Blog #3 topic 3

“They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at--Elysian Fields!(2)” In the play “Streetcar named Desire”, Blanche confidently gets on a streetcar named Desire and comes to the Elysian Fields where she fantasies would help her live a new life. However, what’s waiting for her is not the heaven she imagined but the hell full of desire and brutal reality. In the end, sadly, she is seen as an insane woman and sent to the mental institution. To argue whether Blanche is insane, we should have a basic standard of what is insanity.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of insanity mainly refers to “something utterly foolish or unreasonable” and “a derangement of the mind”. It’s a rather broad definition since we don't actually know what’s the standard of being smart and reasonable. It seems there is something that’s ambiguous and left out in the dictionary. There are rules that are written unconsciously in our minds. There is no absolutely right definition of the standard of being reasonable. It’s very difficult to have everyone agree with one moral standard because people from different culture and background would have completely different view toward whether one person is reasonable or not.

The characters in the “Streetcar named desire” all have their different cultural backgrounds and therefore have various views toward the definition of being irrational and rational. Blanche who was born in a rich family in South received high education and accustomed to the fine clothes and houses since she was young. After all kinds of unfortunate events happened in her family’s plantation “Bella Reve”, she escapes to find her sister Stella and Stanley who is Stella's husband. According to the play, “Since earliest manhood the center of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it, not with weak indulgence, dependency, but with the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens”, we can see that Stanley is the typical representation of dominant male role from North who is charming but lacks education and wisdom. He naturally wants everyone to be ruled by him but Blanche who is well-educated challenges his dominant power by pointing out he is a “drunk animal thing”. In terms of Stanley’s view, Blanche who had already went bankrupt but still pretended to be the elegant Southern lady is hypocritical and deceptive. The conflict between Stanley and Blanche gets more intense after he knows she escapes to his house because she was fired by the school for mixing up with a seventeen-year-old boy. Stanley's finding of Blanche getting around with lots of men in Moon Lake Casino also breaks the elegant figure of Southern lady that she managed to pretend. She is definitely insane so that she tells stupid lies to everyone that there is a rich guy who can take her away from poverty. However, if we were a Southern lady like her at that time, the constricted impression that people imposed on females force them to rely on male because an independent and brave woman who wants to start a new life would be seen as crazy and immoral to do so.

Blog Post 3 Topic 4

“A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams is a tragic play that explores controversial topics in society, such as rape, suicide, mental illnesses, homosexuality and abusive relationships. This play was written in 1947 - a conservative time in which these topics would have been considered taboo to write about. Therefore, this story is best depicted through a play form because it offers an opportunity to allude to these contentious topics without explicitly stating them. The author utilizes the unique features of dramas, including stage directions, music, and body language, to tell the story.

Key aspects of this story are revealed through stage directions. Without this play form, many important details of the plot would not have been as obvious. For instance, Stanley indicates his intention to rape Blanche when he says, “Come to think of it – maybe you wouldn’t be bad to – interfere with…” (120). This alludes to the fact that Blanche will be raped, but this is not confirmed until we see the stage cue, “[Stanley] picks up [Blanche’s] inert figure and carries her to the bed. The hot trumpet and drums from the Four Deuces sound loudly” (190). The movement of Stanley carrying Blanche to bed creates a more powerful rape scene that would have been impossible to portray with just words. Furthermore, the background music helps set the mood for the audience and clarifies Stanley’s intent.

 Throughout the play, music is often used to emphasize and to foreshadow significant events. For instance, the “blue piano” sounds are played in various scenes, which appear to correspond with Blanche’s emotional state. As Blanche’s emotions intensify, the “blue piano” sounds grow louder. This is evident in the scene where Blanche anxiously tells Stella that she had lost their home, Belle Reve. Similarly, the music becomes increasingly louder as tensions rise between Stanley and Blanche as they argue, ultimately building up to her rape scene. In addition, polka music can also be heard during scenes in which Blanche talks about her late husband. Later, Blanche reveals that when she was dancing to polka music with her husband, she told him that she knew he was gay and that he disgusted her, causing him to run out and shoot himself. Blanche is haunted by her actions, which is why polka music is constantly on her mind and is played throughout scenes that mention her husband. Music is an essential part of this play and provides a deeper understanding of the characters.

In addition, this play form provides an additional layer of depth to the characters and their interactions through their facial expressions and body language. For example, after hitting Stella, Stanley is screaming her name and begging for her to come back to him. When she finally comes out of Eunice’s house, “They stare at each other... He falls to his knees on the steps and presses his face to her belly, curving a little with maternity. Her eyes go blind with tenderness as she catches his head and raises him level with her” (60). Although no words are exchanged between them, Stanley can express his remorse for his actions and Stella demonstrates that she has genuinely forgiven him. This is an emotional scene that illustrates how love is blinding Stella from realizing that she is in abusive relationship.

The unique aspects of a play allow the audience to get a better understanding of the play as opposed to a narrative book. Throughout the play, background music is used to set the mood and to alert the audience of a symbolic event. In addition, the stage cues and the characters’ actions, facial expressions, and body language help the audience see what the characters are alluding to. Altogether, these features of a play allow the author to subtly discuss controversial topics in society. 

Blog Post #3 Topic 4

Insanity is not universally equal. In the United States, we not only see mentally ill people as insane but we often judge cultures and deem them as insane. Many cultures believe in sacrifices and cannibalism but if the United States were to practice these acts then it would not be accepted or seen as normal human behavior. To many, it might never be understood because the cultures are not the same. A more modern and current example of a cultural norm that is not widely accepted, is the torture and consumption of dogs. To some, this is simply culture, but to others, it is insanity and makes no sense. Those who believe in aliens may have their reasons for upholding this belief, but some people find it ridiculous and insane to believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life forms. The dictionary definition of insanity focuses on what insanity means in the United States but is very broad in the sense that it doesn’t consider other cultures around the world. There are so many examples of what we can deem insane and what in other cultures is not.

            In “A Street Car Named Desire”, Blanche does not seem to be insane. Psychiatry hospitals in the United States are filled with the mentally ill that are dangerous to society. Blanche only made up stories because she was insecure and wanted to be liked or better than who she really was. She wanted to be the perfect Southern Bell but instead, she was seen as a liar to those who knew her. Her lies piled up and by the time she could have potentially been telling the truth, her lies made her seem irrational, a definition of insane. When Blanche begins to fall too far into her lies, that is when we see a turn in her behavior. She starts to hear things and when at first you see Blanche as just a liar, she begins to go too far. Blanche went so long lying and believing her lies that she has created a life that isn’t there. If her life had been normal and none of her traumatic events occurred she could have potentially avoided the psych ward.

            Blanche was left with a lot of responsibility and was a lonely person. In her era, it was shameful to have gone through things that she had gone through. Her dad died, her husband left her (and was suspected to be gay), and her own sister’s partner (and father of Stella’s child) rapes her. Blanche was not born destined to be crazy, her environmental effects and her desperation to be perfect, created the opposite of her ideal life. Blanche’s behavior and her reactions to her experiences are seen as insane by those around her and no one really tried to understand why she was the way she was but instead, sent her away. Blanche was not insane but rational and with psycho analyzing her actions, she was just a damaged person who needed someone there for her. She had deep-rooted, untreated problems that made her react in a way that would be deemed insane especially in the time when mental illness or the thought that situations could damage people was not exactly understood just how different cultures are not always understood.

Blog #3 Topic #3

Insanity as defined by dictionary.com is the “persistent mental disorder or derangement”. It is like a severe mental illness. Something that this definition leaves out is that insanity doesn’t necessarily only mean one’s mental health, it can also be talking about something that is irrational or extremely foolish. Each person’s view on something can be different. If one person finds something sane, it’s safe to assume that another person can find the same thing insane.

As an American-born-Chinese, I learn about my culture from my parents and other relatives. There are many beliefs that we follow that are perfectly normal to us, yet can be seem as bizarre to others. For example, my eldest sister told us younger ones many times that as a baby, she has been burnt on her behind. After asking my grandmother, we learned that doing so helped her rid of a serious fever she was fighting against. Another cultural belief, or superstitious in this sense, is that our beds should never be in line with the door. If your bed is directly across from the door, it is said to resemble a coffin that is taken away feet first, and in doing so, a ghost will drag you away at night. Though these beliefs are commonly practiced by us, other cultures may find them extremely foolish or irrational. In fact, I find the idea that using fire to cure fevers completely absurd.

As seen above, what some find sane, others find insane, and vice versa. This idea is also seen in the play, “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams. In this play, we follow the life of Blanche, who moves in to stay with her sister Stella and her husband Stanley. Throughout her stay, Blanche does a lot of actions that make her seem crazier than normal. She lies about her age in hopes to get together with a man, she always looks down on Stanley, and she doesn’t tell Stella the truth about why she moved in with them: she got involved with a student at her school and got kicked out. She may seem innocent, but she’s always keeping things to herself and having weird thoughts. At first glance, one may think Blanche is insane, but if we take into consideration her past, we may find that maybe she isn't as crazy as we thought.

