Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Tennessee William's characters
By now, you should have a good concept of the type of characters that Tennessee Williams uses in his plays. First, he uses few characters, but he tends to build each character into a specific stereotype. Whether Amanda or Blanche, Tom or Stanley, Laura or Stella, we get a sense that Williams finds it important to build character "types". In both The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire, he carefully articulates his few characters but also brings in a less significant character such as Jim or Mitch who help to turn the entire household off course. Choose two characters that you want to study further (one from each play). Expose the characters' flaws and any positive points that enable readers to see each of the two characters as valuable participants in the plays they represent. Be sure to cite page numbers for any supporting quotations or ideas you want to convey. Finally, give your assessment of how Williams has created these two characters in light of the time and place in which he was writing.
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In The Glass Menagerie, I think that the character of Tom is very interesting. He seems like the kind of person that holds a lot of emotions inside and the lets them all out at once. When he was talking to his mother, Amanda, he starts to yell at her because he is getting a lecture. She thinks that he goes out to much and he didn't want to hear what she had to say. He left the house and didn't talk to his mother until the next day. Laura, his sister, hated it when her family fought, so Tom decided to apologize to his mother and he seemed very calm and open to talking to her. His mother asked him to find a gentleman caller for Laura and he did end up finding a nice guy to come over. At the end of the night, Amanda yells at Tom because it turned out the the gentleman was engaged and Tom didn't tell her. Tom decided that he was through with the life he was living and walked out. This goes to show that Tom doesn't really know how to control his anger. He holds all of his emotions inside and let's them boil over. However, he does have some nice qualities to him. I believe that he really does love his sister. He made up with his mom for her and even found her a gentleman caller named Jim. Although Jim was already taken, he was able to give Laura something that she had never had before, confidence. I would like to know what Tom did at the end of the book. He has just walked out on his family and had no intentions of coming back. Was he going to start a new life on his own or was he going to move all over until he found a place that mde him happy?
ReplyDeleteBlanche, from A Street Car Named Desire, is someone that reminds me of Tom. She is somebody that tries to hide what she is feeling, but it comes out eventually. She seems to lead a secret life and nobody really knows if what she is saying is true. Readers don't know her age and she is older than expected. She only likes to go out at night because she doesn't want guys to notice her age. She also lies about where she came from and the stories she tells are almost never true. Stanley is the only person who seems to notice this in the beginning because on page 33 he notices that Blanche has a lot of expensive items. He thinks that she didn't take the proper steps in getting rid of her family's property. Also on page 122, Stanley begins to call Blanche out on her lies and he tries to explain this to his wife, Stella. Blanche does have some really good qualities to her that should be admired. She loves her sister and seemed concerned when she went to the hospital. I also think that she wants her sister to be safe because on page 71 she asked Stella is she is okay after her fight with Stanley went a little to far. I really want to know Blanche's history. She seems to be hiding secrets and she is a very hard person to read. I can't wait to finish the book and see if she lets her true self be known or if she will continue to live lies.
I think that Tennessee Williams made his characters similar to the time period of his life. He lived in the mid 1900's and he based his characters off of that period. Tom lived in the1920's and his family really fit that middle class type. Blanche used to be part of the upper class, but lost everything and became poor. I don't know the time of that book, but I bet it was during the mid 1900's. I think that Tennessee made his books personal and that is why they were such big sellers. He was able to tell his life story through different characters and that made him one of the greats.
I was unable to provide page numbers for The Glass Menagerie because I didn't have the book with me. Thank you.
Camille, I think that your blog was very well written this week. You made some very good points. I agree with how you say Tom always tries to hide his emotions. He always runs away. He does this because he is hoping that the problems will go away. One way he does this is by going out to the movies all the time. His mother gets really mad about this. I feel like the way Tom walked out shows that he is trying to make a change in his life. That was the one thing it didn't agree with. Also Blanche is someone who is trying to run from her problems. She was always trying to impress everyone when really she isn't like that. She makes up a bunch of lies so even about her age and how they view her. I feel like these two are always trying to avoid their problems. Nice job this week on the blog!
DeleteCamille, I think you did a great job with the blog this week. In The Glass Menagerie, Tom hid his emotions from everybody. Every time there was a problem in his home he would get angry and storm out. He would always go to the movies for hours and come home drunk. He was taking after his father because he too ran away from all of his problems. Blanche can't deal with her problems. In Belle Reve she had many problem, mostly with men. Instead of dealing with her problems like a mature adult, she chose to run away from them. She acted like a chile through a lot of the book. She also lied about the things that had happened to her in the past and even about things happening in the present. She wanted to make it seem like she was a great woman so that people wouldn't see the things she had done in the past. This was very immature and she would get more respect if she just owned up to her mistakes
DeleteFor this blog I really had to think all of the characters that were a part of the two plays. So I decided to pick Amanda from "The Glass Menagerie",and Blanche from "A Streetcar Named Desire". These two characters in each play were the main, loud characters in the two plays. Amanda was a controlling mother that drove her husband out of their lives, while Blanche was also a very loud person that had a boyfriend, but drove him to suicide when she made a comment about his sexuality. This allowed me to see how their actions brought about why Amanda and Blanche were both older women who had been with a man once but their attitudes and personalities drove them out.
ReplyDeleteBoth of these characters like to say whats on their mind, which changes the mood of everyone surrounding them in each play. They also don't get along with people in the play. Amanda and her son fight throughout the play, which again changes the mood of things, and also eventually drives Tom out of the house. In "A Streetcar Named Desire", Blanche and Stanley who is her brother-in-law also don't get along. When they fight, her sister,Stella, becomes stressed out which, I feel led her into going into labor. I feel that these two characters in these two plays were important because they kept the plays interesting on how it all plays out.
As a result, I feel that Tennessee Williams likes to play a part of his own life in each of these plays through the characters that play in them. Blanche's boyfriend killed himself because she made a rude comment about his homosexuality. Williams was also struggling with his sexuality, which may have been a sign on how he interpreted himself in the book.
Emma, I don't understand why Blanche thinks she's old... Isn't she twenty-seven? That's us in ten years and she acts like she's an old maid! Anyway, I had to get that out of my system. I agree with you that Amanda and Blanche are very similar characters. Afterall, they're both a little insane. They do a lot within the play to change the atmosphere around them, often causing extreme tension. As to Tennessee's life being portrayed in his plays I agree very much with you! After we've read about his life you can find almost something in every character that reflects him. Good job, Emma.
DeleteEmma, I think that you pointed out some very good ideas for your blog. I had forgotten that Blanche was married to someone that was confused on their sexuality. You did a very good comparison of her driving her husband to suicide and Amanda driving her son away. I think that you also did a good job of pointing out why Stella went into labor so early. The two people she loved most in the world were fighting and she was getting very stressed out. I agree with what you said about Tennessee. He really liked to write about his life in his plays and you did. Great way of saying that. Well done on the blog this week.
DeleteIn the novels "The Glass Menagerie" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" two charater that stood out more to me are Stanley and Tom. With these stories being written by the same author, there are similarities between the two characters. The two do not run on a perfect parallel. While Tom often smokes, Stanley drinks alcohol. However, one thing that both of them do is support their family. Tom makes it apparent that he does not like his family throughout the story and at the end when he leaves. In terms of actual story, both are the major male character of their respective play. Both of the plays have a shallow pool of characters, but both of them still hold this position.
ReplyDeleteStanley has a different personality than Tom. Stanley is a happier character compared to Tom and also cares about the person closest to him. Stanley in not very trusting of other people, which is made apparent through most of scene two. After Stanley hears what happpened to Belle Reve, he becomes suspicious of what is happening almost immediately. This leads to him going through Blanche's thing trying to find something to confirm his suspicions. In scene seven he reveals that he has found leads revealing that Blanche has been lying since she arrived. Despite Stanley's suspicions of Blanche, he still enjoys himself with playing poker or bowling with his friends. He also like his life with Stella saying that he missed how things were before Blanche arrived.
Tom on the other hand does not care to much about the people around him. He may have financially supported his family, but he really was not given many options. He felt that his family held him back and wanted to leave them like his father did to pursue his own dreams. Tom's real feelings for his family comes out during the fights he has with his mother. Although he apologized for the fight that happened early in the play, he did this merely to make Amanda not suspect him of wanting to leave. The only person he really connected with was Jim, Tom even revealed his plan of abandoning his family to Jim. Tom likes Jim more than he likes the people in his own family. Tom never does anything with Jim outside of work excluding when Tom brought Jim home to meet Laura.
When Ton and Stanley are really looked at, they are contracidtory in certain regards. When concerned with family or social life, they are opposite. They do however share their usage of drugs with tom having cigarettes and Stanley having various forms of alcohol. They also both seem a little irate. Considering that the author is the same for both plays, links between characters is not an impossiblility.
Tyler, I agree with the things you said about Tom, but I disagree with some of the aspects you said of Stanley. I don't really think that he respects Stella in the manner that he should. He lives his own life by going bowling and playing poker, not bothering to ask Stella. He only tells her what he's doing. I think that he's an abusive man that manipulates Stella into believing that he really and truely loves her. I do beleive its possible he cares for her on some level, but not to the extent you're suggesting. I think that he missed the way things used to be because Blanche was not there to cause trouble. It seems that Stella is slowly stepping out of her shell and speaking up for Blanche. An abusive man wouldn't like that.
DeleteTyler, your comparison of Williams characters made me think. I never thought of connecting the use of drugs and alcohol with the characters Tom and Stanley. Way to think out of the box! Tom and Stanley share a similar outlook of their lives. They both wish to change their lifestyle. Also in both plays cause of the their unhappy lifestyles is family drama. Although these two characters have different personalities, they both share a common theme of disgruntled attitude towards their present situation.
DeleteWhen reading Williams’ plays I often see his minor characters as some of his largest. That’s why I chose Jim as my first character. I think that Jim played a larger role in The Glass Menagerie than Mitch does in A Streetcar Named Desire, but perhaps this is only because we have not finished the play yet. I think that Jim had one major flaw, and that was his inability to control his desires. Although kissing Laura had a positive reaction, he had not told her him being engaged. It seems that most normal people wouldn’t go around kissing other people if they were engaged, but then again maybe I’m just old fashioned. Jim’s positive attribute was he desire to improve himself. Unlike Tom, he worked to get out of his situation, rather than just running away from it. I think that that is a very noble trait for a person to possess.
ReplyDeleteMy second character that I chose to evaluate was Stanley. In all honestly, I can’t find a speck of decency in that man. At points in the play he seemed loving to Stella, but it was an obvious act. Williams portrayed Stanley as the stereotypical abuser. He would hurt Stella and then come crawling back, promising to change. It doesn’t show much for Stella’s character that she accepted his apology, but that’s a whole different blog. Meanwhile, Stanley’s faults were so very obvious to count! He was abusive and cruel, even to his friends. He was also controlling. I think that’s why he and Blanche have such a fire and gas sort of relationship. Blanche likes to live in her make believe world, but Stanley rather see her unhappy in his world.
Williams did a good job placing these two characters. Although I can’t remember if there was a location for The Glass Menagerie, Jim fit into the attitude of the area. The scenes from that play spoke of a world fighting to revive itself, to make itself better. Jim, in a way, was a embodiment of this. Stanley was wild, which reflects the atmosphere around New Orleans. When I think of New Orleans I think of wild parties and secrets, mostly attributed to movies. Stanley fits into this world perfectly. He’s a man who likes to do as he pleases with no rules to limit that. I think that Williams had these two characters in mind as he was writing the settings for these two plays.
Maddie, you hit the nail on the head describing Stanley and Blanche's relationship, so to speak; their relationship was most definitely one of fire and gas. Stanley is definitely the typical abuser in his relationship with Stella. He sees himself as the alpha male, and makes sure that Blanche sees him that way in his mind by constantly putting her down. When I think of New Orleans back in Williams' time period, Stanley would be one stereotype I would automatically imagine. I also found it very interesting that you compared him to Jim. When I thought of Jim, I just thought of him as some supporting character that doesn't have a lot to him, but you analyzed his role and actions further. Good job!
DeleteI wanted Laura to feel wanted by someone. It was for this reason that I was not very fond of Jim. I was rather angry whenever I had found out that he had been engaged, because people who are engaged should not go around kissing other people. This, to me, made Jim come off as kind of a bad man. He wanted to help Laura, but all he really did was leave Laura just as bad, if not worse than when he had first met her. As for Stanley, I do not like him one bit. He was mean and vicious and his attitude toward Stella was disgusting. I hate the fact that Stanley thought he could control her the way he did and abuse her while she was pregnant. After he did that he "felt remorse" but I do not really think that he did feel any remorse because if he truly felt bad, then he would have never done it again and as we can see, it happened more than once.
DeleteThe characters in the Tennessee Williams plays have an underlying theme in both the "Glass Menagerie" and "A Street Car Named Desire." Although Williams' dramas only have a few characters, each one has an individualistic personality. In Williams' works there is always a shy, quite girl. In "A Street Car Named Desire," Stella fulfills this position. She seems to be quiet and almost helpless. Stella can be related to Laura in the "Glass Menagerie." Laura and Stella share some characteristics. Stella and Laura both have flaws discovered throughout the story line. In both of these plays by Tennessee Williams the main characters are in a troubled family.
ReplyDeleteLaura is shy, quiet, and self conscious young girl in "The Glass Menagerie." The main reason Laura is extremely self conscious about everything, is because she is "crippled." Laura tries her best to please the outspoken character in the play. In Laura's case the outspoken character is her mother Amanda. Amanda is EGOTISTICAL! She also commands Laura what to do with her life. Laura seems to have no life of her own, instead she only does what she is told unless it involves communication. Laura is self conscious to the point of sickness.
The quiet girl in "A Street Car Named Desire" is Stella. Stella also tries to appease the outspoken character which happens to be her sister. Stella is a girl who is quiet and tries to be secretive. Stella has an odd attitude. She is oblivious to what an ideal life is. Instead Stella is pregnant with a man she loves, but her man is abusive and many times a drunkard. When Stella's sister Blanche arrives the only thing is concerned with is Blanche. Stella does everything Amanda wants and believes everything Blanche says.
Both Stella and Laura are similar characters in Williams's dramas. These two characters are both young girls looking for love. Also these women are controlled by another female character which happens to be in their family. Laura and Stella seem to be out of touch as to what a good life consists of. Williams dramas can be connected to each other especially by its characters.
Marla, I really liked what you said about the characters being shy and how they are controlled by other female characters. Laura has a very controlling mother that likes to makeover decision for her. I really liked your sentence about Laura being self consciousness to the point of sickness. She really did get sick over her social life and you did a good job of pointing that out. I really liked what you had to say about Stella. She loves Stanley, but he can be a little forceful at times. I thought that your sentence about how much Stella cared for Blanche was important. She seemed to put her marriage on the back burner because she knew that her sister needed her. Good blog Marla
DeleteMarla, I think you had a very good blog this week. I think that the two characters that you picked we're good ones. Both Laura and Stella were quite and always just went along with things. Laura was always quite and dropped put of school because of he disability. Stella is always taking orders from Blanche. Also she is sometimes abused by him but doesn't really do anything about it. They are both afraid of not being accepted. I think you picked two very good people!
DeleteMarla, I never thought that the characters in the book were being controlled by the female characters which is a very good point. In The Glass Menagerie Amanda really controlled the whole family, especially Tom. She never let him live the life he wanted to live. This same thing goes for Laura. Amanda thought that Laura should live exactly how she did by getting tons of gentleman callers. I think one reason why Laura got so sick over her social life was because Amanda put too much pressure on her. Laura wasn't like Amanda, but Amanda never took the time to realize that. I think in A Streetcar Named Desire Stella was controlled by Blanche. Blanche made Stella wait on her every need. This caused Stella's marriage to become strained. I think that Stella cares a lot Blanche even if she is very demanding.
DeleteI am really enjoy reading the play A Street Car Named Desire. I can't wait to read the rest and find out what happens at the end. Tennessee William has many characters that are the same. Two characters that I am going to compare are Laura and Stella.
ReplyDeleteWe see i the Glass Managire that Laura is very quite. She dropped out of school because she was embarrassed. She had a disability that really took away from her confidence. This made her very shy. Also it made it hard because her mother was so out going. Amanda always wanted Laura to be like her. Laura had a hard time doing this. She kinda just go with the flow and is afraid that she will not fit in.one thing that changes with Laura is at the end of the play she starts to come out of her shell. After Jim and her have their little talk I think she realizes that people will like her even with her disability.
Stella in A Street Car Named Desire is a lot like Laura. She is very quite and just goes by whatever Stanley tells her to do. Stanley is in charge of her and she just lets him do whatever she wants. He even at some points can get abusive. However, she thinks that it is okay because he has been drinking. Blanche is trying to make her realize How controlling Stanley is. Starting in the end of the book Stella starts to stand up for her self and yell back at Stanley.
In the beginning of both of these books Laura and Stella are begging pushed around and don't really stand up for themselves. As the plays go on they both start to come out of their shell and talk more . I think that Tennessee made the characters like this because of how the woman of the time were treated and acted back then
Haley, the characters you chose are very much alike. They fit a stereotype of having low self-esteem, the kind of women that dominant men like Stanley can easily overtake. Both Laura and Stella live in their own fantasies that make the horrible situations they live in seem perfect. That is why Stella does not understand why Blanche wants her to leave. In Stella's mind, her life is perfect; she has a loving husband who always looks out for her and knows what is best for her. Even though we may not see it like that, this is the alternate reality that Stella's mind has built up to protect her from the truth. The same goes for Laura, she lives in a world of glass animals to escape the life she lives in with her crazy mother, who takes control of Laura's life.
DeleteHayley, Stella and Laura are two characters that seem be similar. Williams use of his characters in different playwrights is interesting. These two characters, just as you explained, are both shy women who are being taken advantage of. Laura and Stella share the same personality and both have to deal with family drama. Williams seems to emphasize family drama in these to works. This makes me wonder how/what caused Williams inspiration to create these plays. I also enjoyed this play and cannot wait to finish it!
DeleteBetween the two of Williams’ plays we have studied, two had dramatically stuck out to me. In the play A Street Car Named Desire, Stanley is definitely a character I could further analyze. Written at the turn of the century, Stanley was definitely a character that was meant to resemble a stereotype of that time. Stanley is the typical abusive alcoholic of a husband, who needs to feel superior over anyone and everyone. He shows no respect for Stella, and does whatever he wants whenever he wants. Whether that’s staying out bowling all night with the guys, getting drunk and playing cards in their limited size apartment, or even hitting Stella, he knows that he can do whatever he wants and still make Stella feel that she needs him. That is probably the reason he married someone with such low self-esteem such as Stella, so he can always be superior and never be questioned by her.
ReplyDeleteStanley feels that he is the alpha male over his wife, his sister-in-law, and even his friends. He feels that he is more intelligent than everyone and that exert his will wherever and whenever. He drinks and gambles against Stella’s wishes simply because he doesn’t care and knows she won’t do anything to stop him. Stanley lives in another world, where he is dominant over everyone, and he has brought Stella with him just to satisfy his illusion. Many men like Stanley usually gamble so much because losing isn’t something that is a part of this dream; it is impossible that they could ever lose because they are the overall winner. And when Stanley loses, or if Stella gains the courage to leave him, his world is literally taken out from underneath him. That day would not be a day I would like to be anywhere near Stanley, or New Orleans, for that matter.
In the Glass Menagerie, the character I chose was Amanda. Just like Stanley, Amanda lives in an alternate reality, in her own version of a “perfect“world. She constantly goes back to a time before she ever met her husband, and she was a young, eligible lady. She feels that her husband is the one to blame her misfortunes, and for leaving her in a cramped apartment with her two grown up children. Tom is a constant reminder of his father, so she pushes him away just like she did to her husband. She thinks of him a screw up and a failure, especially after Jim comes in at the end.
Amanda is the Stanley of the Glass Menagerie; she is the abuser that has to feel important over her children. In a way, Laura is Amanda’s Stella. Laura has what Amanda dreams about in her other reality; Laura has youth, and could easily get married and start a new, better life. I feel that Amanda is almost satisfied that Laura refuses to leave the house because if Amanda couldn’t get a second chance, then Laura doesn’t have the right to one. We see that when Jim comes over and Amanda is playing what should have been Laura’s part.
Both characters try to escape reality; they are not satisfied with what they have. For Stanley, that means constantly drinking, abusing his wife, crawling back to her, and then starting the process over again. Stanley has to be the one in control, or else his world will fall apart on him. That is the same for Amanda. Amanda envies Laura, who Amanda feels, is not grateful for what she has. Amanda takes control of Laura’s life and shatters it, just like she feels her husband did to her.
Maria, your blog this week is fantastic! I agree wholeheartedly that if anyone were to ever take Laura away from Stanley that he would be the worst possible thing to be around. I would be terrified for my life. Look at the way that he treats her whenever she has done nothing to him, it would be twelve hundred times worse if she had ever even stood up for herself or decided to leave him. Amanda is a character who wants to go back to before she had children and to the time period of when she had many young boys after her. She regrets marrying the man that she had married, simply because he had left her. Amanda feels that she could have had such a better life if she hadn't been stuck with her children. I think that in a way, Amanda doesn't even really care for her children very much because she always seems to yell at them and tell them what to do, often letting them have no say in their own life. She comes off as a person who only cares for herself.
DeleteMaria, you did great with this blog. Stanley needs Stella. Although he is controlling and sometimes violent, he really does need her. She seems to be someone who can calm him down, just by being there. If she was not with him, Stanley could be even more violent than he was during many arguments. It is a good thing for the balance of the play that Stella does not stand up for herself, as that would spark some bad, bad arguments. Amanda is a "loud mouth" just like Stanley. It is either "her way or the highway." This is the same way Stanley is. They are both oppressive to the others around them, and will get their way despite how others feel. They also do not shy away from letting everyone know what they want in the loudest voice possible. I think these are a great comparison, as they also point to how Williams may have felt. Williams seems to stress the characters who are in control, and who are "always right". Williams may have felt this from the world during his life, as the way he was, was frowned upon by many people around him. These feelings really reflect through his plays.
DeleteIn The Glass Menagerie, Laura was one character who was very quiet and didn't really seem to stick up for herself. She let other people define her. Her mother Amanda had unrealistic expectations for her, especially when it came to finding a gentleman caller. Amanda wanted Laura to be exactly like her when she was her age. She always reminded Laura about all of the gentleman callers she had when she was Laura's age. I think that Amanda was implying to Laura that she needs to have the same amount of callers too or else she will never make it. I think that this was rude of Amanda to do. I also think that Laura should have tried to stick up for herself. I know this may be hard for her because of how shy she is, but I feel like she is just letting people walk all over her and now let them see her as a real person who thinks for herself. Laura is different than most people and I don't think that her family really understood that she may need different attention than everyone else.
ReplyDeleteIn A Streetcar Named Desire, someone else who I found shy was Stella. She let everyone walk all over her. When Blanche arrived Stella would drop everything just to take care of her every need. She didn't let people give her the respect she deserved which reminded me of Laura. Stanley is another person that walks all over Stella. He hosts poker parties in their three room house all the time. This has to be hard on Stella because there isn't a place where she can really go to get away from the men. To get to the bathroom you must go through the bedroom and the kitchen and bedroom are only separated by a curtain. Stanley doesn't really seem to think about Stella in this situation. He abuses Stella and expects her to come running right back to him because that is what she always does. She doesn't give herself enough credit and doesn't respect herself like she should. She is settling for him because she thinks she can't do any better. This reminds me of Laura as well because Laura didn't give herself respect.
Rachel, you chose the same characters that I did. I have noticed that a lot of people have chosen these two characters because of the similarities that they possess. I agree with your statement that said Laura needed to stick up for herself. There are many times in the world where people just need to stick up for themselves. I hate to bring about this topic, but bullying is something that people need to stick up for. Other people need to notice bullying and take the proper steps in preventing it. Just like Laura, Stella needed to do the same. They both did not stick up for themselves, and as a result, they are bossed around by many people.
DeleteRachel the two characters that you picked are very similar in their personalities. Both Laura and Stella were quiet people who were both looked past and taken advantage of. I also think that like Amanda wanting Laura to be like her, I also feel thT Blanche wanted Stella to be like her too. I feel this way because in the beginning of the story, Blanche arrived and started talking bad about Stellas arrangments on where she lived and who she married. So, I feel that they both have a lot in common and let people walk all over them like you said, great job!
DeleteRachel, I agree that Laura and Stella were similar characters. They let people push them around and never stood up for themselves. Amanda and Blanche really took advantage of them considering they were both the older and dominant sibling. They pushed them around. And Stella and Laura and Laura both were pretty shy so that probably had a lot to do with why they let their siblings push them around.
DeleteIn A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella was one of the most interesting characters to me. Stella was the type of woman who never really said much of anything. She let people push her around, and anyone who was around her took advantage of that. Blanche took advantage of Stella many times. There were a lot of times in the book that Blanche would call out for Stella to get her more towels, or to go to the store and pick her up a drink, or to pour her a drink and not one of these times did Stella ever stick up for herself and tell Blanche to get up off her butt and do it herself. Then there were the times that Stanley took advantage of her. Stella never complained of how Stanley and his friends were over to play poker and the whole house smelled of smoke, or whenever Stanley would go out bowling all night, leaving Stella at home to clean up or whenever Stanley would come in the house drunk and swat her around. Stella never even complained of being pregnant! She was a character that had no self esteem. Stella did not know how to stick up for herself, and I feel that even if she did know how, she wouldn't. There was a certain instance in the book where Stanley hit Stella, and she ran away, but eventually Stella had come right back to him as if nothing bad had ever happened. Stella's whole life was centered around a man who did not really care for her as she should, but Stella did not care because she believed that without a man in her life, she would be nothing.
ReplyDeleteIn The Glass Menagerie, Amanda was the character who had been centered around men. Amanda, much unlike Stella, seemed to have a very high self esteem. She would tell her children what to do and when to do it and if they did not do it right or up to her standards, she would yell at them for it. Just the same, all that Amanda had ever talked about throughout the whole play was gentlemen callers. She was always so worried that if Laura did not have a gentleman caller that her life would be a disaster. Amanda often reminisced about how many callers she had whenever she was Laura's age and how many men that she had lined up for her. This led me to believe that Amanda too felt that she was nothing without a man, even though her husband had left her.
Morgan, your explanation of Stella was spot on. She let everything and everyone push her around, including her sister and her husband. I think that Blanche took advantage of her and really didn't care for her that much. Like you said, Blanche would always ask her for more towels or get her a drink. This shows that Blanche does not truly care for her sister like a normal person would. Amanda is the complete opposite of Stella and is more like Blanche. She was very outspoken, and would not be afraid to say what she believed, even if she said to someone that she did not know very well. Like Blanche, she also lost someone that she loved. Blanche lost her boyfriend, and Amanda lost her husband. Good job with your blog.
DeleteI really liked this blob, mainly your point of view on Stella. Although I think Stella is rather pathetic letting people push her around. The reason people do is probably due to her letting them do it. Stanley abuses this power he has over her with how he lives. Amanda never let other people take advantage of her, unlike Stella. Although Stella fought with other characters in her play while Stella seems too fragile to do that. She seems more egotistical to me since she talks about how she always had men lined up to meet her.
DeleteI am choosing Laura from “The Glass Menagerie,” and Stella from “A Street Car Named Desire.” Both of these characters share many characteristics. Both were created by the same author Tennessee Williams. Tennessee Williams does not create many characters in his stories, but the characters that are in it have an extremely important meaning. For example, Laura in “The Glass Menagerie” relates to the title because she has her own glass menagerie. This talent that Tennessee Williams possesses is one that is very unique and that many authors cannot do.
ReplyDeleteLaura from “The Glass Menagerie” was always quite shy. She didn’t really talk to anyone besides her family, and she didn’t have many friends. Laura claimed that was shy because she said that she was crippled. She is close to her family, but has some arguments with her brother Tom and mother Amanda. She is nothing like those two as Amanda is very loud and disruptive, and Tom has a job and a friend that he invites over to the house. Laura had a crush on the same man in high school, and she is awe-stricken when she heard that he was coming over. Little did she know that the man liked her too. She is related to the title of the story because a glass menagerie is fragile and breakable. I think Laura’s personality is fragile and breakable. This was a very unique skill that Tennessee Williams possesses in relating characters to the title.
Stella from “A Street Car Named Desire” is very similar to Laura. She is also very quiet, and does not go out publicly and talk to people that she doesn’t know. She is a pregnant woman, but her husband loves to drink and party. She basically does whatever Stanley tells her to do, and she is much obliged to do so. When her sister Blanche comes to stay with her for a little while, Stanley talks to her a lot more than he does Stella. Blanche is totally opposite of Stella. Blanche is very outspoken and very loud and talks to everyone. She is not afraid to show off her personality. Stella is kind of bossed around by Blanche I think. She just does whatever she says.
I think that Tennessee Williams relates his characters in his stories to his everyday life. Blanche’s boyfriend committed suicide because Blanche talked about his sexuality in a rude way. Tennessee Williams also had a unique sexuality that was different from many people. He is a very good author, and his stories represent that true story of his life. He was open to all ideas, and wasn’t afraid to share them.
Andy, you did a good job in showing how Williams put emphasise on his characters in making them simple, but a major part in the stories, even if they only have a few lines per scene. I feel that Stella and Laura have a alot in common also because they are both very soft spoken people that are pretty much controlled by the people that surround them. I also think that Williams puts characteristics of himself in the background of charcaters also. Therefore, good blog Andy!
DeleteI will agree with your statements about Laura in "The Glass Menagerie." She is fragile like a glass menagerie which the title of the play is named after. Her shy nature making her separated from outside people and fragile as a result. I think Stella is more outgoing than Laura however. In your comparisons between the characters, I noticed that they both are outdone by people close to them. I never noticed that before reading this. Williams did not make many characters in his plays, but he made them count.
