A Film & Novel - A Streetcar Named Desiree

The film A Streetcar Named Desire was an accurate adaptation of the play by Tennessee Williams. I think that the most astonishing aspect of the film was its portrayal of the two main characters Blanche and Stanley.

The character of Blanche felt more developed in the film rather than the play. In the film the viewer got the impression that Blanche was more fragile than how she was portrayed in the play. The way that Vivien Leigh leaned up against doorframes, used her hands to appear frantic, and her general body language gave life to Blanche. I also think that the music that accompanied Blanche really characterized her mood and the tension in many scenes. Although, the play had several notes about the music it was still difficult to image the tension without the music queuing the mood.

I had a problem with Stanley in the film. I imagined him to be more gruff and rough. Marlon Brando's acting almost made Stanley seem as if he was of the same class as Blanche and Stella, a distinction that was greatly emphasized in the play. Brando's physical appearance also surprised me as an actor for Stanley. From his description in the play I got the impression that Stanley was not a handsome man. The play characterized Stanley as having common features, not overly impressive. One area that I think that Brando accurately captured the character of Stanley was the way in which he captured his rage and anger with Blanche. At times, it was apparent that the anger was being controlled and at other time is obvious that the anger towards Blanche was unleashed.

I think that the only area that I wish was different in the film was that of Stella. In the play she played more of a prominent role. In the film it appears that Stella's character was marginalized by the over powering characters of Blanche and Stanley.

I think that overall the film was true to the play. I think that the acting was a good adaptation of the characters, which enhanced the depth of the play.

Fading Blanche

In the play A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams, the main character Blanche becomes the center of the play. I thought I would take a critical look at her character and look at what she represented. Blanche is described as a traveler who visits her sister, Stella, after her life back home at Belle Reve has fallen apart.

The reader gets the impression that Blanche represents the "Old South". She has the classic Southern Belle attitude. The reader gets the impression that Blanche is a damsel in distress. She is waiting upon on man to come and save her. Her life has been dictated by a very antiquated upbringing. It is evident by the fact that Blanche has difficulty using the telephone. And her response to Stanley's attitude represents her own old way of thinking. Stanley takes "women off of their pedestal". And to Blanche that is unacceptable.

The most interesting aspect of Blanche's character is her lying but I think it is in response to her Southern Belle attitude. Internally, Blanche may know that the way of life that she values no longer exists but she chooses to ignore that. And by lying and creating her own world she is fulfilling her dream of an old world. And I think that Blanche as a character changes after Stanley confronts her lies. She is exposed and left in the open. She can no longer live like she had before. Maybe for the first time she has been confronted with reality. The reality that she faces is more that she can handle and the fragileness of Blanche is exposed.

Blanche by the end of the play represents the end of the Old South. The idea like Blanche was fragile and crumbling. And Blanche ultimately represented that idea and how it was destined to end.

Strong, Independent and Freethinking - A New Deal

I was considering Hurston's stance on women and the idea of feminism. The complexity of Hurston's stance makes it difficult to easily determine what her message was regarding women's roles in society. I narrowed it down to a mostly positive idea of women. Janie's image as a woman is that of a strong, independent, and freethinking person.

The first instance that comes to mind represents Janie's free thinking abilities. Janie's grandmother has grand plans for her and wants her to marry a significantly older man Logan. But Janie was not going to have any of that. She begrudgingly marries him. But chooses to pursue her own path and leaves Logan for Jody a young man with big plans. Janie imitates the divorce from Logan, which I thought was an extremely independent move and freethinking considering Janie's place as a poor black woman.

I think that Janie's independence is illustrated when Janie is coming back to Eatonville. She comes back in overalls. Which signifies that Janie was a workingwoman and was working alongside her husband. This was seen her community as a representation of poverty since women were not suppose to work unless they had to. But in reality it was a decision that Janie made herself. Which signified independence.

But the biggest lesson to be learned for Hurston's novel was the resilience and strength of women. Janie was a strong woman. Her ability to withstand the criticism from the townspeople is a sign of strength. But the most significant place I see this is when Janie is forced to kill her husband Tea Cake. Even though it was a split second decision how many people could kill their spouse that way? The ability to do so was a way in which Hurston was able to illustrate the inner strength of Janie.

Hurston's Janie was a head of her time and was an example of women as strong people. Her Janie represented what women could become.

The Attitude

The Ethics of Living Jim Crow by Richard Wright is an autobiographical sketch of life in the early twentieth century South. The examples that Wright chose seemed to be very interesting and unique: chosen as a way of portraying life under the Jim Crow system.

One thing that I noticed about the anecdotes that Wright chose was that the events were small and isolated and didn’t appear to be related to any larger struggle or event. The instance when Wright describes the actions of the storeowners against the black woman. When they took her into the back and beat her for presumably not paying her store bill, seemed almost significant based on the reactions of other blacks that Wright told this too. Relating this Wright, compares this incident to the struggles that he had at other jobs. But he doesn’t give the feeling that this is what everyone’s experiences entailed.

Wrights experiences seem to shock and disturb him. He at first is unable to believe that this is how people were being treated. But the reader gets the impression that the way that Wright feels at this time is the anomaly. Wright gives the impression that most people accept this treatment as ordinary. I was surprised by this sentiment. I would have thought that most blacks at this time would have been offended and outraged by these actions. But Wright gives the impression that this was accepted and tolerated by most blacks.

The biggest message that I got from Wright was this idea that the way in which blacks were treated was acceptable by most people in society. I think that Wright exposed the apathetic feelings of his own community.