Streetcar Named Desire discussion thread (book)

OP

Original post by denaturedenzyme

Ooh I'll start off - Blanche - Victim or Villain?

oooh thats a hard one, I mean the most straightforward answer is yes, due to her fate. She's victim to the toxic masculinity and victim-blaming culture amongst New Orleans, her own sister ignores her obvious mental instability and Blanche clearly suffered a trauma at Belle Reve unmatched to Stella. She had to see her relatives die, her husband commit suicide and see her home and status lost. On the other hand, she is representative of the traditionalist hierarchy which supports supports inequality, she infantilises her sister through names such as 'you messy child' , emasculates Stanley 'little boy' and lies about her past. She's such a complex character that I feel like its hard to define her as a tragic hero, what about are your thoughts?

Reply 3

username3774332

22

hello. gcse student here and a lit passionist!.

did lit early last year and bagged a 9. hoping to do it at a-level!
might read 'a streecar named desire' over summer :tongue:

Reply 4

OP

Original post by I'mComingOxford

hello. gcse student here and a lit passionist!.

did lit early last year and bagged a 9. hoping to do it at a-level!
might read 'a streecar named desire' over summer :tongue:

im a lit enthusiast too but Im quite surprised how enjoyable lit/lang is...can I sway you? :tongue:

Reply 5

Original post by denaturedenzyme

Ooh I'll start off - Blanche - Victim or Villain?

Both because she does criticise Stella about where she lives and makes Stella feel bad about herself due to her leaving Belle Reve and being with Stanley. So by her saying rude things about Stanley who Stella is absorbed to so she becomes the enemy of Blanche (not physically but mentally) however with Stanley Blanche is manifested as an enemy to Stanley which provokes Stanely to counteract her judgements. But Blanche's past shows the significant part of her character about being a victim.

So I would build on her past in my response...

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 6

username3934898

18

I don't see Blanche isn't a villain. She doesn't have many villainous traits. She is very complex because she has manipulative qualities. Villains are typically abusive, antisocial and fill the surrounding characters with dread just by their stage presence. Blanche would never intentionally harm anyone although she has done some immoral things. She tries to get to know Stanley but the way she treats Mitch and the way she constantly reminds the characters that she's a upper class woman means she does act like she needs to be saved all the time. I think Blanche victimises herself. She sealed her fate through her world of lies and getting onto the same streetcar that brought her to her doom.

I do edexcel english but I sill study streetcar. I also study the picture of dorian gray and beloved as my comparison texts. I quite like this thread :yes:

Reply 7

Original post by PureHeroine

I don't see Blanche isn't a villain. She doesn't have many villainous traits. She is very complex because she has manipulative qualities. Villains are typically abusive, antisocial and fill the surrounding characters with dread just by their stage presence. Blanche would never intentionally harm anyone although she has done some immoral things. She tries to get to know Stanley but the way she treats Mitch and the way she constantly reminds the characters that she's a upper class woman means she does act like she needs to be saved all the time. I think Blanche victimises herself. She sealed her fate through her world of lies and getting onto the same streetcar that brought her to her doom.

I do edexcel english but I sill study streetcar. I also study the picture of dorian gray and beloved as my comparison texts. I quite like this thread :yes:

Blanche manipulates men into being attracted to her by turning off the light.

Reply 8

username3934898

18

Original post by hd...

Blanche manipulates men into being attracted to her by turning off the light.

Yeah I suppose so. She is a bad person. She's done a lot of bad things that can't be excused. So has Mitch. But I wouldn't consider these characters to be villains. Blanche tried to seek redemption for her mistakes and although she kept lying about it (then kissing that young man) I still don't think of her as a villain. The light is a tricky symbol in the book. Don't you feel sorry for her for wanting to escape reality? She likes being youthful and nostalgic and silly.

Reply 9

Year10Studentt

12

How are y’all revising for Streetcar?

Reply 10

username3774332

22

Original post by CinnamonSmol

im a lit enthusiast too but Im quite surprised how enjoyable lit/lang is...can I sway you? :tongue:

language is sooo BORING.

go for it!

Spoiler

Reply 11

OP

Original post by I'mComingOxford

language is sooo BORING.

go for it!

Spoiler

okay well, first off, its actually way different from GCSES-in a good way. In language side of the course, you learn about different techniques, theories and specific terminology used in dialect, texts and other literary works and you use this knowledge to analyse the impact on the text and perhaps why the writer chose this feature. You're basically analysing the language choices of the writer and what it creates, so though its a bit methodicala and theres some structure, the literature aspect and analyse of lit is all there and is still a key part to the course. If you're quite creative theres also a question which requires you to rewrite a section of the novel (for me I do this in Gatsby) and you have to analyse your own work and why you chose certain features. Discussing genre conventions and historical influences is all a part in the Lit/Lang course too. Basically, everything you love about the 2 subjects are combined into one to produce the superior English :wink:

Reply 12

OP

Original post by hd...

