A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie were two plays in which there was a woman who played a drastic role in life of the other characters; they were Blanche DuBois and Amanda Wingfield. Written by the same playwright, these two main female characters featured characteristics that were similar to both. Blanche and Amanda were "southern belles" who couldn't adopt a new lifestyle other than that of the southern aristocrats. They had been unsuccessful in coping with changes in the modern society, which resulted in the formation of fantasies and dreams to deal with their inability to change. Both Blanche and Amanda also had failed marriages which may have been the ultimate cause of the way Blanche and Amanda view society and cope with hardships.
Blanche and Amanda both came from an aristocratic family from the southern plantations; this proved to be an ordeal that both characters had problems dealing with. Their inability to change to the urban lifestyle caused them to be inferior to society. Amanda's experiences from the South caused her to push Laura into doing things that she thought was customary. She believed that it was still natural and ordinary for the gentlemen to go calling on women; however, these efforts were futile because of Amanda's failure to realize that they existed in a society totally different from the one that she had known all her life. Blanche had similar experiences; her ways of conduct influenced by the southern aristocratic plantation lifestyle led her to be socially isolated or different from those around her. She also thought that women should still be dependent on the masculine gender to provide for what she needed; hence, she always "depended on the kindness of strangers." Because of the old-natured views that Blanche and Amanda had on society, both romanticized and escaped into a whole different realm of existence.
Blanche could not support herself during the visit that she had to Elysian Fields; she was constantly fantasizing and dreaming of what reality could be.
Psychiatrist report on Amanda Wingfield Amanda Wingfield has gone under psychiatric observation. ... Amanda needs to release her grip on this past and move on. Amanda's personality reflects a domineering character. ... This is Amanda's weakness. ... Mentally Amanda Wingfield seems capable to hold on to and perform daily activities. ...
In The Glass Menagerie, Laura Wingfield is set as an outcast because of her disability and shyness. ... AMANDA: Don't say crippled! ... In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois is set as an outcast because of the things she did after she lost her plantation and her husband. ... In The Glass Menagerie, the theme of illusion is shown whenever Amanda speaks of her past. ... Amanda sometimes seems to forget that she chose to marry a less-than-ideal man. ...
With it came the legendary characters of Stanley Kowalski, an ape like man married to Stella DuBois, a southern girl raised on a plantation in Mississippi. The most famous, or perhaps infamous, was Blanche DuBois, the deranged sister of Stella, who comes to live with her sister is New Orleans. ... Blanche DuBois is portrayed as an unsympathetic character in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. ... The play ends with Blanche being committed to an insane asylum. Blanche DuBois leaves her hometown under suspicious circumstances, imposes her personality on her sister, and falls into m...
Both, Amanda Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie" by: Tennessee Williams and Mrs. ... " 3) Amanda Wingfield "Is that he future we have mapped out for ourselves?" 4) Amanda Wingfield "What right do you have to jerpardize your job?... " 4) Amanda Wingfield "I worry so much, don't sleep, it all makes me so nervous.... " 4) Amanda Wingfield "To be honest, your chest is flat....
Amanda and Jim Comparison Two of the main characters in Tennessee Williams's Glass Menagerie are Jim O'Connor and Amanda Wingfield. ... Amanda is very protective of her children. ... However, Amanda and Jim are alike in many ways. ... Both Jim and Amanda are very social people. ... Overall, Jim O'Connor and Amanda Wingfield are alike in many ways and are two of the main characters in the play....
In the Wingfields, Laura is the lost child. ... "They are her escape mechanism as the movies are Tom's and the past is Amanda's" (Griffin 29). ... Blanche DuBois, in A Streetcar Named Desire, is one of Williams's heroines who live under a cover of illusion. ... Blanche is no more herself. ... Blanche's response to the doctor, whose single gesture of removing his hat and calling her "Miss DuBois" indicates that he is a gentleman and evokes her final line which summarizes her life "whoever you are- I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." ...
The way Williams has created the complex character of Amanda Wingfield may reflect how Williams own mother may have been. ... The glass menagerie symbolizes Amanda Wingfield's overwhelming need to cling to her past, and her paranoia of being alone, so she keeps herself surrounded by the menagerie and her memories. ... The glass menagerie itself is a symbol Williams" uses to represent the broken lives of Amanda, Laura and Tom Wingfield, and their inability to live in the present. Amanda Wingfield is a complex character who is a middle-aged southern belle abandoned by her husband. ... Ama...
Others believe that Blanche Dubois is an anti-tragic hero, meaning that her life had no significance and effect on society. ... In her early years, Blanch Dubois had much to be happy about. ... Stanly reads her plans clearly and comprehends what Blanche wants. ... Blanche Dubois has had to face tragedy on many occasions during her life; however she did not even make an attempt to change her life around. ... Desire inundated Blanche during her entire life. ...
Amanda tries to relive her past through Laura, and denies anything she does not want to accept. ... Amanda has chosen to hide from reality by trying to relive her past. ... The reader can see from this that Amanda is definitely living in the past. ... Amanda believes that if she denies something so much, that it will not be true. ... It is in these ways that Amanda Wingfield hides from reality. ...
