AP English Literature: A Streetcar Named Desire
AP English Literature – A Streetcar Named Desire
Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures – national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. Select a novel or a play in which a character responds to such a cultural collision. Then write a well organized essay in which you describe the character’s response and explain its relevance to the work as a whole.
“Home is where the heart lies”, goes the saying. But what about instances when one’s home is snatched away from beneath one’s feet, and you are left to fend for yourself in the big world outside? Cultural and social collisions can have a deep impact on your life, and nowhere is this better brought out than in Tennessee William’s classic play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”.
Blanche, a sophisticated upper …show more content…
Memories of her dead husband continue to haunt her, and in moments of anxiety and fear she can still recall the music of the blue piano which was playing when her husband shot himself. The culture shock she must have received on hearing of her husband’s homosexual orientation is also shown in the play, albeit not directly.
Blanche’s transition from Belle Reve to New Orleans is not a smooth one. A Southern gal with a pompous attitude cannot fit into the bustling metropolitan life of a city which is developing on the principles of equality and merit. Blanche is shocked at Stanley’s rough and unrefined behaviour and mannerisms. Before coming to her sister’s house, she has suffered many rough transitions – from being thrown out of Belle Reve to being dismissed from Laurel. The morose period of her life post her husband’s death has left a deep psychological scar, which is aggravated by the culture shock she receives in New
Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures – national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. Select a novel or a play in which a character responds to such a cultural collision. Then write a well organized essay in which you describe the character’s response and explain its relevance to the work as a whole.
“Home is where the heart lies”, goes the saying. But what about instances when one’s home is snatched away from beneath one’s feet, and you are left to fend for yourself in the big world outside? Cultural and social collisions can have a deep impact on your life, and nowhere is this better brought out than in Tennessee William’s classic play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”.
Blanche, a sophisticated upper …show more content…
Memories of her dead husband continue to haunt her, and in moments of anxiety and fear she can still recall the music of the blue piano which was playing when her husband shot himself. The culture shock she must have received on hearing of her husband’s homosexual orientation is also shown in the play, albeit not directly.
Blanche’s transition from Belle Reve to New Orleans is not a smooth one. A Southern gal with a pompous attitude cannot fit into the bustling metropolitan life of a city which is developing on the principles of equality and merit. Blanche is shocked at Stanley’s rough and unrefined behaviour and mannerisms. Before coming to her sister’s house, she has suffered many rough transitions – from being thrown out of Belle Reve to being dismissed from Laurel. The morose period of her life post her husband’s death has left a deep psychological scar, which is aggravated by the culture shock she receives in New