A Streetcar Named Desire | Blanche And Stella Analysis

A Streetcar Named Desire | Blanche And Stella Analysis Tennessee Williams was America ´s most controversial playwright. He was marked by his troubled private life and was constantly struggling with his own self-doubts. Nevertheless he was the dramatist, who produced some of the most compelling works for the American theatre. In 1947 Tennessee Williams set new standards for American drama with his masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire. The play opened on December 3, 1947, and was received with great acclaim. Neither the theatre audience at the premiere evening, nor the audiences at the other 844 performances, which the play gave on Broadway, were disappointed and made A Streetcar Named Desire Williams ´ second success on Broadway after his triumph with The Glass Menagerie.  [1]   Down to the present day A Streetcar Named Desire has not lost its enormous fame and fascination. A reason for the perpetual popularity of the play is probably the fact that Williams is the only American playwright, who is able to analyze women with such subtlety and compassion  [2]  . Hence, critics such as Felicia Hardison Londrà © denote Tennessee Williams ´ A Streetcar Named Desire also as a lyrical drama about the decline and fall of Blanche DuBois  [3]  . With this statement Londrà © emphasizes that both, the character as well as the inner development of Blanche Dubois, are the focus of attention in Williams ´ play. However, in my way of thinking, it is not only crucial to examine the Blanche ´s character in detail, but also to study the character of the play ´s second female protagonist Stella, Blanche ´s sister, more closely. Hence, the aim of this seminar paper is to compare and contrast the characters of the two sisters. At the beginning of the paper the author ´s biographical context and the bibliographical history of A Streetcar Named Desire are discussed. In order to lay the foundations for a detailed characterization of the two female protagonists, chapter two contains a brief summary of the play ´s plot, focussing on the internal developments of Blanche and Stella. Afterwards, a detailed analysis of Blanche ´s and Stella ´s character follows. Finally, the most important findings are briefly summed up in the conclusion. 2. Tennessee Williams and his masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire In order to be able to fully grasp the meaning of Tennessee Williams celebrated play A Streetcar Named Desire, it is absolutely necessary to take the author ´s biographical context as well as the work ´s bibliographical history into account. Biographical context Like in several of his other plays, also the plot of A Streetcar Named Desire was strongly influenced by Williams ´ own biographical background. Tennessee Williams himself stated once that A Streetcar Named Desire was his favourite play since it said everything I had to say  [4]  . Williams never concealed that his works reflect his own history and even welcomed comparisons between his own life and the characters in A Streetcar Named Desire. In a controversial interview with Robert Jennings he explicitly compared himself with his character Blanche DuBois: I can completely identify with Blanche [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] we are both hysterics. Many critics, such as Nancy Tischler, Roger Asselineau, or Kenneth Holditch, asserted that there are several other links between Blanche and Williams. In a letter to his agent Audrey Wood he wrote the following sentence, which again stresses his strong identification with the dramatis personae of his play: I was and still am Blanche [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] [but] I have a Stanley in me, too.  [5]  Nevertheless, the connections between Blanche and Tennessee Williams are not always uncomplicated. In contrast to Tischler, Asselineau and Holditsch, other critics regard the relationship between Blanche and Stanley as a reflection of the contours of William ´s life. They claim that Blanche and Stanley represent divisions of Williams ´ own complex life and personality. Yet studies conducted by John Clum, Mark Lilly and David Savran arrive at another conclusion. All three see Blanche and Stanley as a projection of Tennessee Williams ´ homoerotic desires. Clum, for instance, says that the actions of his heterosexual female character Blanche hide a homosexual subtext.  [6]   Bibliographical history Similar to other of Williams ´ plays the plot of A Streetcar Named Desire evolved over several years.  [7]  Tennessee Williams drew, for instance, much of his inspiration from his life in the French Quarter of New Orleans. During his time in New Orleans he lived on Royal Street. Two streetcars where running down the street. One of the two streetcars was named Desire.  [8]  Accordingly the title of Williams ´ play is among other things an illusion to this particular streetcar. In the early 1940s he outlined the story line as well as his idea for a film version in a letter to his agent Audrey Wood. In this first draft of A Streetcar Named Desire, the play was a one-act drama.  [9]  The story line was mainly based upon a scene which he had written earlier. The plot was murky, but I seem to see a woman sitting in a chair, waiting in vain for something. Maybe love. Moon rays were streaming through the window and that suggested lunacy. I wrote the scene and titled it Blache ´s Chair in the Moon.  [10]   In the end, Tennessee Williams had written twelve different drafts for A Streetcar Named Desire. Each of his drafts had a different title, such as The Poker Night or The Moth, and was first set in Chicago, then in Atlanta and finally in New Orleans. Due to the influence of Elia Kazan, an influential Greek-American director, who staged the play and directed the film version of A Streetcar named Desire, Williams revised his work several times through and after its production, which had a considerable effect on the script of A Streetcar Named Desire. By changing the characters ´ nationality as well as their conception and motivation he transformed the play from a romance to a tragedy. While writing, Williams had to grapple two major problems: firstly, the relationship between Blanche and Stanley, and secondly, the varying degrees and onset of Blache ´s madness.  [11]   Furthermore, four early one-act plays, which were written around 1945, had an impact on A Streetcar named Desire. The first one of these plays is This Property is Condemned, a play focusing on a young girl ´s desires to be like her dead sister, who was a prostitute. The second play, entitled Portrait of a Madonna, chronicles the story of an old maid sent to an asylum after hallucinating. In contrast to the first two plays, The Lady of Larkspur Lotion focuses on a faded southern belle, who had become a prostitute. Moreover, parallels can also be found in Hello from Bertha, a play dealing with a dying prostitute begging her ex-lover to rescue her. In addition to the numerous different drafts of A Streetcar Named Desire, several different editions of the play have been printed up to the present day. For instance, there are substantial differences between the reading and the acting editions. Some differences can also be identified between the American and the English version. In the American version, for instance, the homosexuality of Blanche ´s husband was censored. Another difference is the structure of the play. In the British edition the play is divided into three acts, whereas the play consists of eleven successive scenes in other editions.  [12]   The roles of Blanche DuBois and Stella Kowalski in the plot of A Streetcar Named Desire In order to lay the foundations for the characterization of Blanche DuBois and Stella Kowalski, I would like to give a brief summary of the contents of Tennessee Williams ´ play. Since the aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the characters of the two female protagonists, special attention has hereby been paid to the internal development of Blanche and Stella. In scene one Blanche, a faded southern belle, arrives at the home of her younger sister Stella in a fairly run-down district of New Orleans. She is shocked about the circumstances in which Stella and her husband live and makes no secret of her disapproval. After a warm reunion of the two sisters, Blanche explains that she has taken time out from school, where she is teaching English, because of her upset mental state. Later she further admits that she has lost Belle Reve, their family estate in Mississippi. Although Belle Reve slipped through Blanche ´s fingers, she reproaches Stella for not returning to her home to help her with the troubles. When Stanley returns with his friends from the bowling alley, he accepts Blanche ´s presence; however, the atmosphere between Blanche and Stanley is tense from the beginning. While Blanche is bathing the next day, Stella tells Stanley about the loss of Belle Reve. He immediately suspects Blanche of having swindled them about the reasons for the loss of the family estate. As a result of Stanley ´s mistrust the relationship between Stanley and Blanche becomes more problematic. The situation even becomes worse when Stanley starts inquiring Blanche about the circumstances for the loss of Belle Reve and by it he discovers a bundle of old love letters, which reveal Blanche ´s marriage to a young man, who finally died. Also Stanley discloses a secret and tells Blanche about Stella ´s pregnancy. In the next scene Stanley and his friends are playing poker, when Blanche and Stella return from an evening out together. One of them, Mitch, is very politely to Blanche and pays her compliments. Also Blanche notices that he is superior to the others  [13]  . In contrast to Mitch, Stanley, who has had already one too many, is not delighted about the appearance of the two women. The situation gets out of hand and Stanley beats pregnant wife. Blanche protectively rushes Stella upstairs, but Stanley begs his wife to return to him. In the end Stella, who is somehow attracted by his animal behaviour, forgives her husband and spends the night with him. As scene four opens, it is the following morning and Stella and Blanche are having a private discussion about Stanley. Blanche can obviously not understand why Stella was insane enough to come back in here after what [had] happened  [14]  and tries to persuade her sister to leave him. She tells her of a millionaire, a former admirer of hers, who surely would give them money to start a new life. Yet Stella makes clear that she is not willing to leave her husband and embraces Stanley passionately in front of Blanche, when he sees him come in, to demonstrate her loyalty to him. However, both women do not know that Stanley overheard a good deal of what they said before. Over the course of the summer (scene five and six) it becomes clear that Blanche and Mitch have a deep affection for each other. Blanche event entrusts him with details about her brief marriage, which was overshadowed by her husband ´s homosexuality and his suicide after she had discovered him in bed with another man. Meanwhile, Stanley makes inquiries about Blanche ´s past and unmasks her distinguished behaviour as hypocrisy. He learns about her numerous one night stands and her affair with a seventeen-year-old boy, which led to her dismissal. Scene seven takes place at Blanche ´s Birthday. Stanley, who is craving to get rid of his sister-in-law, passes the gathered information on to Mitch, who does not longer wish to marry her since she is not clean enough to bring in the house with [his] mother  [15]  . Unlike Mitch, Stella is not impressed by her husband ´s story. At the beginning she is denying his reproaches but, as the list lengthens, she defends her sister by referring to her tragic marriage. The mood at Blanche ´s birthday dinner (scene eight) is tense and miserable, because Mitch does not show up. The situation reaches its climax when Stanley presents Blanche with a bus ticket back to Laurel. Blanche is insulted and rushes out. At this moment Stella feels her first labour pains and requests to be taken to hospital. Later the same evening (scene nine), Mitch drops by to confront Blanche with the rumours of her past. Finally, she admits her failures but immediately justifies her behaviour by explaining that her loneliness after her husband ´s death forced her to seek physical affection. After her confession Mitch, who is drunk, tries to rape her, but Blanche manages to kick him out of the apartment. In the subsequent scene Stanley returns fairly cheerful, but drunk, from hospital where Stella is still in labour. At home, he meets Blanche, who is drunk too. Her claim, that she has received a telegram from an oil magnate inviting her on a cruise, is her last attempt to escape into her world of illusions. First Stanley takes the situation with humour until she lies to him about what has happened between her and Mitch. Stanley becomes aggressive and rapes her. This act of violence results in Blanche ´s absolute nervous breakdown. Although Blanche informs Stella that her husband has committed a crime, she decides not to leave him since she couldn ´t believe her story and go on living with Stanley  [16]  . At Stanley ´s request Blanche is admitted to a mental hospital some weeks later (scene eleven). The fact that she believes until the end that she is going on holiday with an admirer (who is actually the doctor) again emphasizes her bad mental condition. Even though Stella is not completely convinced that it was the right decision to admit her sister to a mental home, she makes no attempt to prevent it.

Music Therapy for Autistic Children :: Music, Music Therapy

When a child is diagnosed with autism, one thing that is noted is the lack of eye contact. Music therapy works to help this in numerous ways. When the therapist starts at the child’s level, according to the British Colombian Music therapy association, they can base what needs to be done and how to do it off of where the child is and after many sessions, where they are now (M-7). According to a report in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, â€Å"Eye contact – this refers to an event where child looks at therapist while playing, manipulating† (E-7). A way that in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders is using music therapy instead of play therapy as it increases turn taking and eye contact more than when play therapy is used (E-4). Eye Contact was even proved to be held longer during this study when the child was participating in music therapy activities than when they were in regular play activities(E-1). When a mother was quoted on the British Columbian Music Therapy website, she stated that the â€Å"skills and abilities acquired in the music therapy setting generalize widely across situations. VII. Turn Taking The music therapist has to reach the child to be able to interact with them and help them. When the child feels free and unthreatened, the British Colombian Music Therapy association says that they get more out of the session. When they are not being told don’t this, don’t do that, and NO for everything they do to express themselves. Music therapy gives them that way to express themselves without being yelled at and told NO (M-8). The Tympo and Rhythm of the instruments is not just a way for the children express themselves, it even stops reminding them of when they were in the womb. The British Colombia MTA states that the tympo and Rhythm gets the child to progress from the rocking motion when they were in the womb and as a baby. It gives them a new independent feel (M-6). As music therapy is one of the cutting edge therapies according to Ken Siri and Tony Lyons, this helps develop motor skills for the child to interact with the instruments (A-2). According to an article in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, â€Å"Turn Taking – This refers to an event involving a sequence of turns to play alternating between the child and Therapist.

