Vulnerability Essay Plan
Intro:
Essentially shows the vulnerabilities of human beings
Williams explores his own vulnerabilities through the characters
The vulnerability of human beings may be seen to be exploited
through Blanche’s inability to face reality, Stella’s position within her
relationship
Women = most vulnerable = 1940s context
Blanche can be considered as the most vulnerable character in the
play.
The audience experiences her vulnerability through her crippling
need to be desired by men, as well as her susceptibility to delusions
of grandeur
Para 1:
“paper moon” sung “contrapuntally” to Stanley exposing truth
Fantasy makes her vulnerable
Paper = not strong material
Moon = longs for feminine magic of the moon
Sky and sea = freedom and escape = foreshadows hoe she will be
free in her fantasy
Act of bathing is an escape from the apartment
Constant washing = lady Macbeth’s famous hand washing scene
Para 2:
Blanche is driven by her compulsive need to be sexually desired by
men which makes her deaerate and vulnerable.
Blanche’s journey on Desire through Cemeteries to Elysian Fields is
both literal and allegorical.
Desire: “They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and
transfer to one called cemeteries”
o Street car = desire, unstoppable fate
o Desire leads to death
o Elysian fields = land of dead
o Metaphor for her social and mental death
Desire: “I’ve run for protection, Stella, from under one leaky roof to
another leaky roof
o Dicaopic repetition
o Run = rapid, desperate
o Euphemistic metaphor
o Direct address = emotive
o Leaky roof = insecure, unsafe, not home = vulnerable
Link to:
Intro:
Essentially shows the vulnerabilities of human beings
Williams explores his own vulnerabilities through the characters
The vulnerability of human beings may be seen to be exploited
through Blanche’s inability to face reality, Stella’s position within her
relationship
Women = most vulnerable = 1940s context
Blanche can be considered as the most vulnerable character in the
play.
The audience experiences her vulnerability through her crippling
need to be desired by men, as well as her susceptibility to delusions
of grandeur
Para 1:
“paper moon” sung “contrapuntally” to Stanley exposing truth
Fantasy makes her vulnerable
Paper = not strong material
Moon = longs for feminine magic of the moon
Sky and sea = freedom and escape = foreshadows hoe she will be
free in her fantasy
Act of bathing is an escape from the apartment
Constant washing = lady Macbeth’s famous hand washing scene
Para 2:
Blanche is driven by her compulsive need to be sexually desired by
men which makes her deaerate and vulnerable.
Blanche’s journey on Desire through Cemeteries to Elysian Fields is
both literal and allegorical.
Desire: “They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and
transfer to one called cemeteries”
o Street car = desire, unstoppable fate
o Desire leads to death
o Elysian fields = land of dead
o Metaphor for her social and mental death
Desire: “I’ve run for protection, Stella, from under one leaky roof to
another leaky roof
o Dicaopic repetition
o Run = rapid, desperate
o Euphemistic metaphor
o Direct address = emotive
o Leaky roof = insecure, unsafe, not home = vulnerable
Link to:
