Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire and John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi possess one major theme in common: sin.
In Streetcar, sin is evident in two of the main characters, Blanche and Stanley. Blanche's sin becomes evident when readers learn of her life of sexual promiscuity. She has given into lust (one of the Seven Deadly Sins) and sleeps with many men, assumedly sometimes for money. Now, some may argue that Blanche does so in order to survive; yet, arguably, this does not truly excuse her sinful ways. Stanley is also lustful, and he is also abusive (which one could align with the sin of wrath). Stanley is a womanizer, rapes Blanche, and physically abuses his wife.
In The Duchess, sin (more specifically greed, another of the Seven Deadly Sins) is present in the Cardinal and the Duke (Ferdinand). Both men try to talk the Duchess out of remarrying because they wish to take possession of her fortunes.
A second theme present in both plays is class structure. In Streetcar, Blanche constantly reminds Stella, her sister, that Stanley's class is below theirs. Likewise, in The Duchess, the Duchess's brothers are angry that she pursued and married a man beneath her (their) station.
Monday, March 5, 2018
What themes/quotes would you use to compare A Streetcar Named Desire and The Duchess of Malfi?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Why is the fact that the Americans are helping the Russians important?
In the late author Tom Clancy’s first novel, The Hunt for Red October, the assistance rendered to the Russians by the United States is impor...
-
There are a plethora of rules that Jonas and the other citizens must follow. Again, page numbers will vary given the edition of the book tha...
-
Lionel Wallace is the subject of most of "The Door in the Wall" by H.G. Wells. The narrator, Redmond, tells about Wallace's li...
-
In the late author Tom Clancy’s first novel, The Hunt for Red October, the assistance rendered to the Russians by the United States is impor...
-
The poem contrasts the nighttime, imaginative world of a child with his daytime, prosaic world. In the first stanza, the child, on going to ...
-
Robinson Crusoe, written by Daniel Defoe, is a novel. A novel is a genre defined as a long imaginative work of literature written in prose. ...
-
In Celie's tenth letter to God, she describes seeing her daughter in a store with a woman. She had not seen her daughter since the night...
-
Let's start with terms: "expected value" means the average amount that you would win or lose over a large number of plays. The...
No comments:
Post a Comment