March 11

from “Letters from Storyville,” March 1911

It troubles me to think that I am suited
for this work—spectacle and fetish—
a pale odalisque. But then I recall
my earliest training—childhood—how
my mother taught me to curtsy and be still
so that I might please a white man, my father.
For him I learned to shape my gestures,
practiced expressions on my pliant face.

Later, I took arsenic—tablets I swallowed
to keep me fair, bleached white as stone.
Whiter still, I am a reversed silhouette
against the black backdrop where I pose, now,
for the photographs, a man named Bellocq.
He visits often, buys time only to look
through his lens. It seems I can sit for hours,
suffer the distant eye he trains on me,

lose myself in reverie where I think most
of you: how I was a doll in your hands
as you brushed and plaited my hair, marveling
that the comb—your fingers—could slip through
as if sifting fine white flour. I could lose myself
then, too, my face—each gesture—shifting
to mirror yours as when I’d sit before you, scrubbed
and bright with schooling, my eyebrows raised,

punctuating each new thing you taught. There,
at school, I could escape my other life of work:
laundry, flat irons and damp sheets, the bloom
of steam before my face; or picking time,
hunchbacked in the field – a sea of cotton,
white as oblivion – where I would sink
and disappear. Now I face the camera, wait
for the photograph to show me who I am.

I can't believe that I am good at prostituting.  All my training growing up was to make me civilized. It is to fulfill someone else's fetish.  Growing up my mother trained me to please a white man. I am now doing just that. I take arsenic. It kills me, but it keeps me young. I stay beautiful for the man who visits me often. You touch me, and feel me. I feel wanted. I could give myself to you, Is this love? I work all day to be beautiful, for you. The more I try to be beautiful, the less I have to focus on the world. I wait to see if I am more beautiful each day.

Passing the Torch

Advice for a New Girl

Trethewey informs and describes what new women entering into the a brothel of Storyville would come to face on their first job. Ophelia's first day as all the girls, are required and expected to be extremely cooperative and willing with their customers. In doing so the woman should not question any motives from their customers, otherwise they themselves will loose clients from making them aggressive or angry. There is this discern that the women within the brothels are expected to meet their customer's needs without a doubt because it is emphasized so mcuh. Ultimately the woman are working within the brothel as a business for which they must have a profit.

Ophelia March 11

The poem, March 11, from “Letters from Storyville” in Natasha Tretheway’s novel Bellocq’s Ophelia, describes the perspective of Ophelia and her story of being a prostitute in the red light District. 

In the first Stanza, Ophelia expresses her dissatisfaction by being apart of her job as a prostitute. But, as she recalls to her past, she defines key points of her life were she is raised and taught to become a proper women. That is, a women who can fulfill the needs of the man and allows patriarchy to being the system present. This system is considered normal back then and is still considered by some today as an appropriate way of living. Therefore, in this stanza, Ophelia understands that this is where her life has decided to take her and will continue to cooperate with it regardless of her own free choice.

In the last three Stanza’s, Ophelia describes herself in detail while sitting in front of a black backdrop where she is being photographed by Belloqc. She defines herself as “bleached white” and attempts to preserve that stature while being presented with a black backdrop. In this scenario, she is striving to keep herself distinct whilst being in the void of darkness. That is to say, she is acting as within her feminine nature while suffocating in a male dominant environment. As a white speck in the sea of darkness, she is the light that everyone sees in the darkness; therefore she must present herself as a proper woman. That is because during these times, there were double standards; women could not act outside the norm and must cooperate under the system that controls her and other females.

After she defines herself, she discusses further upon how she is controlled by society as she “was a doll” in the hands of males. As a proper woman, she allows herself to be controlled and serves the males that come to see her. In this field of work, alongside the system of patriarchy, she expresses how it is apart of the system, yet also expresses sorrow at how she is fated, like many, to being forced to accept their current way of living in this birdcage. Therefore in the last few lines, she emphasizes escapism to her like if she was not a prostitute. Depicting stereotypical fields of work such as an indoor housewife or as a farmer in the fields.

Bellocq's Ophelia

Bellocq's Ophelia, Storyville Diary, June 1911

Countess writes my description for the book
Violet, a fair skinned beauty,recites
Poetry and soliloquies; nightly
She performs her tableau vivant, becomes
A living statue, and object of art-
And I fade again into someone I'm not.

This poem is about the processing of a prostitute in the blue book in New Orleans. She is a work of art and her beauty is the color of light violet. She keen on words, knowing how to speak with her clients. The Countess can become revert to her personal life while retaining the personalities of seduction. The procedure to enter people in the blue book is interesting. It about giving someone about an image. Through that image they are given privileges of feeling of identity and class. Even through the attitude and respect for women in the 1910's was rather limited, you can see the shift towards independence through the description of the poem. These women finally had a way to control and empower through seduction. Don't get me wrong, women are still treated terrible during this time period but, they are now able to show of their body. The circumstance demoralizing but, women are becoming individuals not bound to a husband. Prostitution can be debated though it's Taboo nature in our society. Morality can be thrown out the window but your starting to see the women persona described in detail. It's a big change coming from a old century of traditional ideals.

March 1911

In "Bellocq's Ophelia" by Natasha Tretheway, the author calls herself a whore, named Ophelia, who works in the red-light district of New Orleans. We see of Ophelia's life on display and her experiences as a prostitute. From what I have read, I have viewed this book as a heartbreaking piece, and a reality that still presently so many girls are either forced into, or choose.

from “Letters from Storyville,” March 1911
"It troubles me to think that I am suited
for this work—spectacle and fetish—
a pale odalisque. But then I recall
my earliest training—childhood—how
my mother taught me to curtsy and be still
so that I might please a white man, my father.
For him I learned to shape my gestures,
practiced expressions on my pliant face...."

This is sad for a young girl to feel she must please her father by being a prostitute. Even more disturbing that he apparently taught her how to behave in a certain manor to this job. 

Advice

Countress P—‘s Advice for New Girls

​In this poem Trethewey describes what new girls, who find themselves working in a Storyville brothel, would encounter in their first days. It can be paraphrased, through Ophelia’s description of what she was told on her first day, that the girls are required or expected to be very compliant and corporative with their customers. It is expected that the girls learn to be watched, in anyway, by their costumers and do not question their motives. It is also expected that they remain still and quiet, unless they are told to talk and move by the costumers, because it may offend or angry the costumers. A very high level of detail and attention is devoted to ensuring that the girls meet all of their costumer’s needs and desired. A great deal of attention also goes into the decoration of the house, as Ophelia describes. Ophelia describes the house as high class and luxurious; the meaning of the house, however, is low-class and dark. All of this is to ensure that costumers are happy and return for an enjoyable time; the girls are employees and the house is a corporatized business that only stands to make a profit.        

January 1911

The poem is about Ophelia writing to her best friend about what its like. Her friend has heard about what Ophelia does and he's scolded her countlessly for it. However the effort to get Ophelia to stop is pointless. She views this job as her independence and away of making her own from the rest of the world. She gets all the money she works for and can spend it how she pleases. This day in age when women didn't have much independence from men, they were usually not allowed to work or make many decision for themselves. This gives her a more freedom than she previously had. Her friend is too engrained into society to believe her and worries. She wants to help but doesn't have the needs to. Ophelia is trying to reassure her that she doesn't need to worry about her and she is fine on her own. The only thing she want is to continue to write to her and tell her about the normal life that her friend has.

Ophelia's Bellocq

Part two of Bellocq's Ophelia, is an exploration of Ophelia's feelings and motivations for and about becoming a prostitute. The poems have very strong connotations, good and bad, even though the language is pretty simple. Ophelia writes to a friend (teacher?) every month with increasing insight to what it means to be in this new world where she is both celebrated and hated for her mixed race.

In the first poem, she tells of how she is not picked due to her inexperience and how it causes, at first relief, but then dismay because she could not "earn a living that way" (Tretheway 13). In the third month, still getting accustomed to her new life, she gets angry at the other girls in the house because of their carefree attitudes (Tretheway 17). We can see that she still isn't comfortable in her new skin. In many of the poems, Ophelia recollects some story or event that she uses to justify her new life. In March 1911, she speaks of her white father and how she had to learn to act in ways that pleased him (Tretheway 20). Now in her profession, she has to learn how to please more white men, in different ways.

Then, she speaks of Bellocq who "buys only time to look through his lens" (Tretheway 20). In September 1911, she spends time with him outside of the brothel, photographing things that shine like "iridescent scales of fish on ice at the market" (Tretheway 27). Then she recounts visiting a friend in the hospital who is suffering from "the invisible specter of" their work (Tretheway 28). Ophelia becomes increasingly more aware of her new status through these letters and as a result becomes more confident in this new life.

Bellocq's Ophelia pg. 17-19

       This poem was set to take place in February 1911. It starts off with Opelia's description of the other girls. She says they are similar to the girls she used to know. Many of them like the warm meals and perfumed soaps they are given. Unlike Ophelia, the other girls only wear their undercloths around the house. She is subtly teased for her proper cloths. She imagines her friend's excitement from these events. She spoke in a loud tone to the other girls. She told them, "you are what you look like" (Tretheway 17).She thinks it would change the way they present themselves.
       The next stanza focused on the men that came to the house. Some men only want to hear the women talk or look upon their faces. There are also those who only want what can not be explained on paper. She then explains how she can live like this. Ophelia feels like a young girl again, seeing the way her body had changed. She stares at herself in the tub until her shivering frame overwhelms her. While at the house, she also imagines she is back at home imagining the men leaning over her at the farm store.

March 1912

In the poem titled March 1912, Ophelia wrote a postcard to her friend that said the end of winter is coming (33).  It is time to stop wearing winter apparel. Trees are beginning to blossom. She is more aware of the change of season than ever before. She feels the anticipation of the renewal that comes with spring.  Ophelia feels as if she is blossoming and growing out of the person she used to be.

I decided to paraphrase this poem because I really liked the last sentence.  I liked the way she compared her self to a tree splitting its skin. Changing like the seasons.

Movie vs. Play

The movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire  is a very interesting take on the original play version. I feel as though the play is more intense than the movie. The buildup of tension between Blanche and Stanley was less intense that the play but Blanche seemed incredibly more dramatic than the play. This is probably due to it being acted out instead of it being just read out loud. I will say that I liked that the walls kept getting smaller and smaller but also it seemed as though Stanley's speech was becoming more slurred as time went on. I feel as though his speech mirrors his sanity as Stanley deals with Blanche for five months. On an additional note, in the play Blanche seems off but you do not know quite how. In the movie, Blanche seems like a borderline schizophrenic or some other mental illness but she is clearly mentally ill.  It is very apparent as the movie continues towards the end. The rape scene was very interesting in the movie due to ho vague the ending scene was. I think it was just as implied in the movie as it was in the play. The reason why I think it's implied is due to the expression on both of the actors faces as if something bad will happen or that the pot has finally boiled over so to say. The ending is the scene tat really got me. Instead of ending in a solemn manner of sending Blanche away, it ends with Stella standing up for herself so to speak and leaving Stanley. I think I prefer the play's version of the ending because it resembles real life more that the movie version does. Regardless of how the movie ended, I really like the movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire because of how insane it is and how it took the play and made it its own.

Exploring the Blue piano

Music and sound play an important role in Tennessee William’s telling of A Streetcar Named Desire. The most notable of devices used in the sounds of the play is the “Blue Piano.” The Blue Piano makes its appearance in multiple scenes in the play. The first appearance is on page 3 where the stage notes indicates, “this blue piano expresses the spirit of life which goes on here.” The spirit of life is obviously the ways of living in the New South. The integration of minorities, other races, depression and indulgence of vices all make up the New South as it is set in New Orleans. The Blue Piano also makes another appearance in the exchange between Blanche and Stanley “The barely audible ‘blue piano,’ begins to drum up louder… the sound of it turns into a roar of an approaching locomotive.” Although not expressly said, the Blue Piano can be inferred as symbolic of the “New South.” Consider the context when the Blue Piano is playing. The Blue Piano is seen playing in the stage notes whenever Stanley is present. On page 4, Stanley is seen coming around the corner to his flat as the Blue Piano is playing. Stanley is considered the character that embodies the “New South,” because of his mannerisms, who he is (immigrant roots), and serving as a foil for Blanche who represent the Old South.  The description of the sound represents the energy of the scene also. In the scene when Stanley is seen turning the corner the piano is presumed to be rather mellow and soft. However, on page 160 right before the climax of the rape scene, the energy in the scene is at an all time high. The piano is described in the stage notes as loud as an “approaching locomotive.” William’s is trying to tell us that the New South is at its strongest at this point. It’s interesting to note that Blanche doesn’t have any instruments to signify her presence. Another interesting aspect about the piano is that it is “blue,” a very calming or sometimes referred to as depressing color.

Effects of Movies

I thoroughly enjoyed both the play and the film.  The beauty of movies is the fact that a director can add sounds, lighting, and special effects to intensify the impact of a scene.  A good example of sound intensifying a scene is when Blanche feels accused by Stella when she asks about Belle Reve.  As Blanche backs up and denies that losing the land was her fault, the streetcar on the tracks gets louder and louder.  The use of echoing voices when Stanley asks Blanche about her ex husband and what happened to him portrays how Blanche thinks and how insane and desperate she is.  The echoes were used in the end as well when she is being taken away by the doctors and she said she forgot something.  Of course, there are usually differences between books and movies, yet this film only had minor changes.  An example of this is how we actually get to view the bowling alley in the film, yet in the play it is only mentioned.  Talented actors can truly bring characters in books to life as well.  Marlon Brando, a buff, handsome, hunk, brought predatory sexiness and flare to the film.  The actress who played Blanche provided harsh, disturbing screams as she is apprehended and wrestled to the ground in the end of the film.  The end of the story was clearly altered as well.  Stella, covered in tears, tells the baby she will never go back to Stanley and runs up the stairs to Eunice's apartment.  It is still uncertain to me if she will go back to him, but she most likely will, just as she did when he called out Stella from below the staircase earlier.

Movies vs. Plays

I thoroughly enjoyed both the play and the film.  The beauty of movies is the fact that a director can add sounds, lighting, and special effects to intensify the impact of a scene.  A good example of sound intensifying a scene is when Blanche feels accused by Stella when she asks about Belle Reve.  As Blanche backs up and denies that losing the land was her fault, the streetcar on the tracks gets louder and louder.  The use of echoing voices when Stanley asks Blanche about her ex husband and what happened to him portrays how Blanche thinks and how insane and desperate she is.  The echoes were used in the end as well when she is being taken away by the doctors and she said she forgot something.  Of course, there are usually differences between books and movies, yet this film only had minor changes.  An example of this is how we actually get to view the bowling alley in the film, yet in the play it is only mentioned.  Talented actors can truly bring characters in books to life as well.  Marlon Brando, a buff, handsome, hunk, brought predatory sexiness and flare to the film.  The actress who played Blanche provided harsh, disturbing screams as she is apprehended and wrestled to the ground in the end of the film.  The end of the story was clearly altered as well.  Stella, covered in tears, tells the baby she will never go back to Stanley and runs up the stairs to Eunice's apartment.  It is still uncertain to me if she will go back to him, but she most likely will, just as she did when he called out Stella from below the staircase earlier in the film.

Film Adaption of Street Car Named Desire

I think the thing that shocked me most was the actresses portrayal of Blanche. In the book she comes off as over powering and too excentic. She says very outlandish statements like, "I want you to look at my figure, you know I haven't put on one ounce in ten years?" but in the play the actress doesn't make it sound as harsh and rude as the script does. When she sees her sister for the first time and they are speaking about age and weight, Blanche comes off in a stuck-up sence. Yet when its worded in the scene in the bar she sounds totally normal. Her thoughts in the movie are drastically reduced by the actresses gestures and composure or lack there of. I think it is partially based on the fact that they don't stick one hundred percent to the script. It's also the fact that in your own mind you read words more harsh and direct as opposed to the acting out of the dialogue. 

The filmic character of Streetcar

"Streetcar Named Desire" has a mixture of cinematic elements that gradually picks up in sexual tension. A way of film making that was popular in the 1950s. Through the integration of close up shots and cinematic pans. Even the lighting of the film brings the story and writing that Tennessee Williams to fruition. Blanche is always darkly light in scenes of introduction. She flutters her eye contact between the room and the subject. You can almost feel the awkward electricity in scenes like when Stanley takes his sweaty shirt off and stands facing Blanche. It captures the feeling of the 1950s for me. The attitude,dirt and elegance of New Orleans during that time period. I'm going to have to give the set design credit for picking a location that resembled the way Williams depicted it in the book. One thing that stood out for me was the technology used to bring this picture to life. Thus is a time when color in film was selectively used. It brings out a sharpens in the image when it lacks color. The grey scale color spectrum of the film unintentional brought film making brings out the small little touches of detail that are sort of lost or hard to picture in the text. The costuming help give me a better insight on how Blanche and Stella differed from their surroundings. Marlon Brando acting was true to the nature and demeanor of Stanley. I hated his forceful nature and argued the entitlement of his actions. Actions and mannerisms common in 1950s culture and film making. I felt like the acting was generally true to the context and the viability of the characters. One thing that I wanted to bring up was the cinematography. The way that the directors created suspense through tighter frames. These closer shots helped heighten the tension and stress of a situation. It brought an element of confinement in the house. Blanche was able to almost disappear in the house and you say that in the film. I liked how Blanche would peer through the doors and corridors. She a mysterious character who is always teasing and the added angles fleshed out the character. It never felt forced, the decision of shots worked well with the scenes. For example bird eye shots help establish a wider field of view in the kitchen and yard. It also helped establish power and control over scenarios. It's a conservative way to tell a story and back in the 1950s that had to rely on camera positioning to tell a story. Unlike the quick jump shots  and special effects we are used to in contemporary film making. The music and the mood matched up to the promiscuous tension of Blanche's movements. All this worked into creating a film that was true to the style of Tennessee Williams book.

Streetcar Adaptation

After reading Streetcar Named Desire we all watch the movie looking for different factors. Knowing the nature of the characters, multiple lines scream at me during the movie. I found myself flipping back into the book wondering how on earth I missed that line. I honestly do not know if I am looking for these character traits or if the director choose to flash them as much as he does.

We have come to learn the nature of Stanley's aggression. Watching his first scene where he is demanding Stella to question how her sister lost their family home it seems more aggressive than the first time I read the scene. Stanley is pushing her away from the suitcase, and Stella is fighting back. One of the lines that screamed at me is when Stanley says to Blanche, "If you weren't my wife's sister I would get ideas about you". This line in the film seemed very rapey.

Blanche is portrayed as more innocent in the film, and I am able to victimize her more throughout the movie. When Blanche is having flashes of "crazy" the music is louder, Stanley's voice echoes, the drama is more intense. As the movie goes on the rooms get smaller.

Overall the visualization of these characters very much opened my eyes to their true nature. I enjoyed the movie adaptation.

Play vs. Film

Although the adaptation of plays into films usually carry many differences, they also exhibit similar characteristics through the script, character portrayal, or light and sound. For example, A Streetcar Named Desire portrays the aspect of lighting in both the play and the film to accurately display the correlation between light and the characters. A prime example of lighting displaying an element of a character throughout A Streetcar Named Desire is Blanche. Throughout the play, we see that Blanche always avoids being in direct light. In both the play and film, Blanche makes her distinction of abhorrence with light clear by buying and placing a paper lantern over a naked light bulb in the Kowalski’s apartment to shield her face and figuratively shield her past. 

When watching the film the dark lighting really made me see Blanche’s character as having an obscure, yet, dramatic disposition. From the start of the film, the element of shadows surround Blanche portraying her avoidance to discuss her past truthfully with other characters. In accordance with her eloquent talking, any conversation Blanche held with other characters seemed to be ten times more dramatic than the dialogue between other characters. 

 As Blanche tells Mitch the story of her deceased husband, the black and white lighting makes the scene dramatic showing light used to represent love and destruction. Tennessee Williams does a great job of displaying this dual element by making Mitch, someone who Blanche thinks of as a potential husband, put up the paper lantern; however, Mitch destroys this fantasy by tearing off the lantern Blanch asked him to put up, exposing her true self. When you closer examine the element of light throughout the play and film, the realization of light and its meaning becomes more obvious.

From Paper to Film

In general it is pretty well known that novels and plays are in fact more detailed than a movie is capable of portraying.  In A Streetcar Named Desire there were some changes in which i noticed. But the movie itself did it hit well on where the novel lacked, or to be more precise helped viewer feel a closer connection with the characters. Some changes that I noticed were that some scenes were included into the movie for which were not originally included into the play.Such as, Blanche informing Mitch of how her husband died, here the scene was altered so that the two characters were on a deck overseeing the water. In additionally the endings are entirely different; while the play exhibits Stella staying with Stanley, the movie has Stella leaving Stanley. Ultimately i agreed with this decision because he did after all rape Blanche. I enjoyed the movie scenes for which the actors performed their roles to par. It allowed for the audience to not only be visually encapsulated into the play but as well as being connected as if they are a local neighbor watching in on all this drama taking place.

A Censored Movie

After reading the play and then watching the movie I have to say that like most adaptations of written work, I much preferred the play. The movie for me just had so many unanswered questions and vague  meanings. Sometimes I felt like if I hadn't read the play then I would have been lost in the movie. This also could be that my attention span may have hindered me from picking up every detail in the movie as it is easier to notice things like that in a book because they are literally spelled out for you. In any case I felt like many important aspects were left out.

 For starters the scene where Blanche is on a date with Mitch and she is telling him (very dramatically) about the young boy she used to love, it is spelled out to the reader that this man was gay and that she found him in bed with another man. In the movie not only is this aspect of Blanche's relationship with her young boy not addressed the story in which Blanche spins is one of a different tune. In the movie she claims that the young boy could not provide for her and she alluded to a couple other problems neither of which portrayed to the viewer that the young boy was gay. Another blatant change in the film would be the rape scene, or lack there of. In the film Stanley has Blanche in his hands and then sort of throws her up against the mirror and then the scene goes black. In the moments directly after the scene I would have had no clue that Blanche had been raped if not for my reading of the play and the discussion we had in class. It is not until later at the very end of the novel when they are carrying Blanche's writing crazy body in and out of the flat that hints toward rape are dropped. Mitch throws a couple Punches at Stanley accusing him of touching her which he blatantly denies. Other than this implied accusation from Mitch I would be oblivious to a supposed rape. Lastly, the ending in which given to the reader is ambiguous in that it could be interpreted two different ways. While at face value you could go along and pretend that Stella has actually left Stanley by the end of the film, I believe that there are still hints that she may return to him because she loves him, and the way in which she "left" him was running upstairs to Eunice's flat (something Stella has done on several occasions to escape the wrath of Stanley). 

For me I cannot be sure of the reasons for so many changes in the film. It could just be artistic freedom in that the director decided to go a different route or it could be that the film industry during the 1950s was very censored during this time. I believe it to  be the latter. The removal of controversial topics like the homosexuality and rape probably had to do with the sensitive content would not have been suitable for a movie during this time period. 

. 

I would like to say that the actors were casted perfectly. I couldn't have imagined a more dramatically annoying Blanche if I tried, and believe me she annoyed the living day lights out of me. Marlon Brando was the perfect Stanley, easy on the eyes and hard a muscular and toned everywhere else. Lastly Stella's very plain character was perfectly cast for a woman who is suppose to play comparatively passive person next to her ill-minded sister. The characters definitely played into the reactions and questions that I believe Tennessee Williams intended for viewers after watching the play. Its hard to sympathize with Blanche because she is so awful, and its hard to paint Stanley as the bad guy because he is easy on the eyes (where most terrible stock characters are ugly or have some kind of flawed visual appearance) and claims he does the things he does out of love for Stella and wanting what is best for his family. For this reason it opens other controversial doors... was Blanche "asking for it?," is she crazy or is everyone else crazy?, and lastly which ideals are better.. those of the Old South or those of the New South?

    

Blanche Was Not Asking For It

This outraged me that people would actually believe Blanche was asking to be raped. Because a girl acts flirtatious (which is often easily mistaken for friendliness or just a certain personality she has with everyone), she wants her body to be taken in control and advantaged by a man.

I do not believe Blanche asked for rape, because in scene 10 we see Blanche rambling on, clearly having hallucinations which points to a level of somewhat unconsciousness, where she is not able to make her own decisions, especially regarding her own body. We see that Blanche is desperate to get out, and goes into the bedroom and kind of sets a barricade by shutting the drape behind her. This doesn't stop Stanley however, as we see he follows and openly admits to wanting to "interfere" with her. We see her reaction, where she is clearly not okay with him entering the room, by smashing a bottle and threatening to twist it into his face.

Maybe she acted flirtatious or others perceived it that way, and she obviously had a sexually active history in her past, but does that mean that her future and present should be judged off of her behaviors? Why does that give it the okay for a man to make advances on her because of decisions she chose? She should still have her own personal choice if she wants to engage in behaviors with any man, a man should not take away the right to her body.

Was Blanche asking for it?

I thought that the movie did a great job of portraying the feelings that were expressed in the play write. All of the actors did a great job of playing their part. I believe one of the great arts of "days gone by," is that actors really did have to do a good job to get a specific part. I think the best job of acting was done by the whoever played blanch in the movie. She matched Blanche's personality perfectly. If it weren't for such a great screenplay, I doubt students would be reading about a "Street Car Named Desire" today. Although all of the actors did a great job, nothing could be said more about what a phenomenal story this was. It is very easy to believe that something may have happened like this at one time.
In class we discussed the question, "was Blanche asking for it?" I think in many views, it is very easy to make the claim that she was asking for it. Since Blanche showed up in New Orleans, she has been very flirtatious with every man she meets. You might even argue that she is leading them on. I think she really did want to have sexual relations with Stanley. She did not seem to resist in the film either. I know in the society that we live in today, even the absence of no is still is still a no. Although this play takes place in a very different time, it still takes two to tango.Blanche did not seem to be opposed to the idea very much at all from the beginig of the book. Without a doubt, Stanley did rape her, but she did seem to show great interest from the begiing of the book.
This a very good story and screenplay that we all could learn something from.

Script to Film

Many movies, which are based off of novels or plays, bring in large amounts of revenue each year. Directors, in order to maximize this revenue, often drastically change the plot, dialogue, and/or setting of a novel or play to make it more entertaining or accessible to the viewing audience. Changes were certainly made to the Streetcar Named Desire script. Unlike many other movies, however, only scarce and minor changes were made. For example, the movie shows a few scenes in a few settings that did not exist in the original play. An example of this is when Blanche tells Mitch how her husband died on the deck outside the dancing hall. While Blanche did tell Mitch this story in the play, it was not on a deck overlooking the water, this part is exaggerated to make the scene more dramatic. Another change was made to the ending. In the play, Stella does not leave Stanley after Blanche gets taken away. In the movie, however, she does leave Stanley and tells her newborn that they will never go back. Despite this, I feel that the movie did an adequate job of correctly showing each character’s personality and flaws. I feel that the cast members were perfect for their job as well, they really embodied what I pictured each character to look and act like.    

Different Endings

When discussing abusive relationships people always ask,  “Why doesn’t she just leave?” They believe if they were in the same type of situation they would just leave. Leaving an abusive relationship is very hard to do. There are many circumstances and factors that impact the difficult decision and act of leaving an abusive partner. Stella has many reasons that would make it difficult to leave Stanley. One of those reasons includes her having a child with him.  Another reason is that it was difficult to be a single mother at the time. Stella also did not have anywhere she could really go. I also believe that she stays with him because she does love and desire him.

I believe A Streetcar Named Desire had a different ending in the movie than book because it gives the audience more closure.  In the movie she tells her baby, “we’re not going in back in there, not this time,” and then leaves to Eunice’s house. It leaves the audience with the impression Stella will no longer trust  Stanley, and might actually leave him. The entire play I believe we are rooting for Stella to leave her toxic relationship and the movie gives us that ending.