Tuesday March 21st Genre Blog:
                                             Streetcar Named Desire


The theme that I choose was how Masculinity was a huge part throughout the drama.

Stanley "Since when do you give me orders"
Stella "Are you going to stay here and insult her?"
Stanley "You're Damn tootin' I'm going to stay here" (1128).

The theme of Masculinity was also seen in the recent pieces of literature we have read. For example in Uncle Tom's Cabin. The men seemed to be a big part of the book that ran the show. They were the ones that took care and dealt with the slaves they owned. They went to the slave trades to pick and sell the slaves. They normally had the voice over the wives. Mr.Shelby owned Tom for some time and had say in whatever Tom did. He was eventually sold off to Mr.Legree. Mr.Legree was a very masculine man. Tom also was a form or masculinity when he later on "defeats" Mr.Legree and tells him that he will no longer work for him, he will no longer obey any of his orders or rules, and he even wanted to free two of Mr.Legree's female slaves he had. St.Clare was masculine as well, as he was a strong slave trader, and had many slaves to be in charge of including Tom. Many of the woman back then had to be in that second place to males especially it was seen in a husband and wife situation. There was also more abuse and sternness with the men towards the woman back during these times. Which showed the idea of masculinity and the power men had.

Another example of masculinity would be in the short piece of literature called The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The man had power over his wife. Ordering her to stay in bed because of her depression. Making it seem as if she was trapped to her bed and couldn't leave. "Since her husband is a doctor, he wins all their arguments" which is a strong sense of masculinity. Just because he is a doctor, means he wins the arguments? That is not fair at all. What if she was a doctor and the husband was in her place, I wonder if he would still win the arguments or if it would be different. The wife also states that she feels uncomfortable in her house, I can see why. From the dominance of her husband and being stuck inside all the time.

Other quotes in the Drama Streetcar Named Desire that dug deeper into why I thought the drama had a theme of masculinity:
   
     Stanley"There is such a thing in this state of Louisiana as the Napoleonic code, according to which whatever belongs to my wife is also mine" (1129).

     Stanley"You see, under the Napoleonic code-a man has to take an interest in his wife's affairs-especially now that she's going to have a baby" (1131).

     Stanley"You hen's cut out that conversation in there" (1134).

     Stanley"Well, you can hear me and I said to hush up!" (1134).

      Stanley beats Stella after standing up for Blanche, during the drunk poker night.

These quotes show the masculinity of Stanley towards other characters more specifically Stella and Blanche, and a little of Mitch when they a drinking at the poker night. The men more of Stanley have a great deal of power and say over these woman. He is mean to Blanche, and tries to get rid of her. "She's not stayin' here after Tuesday.You know that, don't you? Just to make sure I bought her a ticket myself" (1158). Stanley is always stern with Stella. He is like a father to her, babying her around and sticking his nose in her business.

The quotes I listed made me have the thought that the author Tennessee Williams was suggesting and trying to prove how difficult it was relationship wise to deal with people back then. Because of the differences men and woman had to each other. Like Stanley, and how he acted as an animal on the loose. Mean, dominant, and a strong characteristic of masculinity. These quotes really show the true Stanley. What I found interesting is how Stella could put up with Stanley. I think his anger, and emotions towards her friend Blanche would of sent me off right away. I also wonder Why does Blanche stay with Stella and Stanley. If I had to live with someone who treated me like Stanley did, I definitely would want to leave. I also get a feel of sexual gratification from Stanley that is rubbed onto Stella. There is a lot of emotions and sexual feelings and my theme of masculinity throughout. The setting of where Stanley, Stella, and Blanche is more ran by Stanley. As in some of the quotes I listed, he would tell people when to hush up and when to cut the conversation and stop talking. The tone of Stanley's voice is strong and powerful. Compared to Stella, and Blanche, there voice is average, quiet, and overpowered many times by Stanley's tone of voice.

I have learned how to critically read and analyze a piece of literature more in depth. Being able to pick a theme and bring evidence,examples,and ideas from other readings that connected to my theme helped my knowledge of the text. It was interesting choosing a theme and finding more by digging deeper with other resources to strengthen the idea I wanted to prove with my theme of masculinity. This made me think that pieces of literature can have many different meanings. They also have deeper issues that we can discover by exploring, and analyzing a text. Streetcar Named Desire was a great piece of literature to read.