3。3 Blanche’s Life Experiences

4 Intrincic Causes Resulting in Blanche’s Tragedy in A Streetcar Named Desire 9

4。1 Blanche’s Desire

4。2 Blanche’s Conflict

5 Conclusion 12

Bibliography 13

1 Introduction

Tennessee Williams was born on March 26, 1911 in Columbus, America。 His birthplace is “a town in eastern Mississippi and the seat of Lowndes Country lies on the Tombigbee River” (Adler, 1990:93)。 He was regarded as one of the foremost playwrights in 20th-century American drama。 His father, Cornelius Williams, was an alcoholic traveling shoe salesman who always stayed away from home。 His mother, Edwina, was assigned to a parish in Clarksdale, Mississippi shortly after Williams’ birth, so Williams’ early childhood was spent in the parsonage there。 Williams was the second child of his parents, and he had a brother Walter Dakin Williams and a sister Rose Isabel Williams。 As a small child, Williams suffered from a case of diphtheria which nearly ended his life, leaving him weak and virtually, confining to his house during a period of recuperation which lasted a year。 Because of his illness, he was less robust as a child than his father wished。 Cornelius Williams had a violent temper and was a man prone to use his fists。 He thought his son was lack of strength。 His mother Edwina was locked in an unhappy marriage, focusing her overbearing attention almost entirely on her frail young son。 Many critics and historians note that Williams found inspiration of his writing in his own dysfunctional family。

In 1935, Tennessee Williams wrote his first drama Cairo! Shanghai! Bombay!, which was played in State of Tennessee。 Twelve years later, he wrote the drama A Streetcar Named Desire, which finally became one of his master works and helped him to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama。 This work described a tragedy about Blanche, who was born in the southern of America。 After Blanche experienced a lot of dramatic things, she became crazy gradually and finally was sent into the mental hospital。 The drama was adapted into a commercially successful movie and made one great actor, Marlon Brando and one great actress, Vivien Leigh。论文网

This thesis is intended to analyze Blanche’s tragic fate in A Streetcar Named Desire, for the things Blanche experienced lead to different kinds of contradictions and conflicts which destroyed Blanche at last。 This paper begins with a brief introduction to the author, Tennessee Williams, the whole story of A Streetcar Named Desire。 Next, it presents a description of Blanche's tragic fate of the heroine Blanche。 After that, the paper explores the different reasons that cause the tragedy of Blanche, namely social background in the 20th century, Blanche's personality and Blanche’s life experiences。 Then, it makes a specific analysis of the realistic meaning of Blanche's tragedy from two aspects, Blanche's desire and conflicts。 Finally, a conclusion of the research project is reached。

2 Description of Blanche’s Tragedy in A Streetcar Named Desire

Although A Streetcar Named Desire is a script, after reading this work, people can still know the different kinds of unfortunate events Blanche's encountered。 These events had a great impact on Blanche's mental state, gradually changing her attitude to her life。 Under the mutual influence of her mental state and attitudes towards life, eventually Blanche was sent to a psychiatric hospital。

Using the key point that Blanche comes to New Orleans as the piding line, the reader can pide the unfortunate events she encounters into two stages。 文献综述