives. Throughout the play, Blanche, who is from a southern part called Laurel, strives to conform to society’s norms and attempts to ï ¬ nd a man to marry her; but she is incapable of feeling involved in the scenery and as a consequence of that, she loses her mentality at the end of the play. In this speciï ¬ c passage, Blanche returns from a date with the character Mitch who desires to marry her to please his ill mother. Through this particular scene, Williams initiates to develop the relationship between the aforementioned characters to reveal that their relationship depends merely on mutual beneï ¬ ts rather than feelings. In this particular scene, Williams establishes the codependent relationship between Mitch and Blanche, which is founded on mutual loneliness and the desire to be with anyone, to demonstrate that society employs pressure on each and every individual to conform to its norms. Initially, Williams assigns the elements of punctuation to highlight that the characters Blanche and Mitch are forced to have a relationship that only depends on the desire to be with anyone because of gender stereotypes that society puts forth. For instance, the playwright utilizes the element dash to demonstrate that Mitch and Blanche awkwardly hesitate to approach each other. Mitch states the line â€Å"Can I uh kiss you good-night?†, and Blanche states the line â€Å"The one that says the lady must entertain the gentleman or no dice!†. The dashes in these two quotes convey that both Mitch and Blanche appear to be hesitant and forced to be in this relationship. They tend to be indecisive about whether to ï ¬ nish their sentences or not. The characters’ uncertainty draws a conclusion that they feel irresolute about whether they should comply with gender stereotypes of society or not. Additionally, Williams supports the aforementioned claim by utilizing another element of punctuation called ellipsis. Blanche states the line â€Å"I liked the kiss very much. It was the other little familiarity that I felt obliged to discourage†. The utilization of ellipsis in this sentence once again proves that the characters constantly complete their sentences with hesitation and that they are uncomfortable talking to each other. Their constantly hesitating shown by these elements is due to the fact that in this particular setting, gender stereotypes are put forth by society which commands individuals to marry anyone to be regarded as â€Å"normal† by the others. Blanche and Mitch, who do not actually bear feelings for each other, choose each other to comply with these rules, but as a consequence of this situation, they appear to be forced to have this relationship in order to conform to gender stereotypes in society. Through the elements of punctuation, Williams remarks that Blanche and Mitch are forced to be together and that their co-dependent relationship is founded on the pressure that the norms of society exert. Furthermore, the playwright utilizes the elements of characterization to reveal that the relationship between Blanche and Mitch depends rather on the pressure exerted by society than on emotions. Williams depicts Blanche’s state in this scene through employing direct and indirect characterization which put forth the conclusion that Blanche feels compelled and exhausted to have her relationship with Mitch. For instance, the playwright employs direct characterization in the stage direction to depict that Blanche has â€Å"utter exhaustion† in her â€Å"voice and manner†. This direct characterization reveals that Blanche becomes disappointed in the quality of the date that she and Mitch return from. As a result of this disappointment, she reï ¬â€šects her exhaustion in her voice regarding that Mitch is not similar with the man whom she desires to have. Williams additionally utilizes direct characterization to regard Blanche’s personality as â€Å"neurasthenic†. This description conveys that Mitch’s manners aggravate her due to the fact that his manners are inadequate compared to those of the man whom Blanche desires. Hence, these examples of direct characterization prove that Blanche, who becomes dissatisï ¬ ed with Mitch’s qualities feels obliged and compelled to have a relationship with Mitch because the norms of society force her to marry anyone to be regarded as â€Å"normal†. Moreover, Williams employs indirect characterization to indicate that Blanche strives to conform to the norms of society through having a relationship with Mitch. For example, Blanche states the line â€Å"The one that says the lady must entertain the gentleman or no dice!†. Through this instance, the playwright highlights that women in society are regarded as â€Å"worthless† without conforming to gender stereotypes. Blanche states that if she does not â€Å"entertain† her â€Å"gentleman†, she will have â€Å"no dice†. The conclusion drawn from this point is that women in society cannot endure unless they satisfy their men. Hence, Blanche regards Mitch as her last option and conforms to gender stereotypes of society through having a relationship deprived of emotions. Through the elements of characterization, Williams conveys that Blanche and Mitch has an artiï ¬ cial relationship on behalf of complying with gender stereotypes of society. Subsequently, Williams accounts the elements of ï ¬ gurative language to mention that Blanche and Mitch are coerced to be in a co-dependent relationship because of the constraint that gender stereotypes of society apply. Williams implements the element of allusion to address the aforementioned message. For instance, Mitch bears, upside down, â€Å"a plaster statuette of Mae West†. In this example, the statuette of Mae West is an allusion to the sexual desire between the couple regarding that Mae West is known as a sex symbol. However, since Mitch carries the statuette â€Å"upside down†, this signiï ¬ es that there is something wrong with the sexual connection between Mitch and Blanche. Indeed, the statuette refers to the lack of sexual tension between the couple due the fact that their relationship depends only on a mutual beneï ¬ t which is to be accepted by society. The playwright employs the allusion of â€Å"Mae West† to illustrate that there is not any sexual desire between the couple regarding that their relationship does not harbor any emotion. In addition, the playwright employs the allusion of â€Å"the Seven Sisters† to remark Blanche’s loneliness. â€Å"The Seven Sisters, also referred as the Pleiades, were the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas. They became a group of stars.† Although Blanche has a sister, she is indeed mentally unsupported because of her sister’s lack of consideration. Being compared to the Seven Sisters, she adores â€Å"the Seven Sisters† for their unity, feels lonely and seeks to be with anyone to comply with the rules of society. Hence, she decides to rely on Mitch who is her last option. This allusion once again proves that Stella and Mitch build up an unnatural relationship deprived of feelings in order to conform to the norms of society. Williams implements the elements of ï ¬ gurative language to establish the relationship between Blanche and Mitch which merely depends on the desire to be with anyone and the pressure put forth by society. In summation, Tennessee Williams applies the elements punctuation, characterization and ï ¬ gurative language to develop the artiï ¬ cial relationship between Blanche and Mitch, which originates from the desire to be with anyone, in order to illustrate that society compels each and every individual to obey its norms. Through these elements, Williams eventually clariï ¬ es that this imitated relationship arises from the enforcement exerted by the gender stereotypes of society.