DeleteTennessee Williams really uses the same type of characters in his plays "The Glass Menagerie" , and "A Street Car Named Desire". For this blog I am going to write about the two most obvious to me that are common, Laura from The Glass Menagerie and Stella in "A street Car Named Desire". Their main similarity is their shyness and love life. They both almost seem completely helpless and fragile. While other people might be yelling and screaming, they're calm and quiet and don't say much to contribute to what might be a fight going on. They are both also just looking for love and I feel like they both chose the wrong person. Another similarity between them is that they both have somewhat troubled families. In Stella's family, whatever Blanche says goes. When Blanche arrived, I feel like the relationship between Stella and her husband kind of distanced. Especially because he flirted with Blanche when Stella wasn't around. We are yet to finish the book and I'm curious to see what happens with Blanche while Stella is in the Hospital having her baby. Deep down I think that Stella is pretty self conscious about herself as was Laura. Laura was extremely self conscious. Mostly because of her being somewhat crippled. These two characters are very shy in their stories. Tennessee Williams made them alike in many ways. When I picture the Stella in "A Street Car Named Desire", I picture Laura. Their personalities are so much alike that I just picture them alike. They are both young and shy and let themselves be taken advantage of.
ReplyDeleteLaura and Stella are great characters to pick from these plays. Laura and Stella do both share much of the same feelings, and personalities. Through both plays, we see how they are always being pushed around and listen to whatever they are told. Stella and Laura both seem to symbolize weakness. This was something that Williams experienced throughout his life. It really will be interesting to see how the play plays out.
DeleteI chose the same two characters as well because I think that they were the two that were most alike. However, I didn't mention how their love life was pretty much the same. Neither of them can find a good man. I think that they always just settle because of their shyness. Laura will be with whoever her mom picks. Stella is just with Stanley because she is pregnant. They are both always being pushed around, and do not stick up for themselves.
DeleteTennessee Williams did not include many characters into his plays, but all the characters he made were fully developed throughout the plays. The two characters I thought stood out the most are Tom and Stanley. Tom, from the Glass Menagerie, is the male of the household, and because of this, holds a certain bit of power in the story line. Stanley, from A Streetcar Named Desire, is the same way. He has a large amount of "pull" in the way the story plays out.
ReplyDeleteTom is developed throughout the story by the arguments he gets in. When he argues with Amanda, we see the side of him that seems to fit Tennessee Williams the best. Tom lets out his oppressed feelings, that Williams had throughout his life. Tom feels that he is under unwanted pressure from Amanda, much as Tennessee Williams felt he was under pressure from the rest of the world. Tom has some good points, one of which is that he is a hard worker. Tom is constantly feeling oppressed by Amanda. He gets into several arguments with her over what he should do, or what he is not doing.
Stanley is developed in much the same way as Tom. We see Stanley through the arguments he gets into. Because of Stanley, the story gets an added "kick" to it. It gets the feeling that something unexpected can happen at any moment. Stanley is the opposite of Tome in the way that instead of being oppressed, he is the oppressor. During his arguments with the other characters, especially with his wife and Blanche, we see how controlling he is, and how he oppresses others. This seems to point at how Williams felt the world acted towards him.
Williams felt oppressed during his life, and it shows through his plays. Tom and Stanley, in particular, seem to point to opposite sides of Williams feelings throughout his life. Like Tom, Williams felt that he was being oppressed by the world around him, and has trouble dealing with it. Stanley, on the other hand, seems to be the oppressing world. Tom is the victim, and Stanley is the oppressor. This combination fits how Williams felt about his feelings being repressed by the world. Williams did a great job throughout his plays at reflecting how he saw his own life.
I like that you compared these two characters. I think that they really resemble how Williams felt when he was growing up. Tom and Stanley are both the male rulers of the households. They are always getting into arguments with their family members and that is what shapes them as the controlling, dominant male figures that they were supposed to be.
DeleteJess, I like how you did a comparison and contrast between these two characters and also brought them into the life of Tennessee Williams. When you were discussing the characters of Tom and Stanley, I think you did a fabulous job with the discussion about how they were either the oppressing or the oppressed characters in the story. When comparing these characters to Tennessee Williams, they resemble two different sides of his life and two different feelings that he constantly had and was also scrutinized for. I think you did a good job in putting a twist on the blog and really emphasizing a point in the authors life.
DeleteIn each of his plays, Tennessee Williams uses very few characters, but he makes each one play a very significant role. The character that I chose to analyze from "The Glass Menagerie" is Laura. The character from "A Streetcar Named Desire" that I would like to analyze is Stella. I think that they have a lot in common. In each one of the stories, the plot pretty much revolves around these girls. They rely a lot on their family members. Amanda controlled Laura, while Stanley and Blanche control Stella. Amanda wanted her daughter to follow in her footsteps and live a successful life. when she doesn't get any gentleman callers, her mom becomes upset. Likewise, when Stella doesn't listen to her husband, he gets very angry. Neither of these women really have the greatest environment to live in. Everyone considered Laura to be crippled because of her disabilities, she did not have a father in her life, and her mom and brother were constantly fighting. Stella is pregnant, her sister moves in with her and causes many problems, and her husband is abusive. They don't really have the nerve to stick up for themselves in different situations. Laura dropped out of school because she was so shy and awkward. Stella is also quiet; she just listens to her husband's rules. I think that there will be a turn at the end of the book. Just like in "The Glass Menagerie", at the end Laura becomes more open and kind of breaks out of her shell. Maybe Stella will do the same thing.
ReplyDeleteLarissa, your blog was very short but I think it stated all of the facts that are very needed to the point perfectly. You stated the facts and I am in the same boat as you with these characters being the center of the stories. They live inside difficult situations and are often tossed aside to fit inside of the lives of their surrounding family members. I agree with you when you say that there will be a twist at the end of "A Streetcar Named Desire." I am excited to read the end!
DeleteLarissa, you are right about the stories centralizing on Stella and Laura. They are both the "weak women" that need protected. Amanda tries to protect Laura by see ding her to business college, and Blanche tries to protect Stella by trying to get her to see how bad her husband really is and by trying to get her to leave him. However, both of these women think of themselves as strong, so neither of them appreciates the help that is trying to be given to them.
DeleteTennessee Williams has a style of writing that uses few characters to bring out larger messages in his plays. In the stories of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie", there were three main characters in each with some help from a few supporting characters. With the three main characters, there are similarities in their qualities between each of the two stories. In both of the stories, there is the overpowering character that seems like she has to control everything, resembling both Blanche and Amanda. There is also the men who always seem to be on edge and about to crack, qualities that come out in the characters of Tom and Stanley. Then there are the characters who do not have as much emphasis in the story while so much is involved with their characters. Laura and Stella seem less involved but seem like the characters that are most important and pull their whole stories together.
ReplyDeleteLaura is the sister in "The Glass Menagerie" and is the character with whom the play is named after. Laura is comparable to the glass figurines in her menagerie because of her fragility and stability as a person. She is considered "crippled" because one of her legs is shorter than the other, and is therefore led by her demanding mother. Amanda wants to control every aspect of Laura's life and feels the need to find Laura a gentleman caller so that she will be set for life away from home. Being crippled, Laura feels that she has to please everyone and cannot live up to her full potential. She is shoved around by her mother and has little self confidence for life on her own. Laura connects "The Glass Menagerie" together being that her mother and Tom do everything to create a future life for Laura.
Stella is another character who has little confidence and is pushed around by another character. However, Stella has to fall down in ranks to both her sister Blanche and her husband Stanley. Stella is another type of people pleaser, trying to make her husband happy to keep him from being abusive, and trying to please her sister Blanche. Blanche seems to find any small reason to criticize her sister, and Stella has lower self confidence because of this criticism. Stella connects the entire story together because drama would not be happening if Stella did not have the sister that comes to visit or did not marry her abusive husband.
Both of these girls use their timid roles to pull together two different stories that could happen in any person's lives. While being quiet and timid, their fragility reigns supreme and creates a sense of vulnerability in both of the books. I am excited to discover the end of "A Streetcar Named Desire" and try to guess the questionable ending.
Carli, I think that you make some great points about both Stella and Laura. I personally think that the reason that Laura allows her mother to control her so much is because she is so incredibly self-conscious. She thinks of herself only as a cripple and not as a young woman who would normally care about going to business college and finding a husband. However, I feel as though she would like to remain as a little girl, which is shown through her love of playing with her glass menagerie and wandering the streets while she was meant to be in classes.
DeleteIn the plays written by Tennessee Williams, all of his characters fit a type. There is the selfish man, Tom in The Glass Menagerie and Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire, there is the woman living in the past and working to get back to where she used to be, such as Amanda and Blanche, and there is the person that needs protected and isn't as strong of spirit as the others around her, like Laura and Stella. Also, there is always the person that isn't really important in the ways of personality, but is important in the way that they set the play into motion, like both Jim and Mitch.
ReplyDeleteI think that in The Glass Menagerie, Tom is the most interesting and mysterious character. You never quite know what he's thinking or why he's doing this until it's almost the end of the play. You learn that all he really wants is to go out on his own, see the world and write poetry. However, Amanda always guilts him out of leaving with lectures and talk of family responsibility. Eventually, he does get fired from his job and leaves Laura and Amanda to fend for themselves while he wanders through towns and cities, never actually settling down. You can never be completely sure wether he's being selfish this entire time, or if he was simply doing what many others would do in his situation.
In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley is a very interesting character to me. While he resembles Tom in some aspects, he can also be very different. He believes himself better and more intelligent than his wife, his sister in law, and even his friends. He also has quite the temper, which you see when he takes advantage of Blanche and hits his wife. You also get clues that this type of thing happens often with him. He seems angry at any reminder of his wife having a better upbringing than he had, which makes him feel inferior. I believe that this is where much of his anger stems from.
Tennessee Williams was an amazing play write, and his characters are always dynamic and realistic. They always seem to remind you of someone you know in the ways of their almost stereotypical personalities.