Cultural Relativism

|Cultural Moral Relativism. Do We All Agree? | |Essay #1 Pratheep | |Sivabaalan 100266114 | |11/18/2009 | |James Connelly | I find Rachel’s arguments against the view of Cultural Moral Relativism persuasive and very convincing. Believers of Cultural Relativism have influenced the notion that cultural moral codes are culture bound. After explicating and assessing Cultural Relativism views and Rachels arguments, it is clear that there are discrepancies and inconsistencies in the views that favor Cultural Relativism. Rachels introduces a number of considerations that reject Cultural Relativism. Cultural Relativism tells us that there is no such thing as universal truth in ethics, and what does exist is the customs of different societies. Furthermore, we cannot judge a custom of another society or our own as right or wrong. Cultural Relativism simplifies its facts by employing an argument, known as the ‘Cultural Differences’ argument. ) Different cultures have different moral codes 2) Therefore, there is no objective â€Å"truth† in morality. Right and wrong are only matters of opinion, and opinions vary from culture to culture (Rachels, p18) Rachels identifies that argument as being unsound, thus an invalid argument altogether. Rachels explains that the conclusion does not follow the premise. Rachels explains that the argument’s premise concerns what people believe, and the conclusion concerns what really is the case. I agree with Rachels reasoning on the argument, the premise is motivated by observations, and not the facts and the conclusion suggests what is true. Therefore, the argument cannot be considered as a strong view for cultural relativism since the conclusion does not logically follow the premise; an unsound argument. Rachels attempts to provide stronger claims to reject Cultural Relativism through a method known as reduction ad absurbum. One of the main points that Cultural Relativism stresses is that â€Å"We can no longer say that customs of other societies are morally inferior to our own†. Rachels disagrees with this notion in contrast with less compassionate practices in other societies. Rachels brings up examples, such as the oppression of the Chinese Government upon its citizens. Cultural Relativism denies us to condemn such actions because we cannot judge practices in another society to our own. I believe Rachel has a good point on how far is too far, when it comes to customs in other societies. Situations and practices like excursion, slavery, stoning and etc raises questions on how tolerate can people be on inhuman practices. Another proposition that Cultural Relativism brings up is that â€Å"We could no longer criticize the code of our own society†. Rachel criticizes this statement by suggesting that people do not believe our society’s code is perfect, but Cultural Relativism disallows us to think of ways why our society can be better. I agree that our society’s moral code is not prefect and there are a number of reasons that suggests this. For example, animal testing and killings of specific dog breeds are questionable in our society’s moral codes. Furthermore, in our society we have different views on the topic of abortion, where people feel it is right and wrong. Like many societies and our own, we are prone to question our own moral codes and customs. Lastly, â€Å"The idea of moral progress would be called into doubt†, is the last statement Cultural Relativism conveys. The statement contradicts many of Cultural Relativism views it expressed. Rachels example of women rights can be seen as progress, yet it also means that the old ways, before the movement, are now being replace by new and improved ways. Cultural Relativism does view women rights changes as progress; however it forbids us from thinking that this is making our society better. Thus, cultural relativism views on progress makes this argument contradictory. The five tenets of Cultural Relativism undergo further explication as Rachel notes further criticism. The first claim, â€Å"different societies have different moral codes†, holds some truth, however fails to explain that there are universal values that all societies do share. Values such as truth telling, prohibition of murder and caring for the young are conceived by all societies. The only difference is the factual beliefs, not their values. I agree with Rachel, that there are some values that cultures do share. The second tenet, â€Å"The moral code of a society determines what is right within that society; that is, if the moral code of a society says that a certain action is right, then that action is right, at within that society†. Rachel assesses and explains