Blanche manipulates men into being attracted to her by turning off the light.

I agree with both yours and @PureHeroine point, (is that a reference to Lorde I see? :smile:

) However whilst Blanche tries to entice men through manipulation, the light demonstrates her inability to comprehend reality and her insecurity of not being loved. In a way, she's a victim to the patriarchal ideals during the 1940s, as womans worth is mostly based on the views of men around her and especially her marital status.

Reply 13

username3774332

22

Original post by CinnamonSmol

okay well, first off, its actually way different from GCSES-in a good way. In language side of the course, you learn about different techniques, theories and specific terminology used in dialect, texts and other literary works and you use this knowledge to analyse the impact on the text and perhaps why the writer chose this feature. You're basically analysing the language choices of the writer and what it creates, so though its a bit methodicala and theres some structure, the literature aspect and analyse of lit is all there and is still a key part to the course. If you're quite creative theres also a question which requires you to rewrite a section of the novel (for me I do this in Gatsby) and you have to analyse your own work and why you chose certain features. Discussing genre conventions and historical influences is all a part in the Lit/Lang course too. Basically, everything you love about the 2 subjects are combined into one to produce the superior English :wink:

i hate creative writing and I can't think of anything :lol:

and the analysing my own work sounds very boring and why would I analyse what I wrote; like should i say why I used a simile-it's too complete lmao.
it's simialr to literature when you analsyse choices but Literature is seen as a 'facilitating' and i don't enjoy persuasive writing and stuff.

if i liked creative writing i'd consider it.. buttt

#LitOnlyGang :biggrin:

Reply 14

OP

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by Year10Studentt

How are y’all revising for Streetcar?

I've only just started Streetcar in class, but I would say that I'll remember context and how it links to many of the characters, then focus on individual characters and their relationships with one another (also main elements of their language...i take lit/lang so language analysis is a key part for my course)

Reply 15

I AM GROOT 1

21

the great Mitch wow wat a character

Reply 16

Original post by CinnamonSmol

I agree with both yours and @PureHeroine point, (is that a reference to Lorde I see? :smile:

) However whilst Blanche tries to entice men through manipulation, the light demonstrates her inability to comprehend reality and her insecurity of not being loved. In a way, she's a victim to the patriarchal ideals during the 1940s, as womans worth is mostly based on the views of men around her and especially her marital status.

She also mocks Stanley's upbringing not only Blanche but Stella... so that could be another point as to why Blanche is a villain...

Reply 17

denaturedenzyme

15

Original post by CinnamonSmol

oooh thats a hard one, I mean the most straightforward answer is yes, due to her fate. She's victim to the toxic masculinity and victim-blaming culture amongst New Orleans, her own sister ignores her obvious mental instability and Blanche clearly suffered a trauma at Belle Reve unmatched to Stella. She had to see her relatives die, her husband commit suicide and see her home and status lost. On the other hand, she is representative of the traditionalist hierarchy which supports supports inequality, she infantilises her sister through names such as 'you messy child' , emasculates Stanley 'little boy' and lies about her past. She's such a complex character that I feel like its hard to define her as a tragic hero, what about are your thoughts?

I definitely don't see her as a tragic hero (although you could perhaps derive that Blanche attempting to infest southern values within New Orleans is her attempt to defend her ideology - and she ended up dying, so perhaps in those terms she is a hero, and her major flaw was always her obsession with southern values) but to me, she is simply a tragedy. Despite her ideology being deeply flawed and riddled with inequality, it was also her prey. her belief's drove most of her actions that are criticised (her rudeness and bullying of Stella, and her patronising attitudes) are a product of what she was taught, and she was simply trying to find a place for her way of life in New Orleans. However, through Williams's copious emphasis on death surrounding Blanche, he frames Blanche (and southern values) as already dead, and she, like southern values simply haunt the modern world of New Orleans. The tragedy of Blanche is that she is a southern belle, and that the southern values have no place in the industrialised world, and she can't escape her death. She cannot be a villain because she never hurt anyone intentionally, she was simply trying to live but the southern world and modern world can never coexist.
Right okay this very long and waffly and I don't know if my point is clear but overall she is a victim to me.

Reply 18

denaturedenzyme

15

Original post by hd...

She also mocks Stanley's upbringing not only Blanche but Stella... so that could be another point as to why Blanche is a villain...

To me she isn't a villain. A villain by definition is someone with criminal intent, she never presented as having any intentions but survival. Her mocking is just her doing what she is taught to do...

Reply 19