Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire: Tragic And Comic Elements

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

self-preservation just as the tragic elements add to the notion of self-destruction. This is the true nature of a tragicomedy. By juxtaposing two irreconcilable positions, ambiguity is produced in the judgement of the main characters, most notably Stanley Kowalski and Blanche Dubois.
Ambivalence in the play is largely caused by the relationship between Stanley and Blanche. They concurrently produce both appalling and appealing tendencies. Both characters display elements of the profane and sacred yet on two distinct levels. This is what creates the double entendre. In the social sense, Blanche can be considered the heroine of the play. In a desperate last attempt to preserve her aristocratic values, she must combat everything that Stanley Kowalski is. While she represents everything that is sacred within cultural boundaries, that of which being the love of language, music, art, etc…Stanley is the brute opposite. He is highly animalistic and primitive in his ways and ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE: