Essay on the character of Stella Kowalski in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'
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Course
Unit 1 - Drama
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
An essay exploring the common exam question about the presentation and perceived weakness of Stella Kowalski in Tennessee William's 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. Written by a current university student that achieved an A* in English Literature A level by memorising these essays which are structured i...
Essay Plan: “Stella is a weak and colourless character.” How do you respond to Tennessee
Williams’ portrayal of Stella in the light of this assertion?
Introduction:
Tennessee William’s domestic tragedy, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ focuses extensively on
the tensions arising in the household of Stella and Stanley Kowalski, when Stella’s sister,
Blanche Dubois visits for a protracted stay.
Point 1:
At the outset of the play, Stella could be seen as a weak and colourless character
when she makes her first substantive appearance at the point where she comes
home to first see Blanche in her apartment.
The audience sees straight away how Stella is overshadowed and patronised by her
older sister, Blanche, who dominates the conversation by melodramatically making
the revelation that she “lost” their ancestral home of Belle Reve and projects the
responsibility onto Stella.
Blanche uses the self-dramatising triadic structure “I stayed and fought for it, bled
for it, almost died for it!” and manipulatively accuses Stella of being “in bed with her
– Polak” whilst she was struggling alone to keep the property.
Instead of standing up for herself by rightfully denying blame and defending her
husband who Blanche just referred to with the derogatory term “Polak,” Stella is
emotionally reduced to tears.
Furthermore, she is shown to be gullible when believes Blanche’s account of how
Belle Reve was “lost”, in spite of events that transpire in the play, such as Stanley
searching Blanche’s belongings and finding extravagant “furs” and “dresses,” that
points to the hypothesis that Blanche “lost” Belle Reve purely because she was
ostentatiously living beyond her means.
Point 2:
Further instances in the drama where Stella might be thought of as a weak character
occur in the occasion of the polka night.
Firstly, Stella defers to her husband’s authority and takes Blanche out so Stanley
could hold a male-only polka night.
When they arrive back, Stanley slaps Stella on the upper thigh in front of everyone
and Stella fails to confront him about it despite confessing to Blanche “It makes me
so mad when he does that in front of people”.
Later in the scene, Stanley descends into a gratuitous fit of rage and shockingly
assaults Stella.
However, Stella shortly returns to Stanley, showing that she condones violence in
their relationship.
Context: Critics approaching the play from a feminist perspective may argue that this
is a sign of weakness in Stella’s character, as her acceptance of an abusive
relationship is self-oppressive.
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