Gender struggle and women’s predicament in tennessee Williams’ a Street car named desire

Abstract EN

Of this paper is to shed light on the theme of Gender Struggle and Women’s Predicament in Tennessee Williams’ A Street Car Named Desire .The paper tries to show William's dealings with the critical social themes like Men's Brutality and women's predicament.

The paper exposes the complete shift of the balance of power between the genders in America after the two world wars.

Williams illustrates society’s changing attitudes towards masculinity and denounces the society's attitudes towards women in America at that time.

He rebels against the cruelty of the modern age and regrets the disintegration of the values of the south and their being replaced by the disruptive forces of modern life.

In the end of the play, brutality and ruthlessness of the main male character Stanley, win over gentility and delicacy of Blanche, the main female character in the play.

Stanley beats his wife Stella horrifyingly and rapes his sister-in-law Blanche, showing no remorse.

Yet, Blanche is an outcast from society, while Stanley is the proud family man.

The play then has a moral lesson and social satire as a literary work belongs to the school of art for the sake of life and not art for the sake of art.

Tennessee Williams wrote on isolated and lonely people of America and especially women.

The heroines of his plays all suffer from physical or emotional injury and seek fulfillment from a mate.

In the words of Arthur Ganz "He is especially expert at creating sympathetic women like the faded southern belle in the Class Menagerie (1945), the touching spinster in The Night of Lquana (1961) and the pathetic Blanche in A Street Car named Desire.

(1947).