Consideration
In "A Streetcar Named Desire," by Tennessee Williams, Stanley Kowalski is characterized as a shallow person by everything he does and says. While meeting Blanche for the first time in the opening scene Stanley inquires, "Stella's spoke of you a good deal. You were married once, weren't you? What happened?" (Williams 1125) I found this to be a very personal and inconsiderate topic to bring up during a first conversation with anybody, and if Stella had said anything about Blanches late husband I think it would have involved not mentioning him. Stanley's greed is shown in the second scene as he rifles through Blanche's things, and demands to know all about the loss of Bele Reve. Surely an expecting father should be concerned for his family's financial well being, but he is failing to realize that under his Napoleonic code he would be just as entitled to a debt as an inheritance, and he should be handling this situation with a little more tact. After getting blackout drunk and striking Stella on poker night, Stanley is concerned only with getting his Stella back, going to the street screaming, "Stell-lahhhh! I want my baby down here. Stella, Stella!" (Williams 1138) I feel like he should be concerned with his pregnant wife's well being first and foremost, the neighbors that he is undoubtedly disturbing, and maybe being ashamed of himself for his actions; not with how much he misses her and how that makes him feel. The next morning he eavesdrops on a conversation between Stella and Blanche. He is unconcerned with a domestic dispute upstairs, and instead lets Blanche know that has been snooping into her affairs, and has also been poisoning Mitch's thoughts of Blanche with his ill-begotten information. Even after discovering Blanches many problems, and on her birthday no less, Stanley has the gall to produce a bus ticket to Blanche and inform her of her departure in a couple of days. Through it all, Stanley is only concerned with himself, and comes off as a very shallow person looking out for number one.
I see a lot of Stanley Kowalski in my own father, but with a very profound yet subtle difference. My dad worked a lot while I was growing up, and when he did have time off he drank quite a bit. He did in fact have a pretty hot temper, but never went as far as hitting anybody. The big difference is his outlook towards people. My dad is always concerned with others before himself. He always sees the best in people and tries to help everybody that he can, even at a significant loss to himself. Things didn't really matter unless his family was o.k. I remember being about 16 and wrecking my dad's car. I freaked out, because I was familiar with his temper, and I thought he was going to kill me. Sure enough, he was plenty mad when I called him, but by the time he got there he was only concerned with my safety. Something he said that day will stay with me forever, "Danny, I don't care if you burned the Mona Lisa, as long as you're o.k., stuff can be replaced, you can't." That is one of the most important things my father taught me, people come first.
While it is important to look out for yourself, I think it is equally important to consider the consequences of your actions and how they effect those around you. I think it would be pretty amazing to live in a world where people think about others before they do or say something. Then maybe we wouldn't have issues like the financial crisis a few years ago with its massive bailouts to corporate sleaze who made unethical business decisions at the cost of everyone else. Considering others first might lead to a world of tolerance, where people walk a mile in someone else's shoes before making a harsh judgement or going farther with violence, murder, or even genocide. I think it could also create a sense of community throughout humanity; people that are genuinely concerned about each other and care about the success of humanity.
Works Cited:
Williams, Tennessee. "A Streetcar Named Desire." 1947. 1865-Present. Ed. Nina
Baym. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. 1116-1177. Print.
Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 2 vols.
Baym. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. 1116-1177. Print.
Vol. 2 of The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 2 vols.
I also wrote my blog on a streetcar named desire. I do agree with you that it would be very cool an nice to live in a world where people thought of others before themselves. And we kind of see that in this movie especially through Stella and Blanche.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your take on Stanley. I think he was very selfish, with his priorities and concerns being a reflection of this. Like we talked about in class, I think it's some of these aspects that made it hard for me to have much, if any, empathy for him. I think your last paragraph is very well put-I only wish we lived in a world where people were more considerate and aware of their actions and the effects they may potentially have on others. Great post and insight!
ReplyDeleteI sort of agree with you...mostly because I do believe Stanley cares about his family, however he still seems to put himself first. He's playing poker so he needs Stella to not be there. Or with the Napoleonic Code, "whatever the wife owns the husband owns too". He may care about Stella, but he's really only looking out for himself because I feel that given the time period, the wife does everything. Without Stella, there's no Stanley.
ReplyDeleteThanks everybody. I wasn't trying to take stanley's side, but I did want to talk about him because i felt he just had his priorities mixed up. Granted his actions towards Blanche at the end were deplorable, the rest of it isn't too out of the ordinary for the time period. Men held the power, and no matter how wrong we know it is now, being physical with your family was a generally accepted practice back then, or rather it wasn't a big deal as long as you didn't hospitalize someone. I am encouraged by humanity's growing awareness and connectivity, and that with them people will continue to be more and more aware of each other and how even their smallest actions can affect others. anyways. thanks for reading.
ReplyDeleteWhen you mention how Stanley is talking bad about Blanche to Mitch, I thought of how Blanche is doing this with Stella. Are their motivations the same, I wonder? Is Blanche less selfish that Stanley?
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