Tennessee Williams was one of the greatest American dramatists of the 20th century. Most of his plays take us to the southern states and show a confused society. In his works he exposes the degeneration of human feelings and relationships. His heroes suffer from broken families and they do not find their place in the society. They tend to be lonely and afraid of much that surrounds them. Among the major themes of his plays are racism, sexism, homophobia and realistic settings filled with loneliness and pain.1 Tennessee Williams characters showed us extremes of human brutality and sexual behavior.2 One of his most popular dramas was written in 1947, and it is called A Streetcar Named Desire.
The drama is basically about a married couple -Stella and Stanley Kowalski- who are visited by Stella’s older sister, Blanche. The drama shows the caustic feelings of these people putting Blance DuBois in the center. The drama tells the story of the pathetic mental and emotional demise of a determined, yet fragile, repressed and delicate Southern lady born to a once-wealthy family of Mississippi planters.3 No doubt that the character of Blanche is the most complex one in the drama. She is truly a tragic heroine.
First she is introduced as a symbol of innocence and chastity.4 She is aristocratic and intelligent, and sensitive and fragile at the same time, also beautiful and this delicate beauty has a moth-like appearance. But these positive characteristics are overshadowed by the fact that Blanche arrives to Elysian Fields, which is a poor section of New Orleans, on two streetcars, Desire and Cemeteries. These misterious expressions, which can be considered to be the main symbols of the play, suggest that something is is not clear around Blanhe or that something wrong will happen towards the end. Elysian Fields symbolizes paradise beyond death from ancient lore,3 Desire expresses Blanche’s desire to be loved and Cemeteries represents her fear of death.4
Blanche represents a deep-seated attachment to the past.5 Her life is a lesson how tragic events events in the past can ruin a person’s future. Her husband’s death affects her the most.
Blanche was only a young girl without any experience when she got married. She married Allan Grey, who was only sixteen. Their marriage started well, but later the young wife found out that Allan was homosexual.
Pride and Vanity in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Vanity in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. In her novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen makes the point that an excess of pride or vanity is indeed a failing.
Pride, observed Mary, . . . is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or another, real or imaginary.
Pride and/or vanity is exhibited in different forms by each character. Those characters who can recognize their flaw emerge as the true heroes of the story.
In many minor characters of the novel, pride is a common characteristic. Mrs. Bennet, for instance, is extremely proud when it comes to her daughters marriages of mercenary advantage. She is so concerned that her neighbors have a high opinion of her that her own vanity will not even allow her to think of her daughters love and happiness. This is best shown with the case of Elizabeth Bennet’s proposed marriage to the esteemed Mr. Collins, a man she did not love. Mrs. Bennet was so upset when her daughter refused Mr. Collins offer that she would not speak to her for passing up such an opportunity.
We can see an example of pride for imaginary qualities in Mary Bennet who was herself the speaker of this passage. To the embarrassment of her family, Mary would take every chance she could to put on a show whenever in a public sit…
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…s a flaw in their respective characters. Darcy realizes that he must check his pride in order to be seen in a good light by others. Elizabeth, the object of his affections, is so turned off by his prideful ways that a touch of vanity enables him to change himself for her. Elizabeth, while observing the transformations of Darcy, realizes that she, too, has been guilty of too much pride. She sees that she was indeed prejudiced and that she must come to terms with the failings of her family. Darcy and Elizabeth are able to overcome their pride which enables them to live happily ever after.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 1813. Ed. Donald Gray. New York: Norton and Co., 1993.
Johnson, Claudia L. “Pride and Prejudice and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Pride and Prejudice. By Jane Austen. Ed. Donald Gray. New York: Norton and Co., 1993. pp. 367-376.