A Streetcar Named Desire Worlds Essay

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The text ‘A Streetcar named Desire’ describes and explores the ideas of existing worlds as well as those of imagined ones as well. The text is a story, which explores and describes the characters of Stella and Stanley Kowalski as well as Blanche Dubois. It is a story of tragedy and failure, which follows the destruction of Blanche’s mental health and Stella and Stanley’s destructive relationship. The text portrays a realistic version of life in the 1940’s filled with sexism other social issues, which are still a prominent part of today’s society. It shows with accuracy the ideas of life that many plays tend to ignore or skip over such as the working life or the problems in a relationship where there is only physical attraction. The text also represents the imagined world in Blanche’s mind. There is a constant mention of Blanches decreasing mental health although it is not directly said. She creates her own world in her imagination where everyone is supposed to fit and play the roles she assigned to them although it doesn’t always work out. The script also explores the future of each character although all of their futures are implied. The reader of the text can come to the conclusion of the future for each character depending on how the read the script (whether the chose the dominant, alternative or resistant reading of the text). It is implied through the last scene what each characters future is set up to be. The text explores and represents the ideas of the imagined futures for each character. Tennessee Williams shows both the existing and imagined worlds through the ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.

‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ shows a somewhat realistic version of the existing world we live in through its stereotypes and ideas. Throughout the whole of the script we see ideas that we as an audience believe and relate with due to it being based on real life. The script addresses the ideas of sexism and other social issues that are still a very prominent part of today’s society. As an audience we recognise and identify that the text is portraying a story that is based in the real society of the 1940s’. The text explores issues that we see and empathise with today, such as: abusive relationships, mental health issues and male/female representation. Stella and Stanley’s marriage represents a very real idea of what an abusive relationship looks like. “Stella: I’m not in anything I want to get out of.” She accepts that Stanley beats her and stays for her physical attraction to him. We empathise and sympathise with Stella because we understand how dependant she is on Stanley. An abusive relationship is practically impossible to get out of because people can become addicted to their lover, and begin to feel that the person they are with measures their worth. “Stella: There are things between a man and woman in the dark- that sort of make everything else seem- unimportant” Stella becomes so dependant and addicted to Stanley, that she believes she can’t leave him. Abusive relationships still play a very prominent role in todays society, we identify such issues with real life because it isn’t perfect, which our imagined worlds are supposed to be. Another issue addressed in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ that shows how it is relative to real life is the issue of Blanche’s mental health. Throughout the play, the idea of Blanche’s rapidly decreasing mental health shows us how little is understood of the effects mental health has on us. She is constantly between having delusions of past lovers (Shep Huntley), and being lost in her own little world. Blanche is so desperate to fit in and be with a man, fulfilling the gender roles assigned to women, that it is the cause of her terrible mental state. In the end it is her mental state that drives her to insanity and causes Stella to send her to a psychiatric hospital. Stella believed that what she was doing was out of love, when really she was sending Blanche to her death. This shows how little was
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