Blanche was married and was happily in love with her husband until she found out he liked men. This came as a huge shock to her, and after confronting him, her husband shot himself, which shocked her even more. She then loses her family home and with no other place to stay, lives with Stella. There, she learns that Stella’s husband doesn’t exactly treat Stella with care, and this is not to Blanche’s liking. Moving a little more forward, Blanche gets raped by Stanley. After having these tragic events happen to her, it is no surprise that Blanche acts the way she does. She’s only responding to what the world gives her, and these responses unfortunately make her seem abnormal to others. But of course, the others do not see this as by the end of the play, Blanche gets taken away by doctors, hinting that she’s going to the mental hospital.

Blog #3, Option #4

           Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, tells the story of Blanche, a proper, upper class woman, who goes to stay with her sister Stella and her husband Stanley. Upon her arrival she encounters trouble when her sister’s relationship and way of living contradicts her standards as a Southern Belle. Though often read via the script and later adapted for film, this work was originally designed for a play. A play can be defined as, “a story that is intended to be acted out before people who have come to see it” (Cambridge Dictionary). In other words, the purpose and often the benefits a play has as opposed to reading a text, is that it allows playwrights, actors, and actresses to bring characters to life in order to express an idea. This idea is then left for the audience to interpret. Therefore, A Streetcar Named Desire works best as a play because it engages the audience using multiple forms of communication and stimulating various senses, both of which allow for a more personal experience than a text.

            Where a text limits the audience to communicating with the characters only through verbal means, or written words, a play incorporates this and also nonverbal cues such as body language. As Blanche mentions staying back to save Belle Reve, Stella defends her decision to leave arguing that she needed to make her own living, to which the stage direction instructs, “Blanche begins to shake again with intensity.” Physically seeing Blanche shake, rather than being told, creates more distinct feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and possibly even anger. In another example, when Blanche first meets Stanley, she “involuntarily [draws] back from his stare.” Seeing her step back as Stanley enters, implies her hesitation, but also leaves room for various interpretations, such as fear. Though a text could portray these same reactions, viewing the body language allows the audience to experience what the characters are going through on a more personal level. Reading about an experience does not evoke the feeling of being able to relate as well as seeing it occur right before oneself.

            While reading a text only engages one’s sight, watching a play engages both visual and audial senses. Reading a text primarily uses sight, for one reads the words on the page and visualizes in their minds the characters and scenes. However, a play engages both sight and sound. In Williams’ play, one’s sight is stimulated because the actors’ appearances and settings are all laid out before the audience. On page 2188, Williams describes Blanche as “…daintily dressed in a white suit with fluffy bodice, white necklace and earrings of pearl, white gloves and hat, looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail…” Though the text provides a detailed description of her appearance, the play would more strongly engage the viewer’s sight by presenting them with the actual wardrobe and allowing that viewer to interpret for themselves what the attire says about that character.

In addition, a play also stimulates the viewers’ ears. For instance, on page 2193, Blanche hesitantly brings up how she tried to keep Belle Reve intact, but failed. Amongst this situation, the stage direction reads, “The music of the ‘Blue Piano’ grows louder.” Similarly, on page 2208, Stella and Stanley get into a fight at poker night, when Stanley hits Stella. Stanley soon realizes his mistake, but only after Stella has already stormed off leaving him in his misery. As he calls out to her, “The ‘Blue Piano’ plays for a brief interval.” Throughout the play, the Blue Piano seems to play or increase volume during sad or disheartening scenes, and specifically in both these scenes, occurs at a time of loss – loss of Belle Reve, and loss of Stella. As a result, utilizing music to contribute to setting the mood creates a new dimension to engage the audience.

Experiencing this story as a play, pulls the audience in on a deeper level than reading a text would because it uses various ways to communicate meaning to the viewers through verbal and nonverbal cues, as well as stimulates multiple senses such as sight and hearing. In doing this, the play fulfills its purpose to present character representations and express points of view, but allows the viewers to create their own meanings and interpretations. More specifically, it allows Williams to show how Blanche, Stella, and Stanley’s personalities contribute to their clashing interactions and reactions with each other. From there, the audience is left with a more intimate experience for viewing the performance, and in finding personal meaning from it.