that there is a vast difference in what a society believes and what is really true. Practices, like excision, can be very wrong and suggests does it really promote or hinder human well being. I believe it hinders a human well being, excision is a painful procedure that abolishes sexual pleasure for the individual. Scarring and tendencies to contract disease(s) are most probable in the long run. Cultural relativism believes that society’s morals of a culture can never be wrong. However, Rachels believes that we can see that societies are in need of moral improvement. I agree with Rachels statements, there is room for societies to understand and learn that mistakes can be made even in cultural customs. The third tenet, â€Å"There is no objective standard that can be used to judge one society’s code as better than another’s. There are no moral truths that hold for all people at all times†. Rachels strongly disagrees with this tenet in cases of stoning, slavery and excision. Rachels says, â€Å"it always matters whether a practice promotes or hinder the welfare of the people affected by it†(Rachels, p28). People affected by such barbaric practices do not seem to improve the quality of their lives nor their happiness. The forth tenet, â€Å"The moral code of our own society has no special status; it is but one among many†. Rachels points out that Cultural Relativism says, â€Å"it is merely one among many†(Rachels, p28) which directs an ‘open question’. A code in particular can be one of the best or one of the worse. This opens up an entirely new discussion that there are customs that are questioned to being right or wrong. The fifth tenet, â€Å"It is arrogant for us to judge other cultures. We should always be tolerate of them†. Rachels raises truth in this statement, we are often arrogant when we criticize other cultures, and tolerance is a good thing. Nevertheless, Rachels notes, we shouldn’t tolerate everything, human societies have done horrible things. Tolerance can only go so far, to a point where intervention is crucial. This claim is inconsistent with the second claim, ‘that right and wrong are determined by the norms of a society’. There are instants that norms of a society favor intolerance, for example the Nazi army invading Poland. Cultural Relativism teaches us not to criticize the Nazis for being intolerant if all they’re doing is following their own moral codes. However, cultural relativism also tells us that the norms of a culture are bound within the culture itself. Since the norms are bound in Polish society, invasion and manslaughter are not part of their norms. Work Cited: Rachels, James and Stuart Rachels. (2009). The Elements of Moral Philosophy. 6th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Black Lives Matter Is An International Activist Movement

Black Lives Matter Movement Black Lives Matter is an international activist movement, originating in the African-American community that campaigns against violence towards black people. â€Å"Black lives matter† became a rallying cry of a new chapter in the long black freedom struggle. Its unique campaign contributes beyond extrajudicial killings of Blacks by policemen and vigilantes. It all started year 2013, after a white/hispanic male, â€Å" George Zimmermanâ€Å" was found not guilty of the fatal murder of african american teenager Trayvon Martin. The movement grew even stronger after the brutal death of two unarmed African American victims Michael Brown (Ferguson), and Eric Garner (New York City) which captured social media s attention causing a media riot all over social web. Its unique empowerment impacted the world by bringing and contributing awareness to the black community. As the movement progressed, it began to attract more attention. People spontaneously began to follow Black Lives Mat ter social accounts and even made it a trending topic on twitter nation, â€Å"#BlackLivesMatter.† Black Lives Matter is a new revolution in the african american community. The title Black Lives Matter is so broad that it correlates to many topics such as police brutality, racial profiling, racism, segregation, discrimination etc. â€Å"Racial Profiling† refers to the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials that targets individuals on suspicion of crime based on an individual sShow MoreRelatedBlack Live Matters, An International Activist Movement1607 Words   |  7 PagesSunaina Rayamajhi Prof. Tracie Hernandez ENGL-1302-71504 10/05/2016 Black Live Matters Movement Black live matters is an international activist movement that is created by people that generally belongs to African Community. 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