Compare and Contrast How the Theme of Love and Sex Is Presented in ‘1984’ by George Orwell and ‘a Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams in the Light of the View That Both Texts Have More to Say About Hate, Than Love.”
The theme of love and sex plays an important role in the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” and the dystopian novel “1984”. However in order to measure if hate is a more occurring theme, a comparison must be made of the two texts with the conclusion of which theme is used the most.
Williams’ work can be measured as one of the most controversial plays of all time, and “A Streetcar Named Desire” lives up to this reputation.
For the time in which it was written, in the 1940’s, this play challenged the taboo issues of violence, promiscuity and perhaps the most frowned upon at the time, homosexuality. Williams himself was homosexual and he portrays Blanche’s husband’s reaction to her confronting him to his own problems dealing with his sexuality.
Similarly “1984” can also be tracked back to Orwell’s own experiences. George Orwell wrote the novel shortly after the end of the Second World War. Many aspects of the novel such as inaccurate propaganda and the bombs dropped on the Proles were experience by Orwell himself in London.
It could be said that Stanley’s rape of Blanche leads to her inevitable demise. However a number of events have taken place in her life contributing towards her break down, for example the death of her husband who she loved, the loss of her family and the loss of her house and career. The central topic of violence is initially exposed to the audience during scene one, with a subtle indication of Stanley and Stella’s physicality as he “heaves” a package of meat at her. This reference to meat suggests that Stanley is the masculine provider, who traditionally supports his wife. This impersonal yet primal exchange between the two characters is a first vague image of their type of communication.
Williams continues to involve violence in this slight form during the scene through Blanche’s recollections of the DuBois family estate, Belle Reve, and how it was lost. During this verbally aggressive conversation, Blanche taunts Stella for not being
Williams’ work can be measured as one of the most controversial plays of all time, and “A Streetcar Named Desire” lives up to this reputation.
For the time in which it was written, in the 1940’s, this play challenged the taboo issues of violence, promiscuity and perhaps the most frowned upon at the time, homosexuality. Williams himself was homosexual and he portrays Blanche’s husband’s reaction to her confronting him to his own problems dealing with his sexuality.
Similarly “1984” can also be tracked back to Orwell’s own experiences. George Orwell wrote the novel shortly after the end of the Second World War. Many aspects of the novel such as inaccurate propaganda and the bombs dropped on the Proles were experience by Orwell himself in London.
It could be said that Stanley’s rape of Blanche leads to her inevitable demise. However a number of events have taken place in her life contributing towards her break down, for example the death of her husband who she loved, the loss of her family and the loss of her house and career. The central topic of violence is initially exposed to the audience during scene one, with a subtle indication of Stanley and Stella’s physicality as he “heaves” a package of meat at her. This reference to meat suggests that Stanley is the masculine provider, who traditionally supports his wife. This impersonal yet primal exchange between the two characters is a first vague image of their type of communication.
Williams continues to involve violence in this slight form during the scene through Blanche’s recollections of the DuBois family estate, Belle Reve, and how it was lost. During this verbally aggressive conversation, Blanche taunts Stella for not being
Bibliography: Orwell, George, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Penguin Books, London, 1990 Williams, Tennessee, A Streetcar Named Desire, Penguin Books, London, 2009 www.Bookrags.com Brooks, Daniel.: Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire. Explicator (Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, Washington, DC) (65:3) [Spring 2007], p.177-180. Shelby, Christina. “1984 study guide / Major Themes / GradeSaver.” www.gradesaver.com 6 January 2009. Gradesaver. 6 January 2009 http://www.gradesaver.com/1984/study-guide/major-themes/. More analysis of language, form and structure is needed. You do discuss it but the comments are short and straightforward. Make sure you always discuss critical points of view.