Unstable CHaracters in A Streetcar Named Desire and Making History Essay

Compare and contrast the ways the playwrights show the unstable central characters in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and Making History by Brian Friel. How far do you agree that Williams portrayal of an unstable central character is more convincing than Friels?

Tennessee Williams wrote one of the greatest American plays known, A Streetcar Named Desire. The play portrays a tale of a broken woman, torn apart by societys men and treated as an object not as an individual. In post-war American, men had grown accustomed to power throughout the war. Therefore, many men expected to have power over women: The alpha male as it would be put. Blanche DuBois is a promiscuous woman who wants to find love. Williams presents Blanche as unstable because she finds it difficult to fit into society of the time; she lives in the past and expects men to treat her correctly like they did before the war. She is a divided woman because she is more sexually liberated, but also wants the chivalry of the past. Brian Friel wrote Making History to raise doubt about the Nine Years War. Friel presents ONeill as unstable as he is torn between his Irish homeland, and England where he spent some of his childhood. He is supposed to be a leader of the Irish rebellion, but the audience will see him as weak and indecisive. Friel and Williams show many techniques in showing mental instability in both of their protagonists. One may argue that Williams does it better that Friel because not only is his central character clearly emotionally weak through h her speech and actions, she also appears unstable because of Williams clever use of stage directions and music.

Both playwrights show their main characters instability early in the play. The initial impression we are given Blanche DuBois is that she is out of place in New Orleans; shes come from Belle Reve a place with gentlemen and women of high standards Southern Belle.

Her appearance incongruous to the setting, she is daintily dressed in a white suit and fluffy bodice. The word white implies that she is wholesome and pure. Our initial impression of her is of a wealthy woman who is innocent. However, this soon changes when the audience see her alone for the first time. She pours herself a half tumbler of whiskey and tosses it down. Blanche begins to drink as soon as possible - this is one way Williams shows Blanche numbing her tainted impure memories. It could also be seen as a sign of Blanche trying to get courage. This suggests Blanches unstable mind as she lacks confidence. Similarly, the stage directions at the beginning of Making History show ONeill to be a character who is fragile. At the beginning of the play, the audience would be expecting ONeill to be presented as a strong person, like the leader they may have read about in history. ONeill is supposed to be a dominant figure in the Nine Year War however, he is tending to his flowers and ignoring the world around him, speaking as if he isnt all there, ONeill moves around this comfortless room quickly and energetically. The comfortless room could be a metaphor for Ireland at the time, and the fact that he is decorating it with flowers could suggest that he is trying to rebuild it. This may suggest instability because he could be fighting a losing battle. The fact that he is focusing on flowers and not his country may also show that he is not a strong leader because he is more concerned about decorations than his people. However, even though both of the characters seem out of place at the beginning. Williams Blanche seems more unstable because her drinking and the fact that she is out of place in the area.

Additionally, both playwrights show how the secondary characters have a huge influence on the main characters. Harry is ONeills friend and personal secretary; he is mostly consulting from papers at the beginning and throughout the play. Harrys effect on ONeill is that ONeill describes him as a man who is comforting and a soothing effect Harry has the most effect on ONeill more than Lombard and ODonnell because they talk more and Harry gets the most out of Hugh and this showing his instability in a way only Harry knows (Tyrone accent) Just to show him I havent reverted completely to type- would that be it? this is showing ONeills passion for Ireland even though he speaks most of the time in an upper-class English accent. This may show that ONeill is unsure of which side he speaks for, which side he must be on. Do I keep faith with my oldest friend and ally? Or do I march alongside the forces of her majesty? This uncertainty shows ONeill to be unstable because he is indecisive about which country he would prefer to fight for; this is not the language of a strong leader. ONeills use of interrogatives throughout the play infers his instability -Well see. Have the musicians arrived? And the rhymers and the acrobats? He questions everything, which adds to his uncertain manner. This is further reinforced when we see Harry speaking in declaratives throughout, might be worth renewing that friendship now. Harry gives ONeill all the advice so seems more like a friend than a secretary it also shows that ONeill cant make decisions for himself. This links to his indecision between England and Ireland and presents him as a weak leader.

In Blanches case it is Stanley and Stella who bring the most out in her. Stanley is a thuggish brute and is married to her sister Stella, both Stella and Stanley have an oxymoronic effect on Blanche. Stella is being the good one and Stanley is being the bad one, in such events Stanley uses certain information about her, in a way to play with her mind, such as her late husband and her work at the flamingo, he tells her love interest about it to weaken her, I called him a liar at first. And then I checked on the story this could suggest that Stanley is a liar but occasionally tells the truth about the people who he either dislikes or just to get his way. I dont want no ifs, ands or buts! Whats all the rest of them papers? Stanley shows a lot of aggression towards Blanche when he tries to get information out of her. On the other hand Williams may have wanted him to be seen as the Alpha male someone who controls the society which he lives in. Blanche loves her sister and doesnt want to see anything happen to her Blanche utters a moaning cry and runs into the bedroom, throwing herself down beside Stella in a rush of hysterical tenderness. This is when Stanley hits Stella, Blanche panics more than her sister, Stella goes back to Stanley and Blanche runs back to moan and cry about her wrong decision. Williams may have put this in because he wanted to show sisterly love or the fact that they cannot live without each other and that is why Blanche has come to live with Stella. The way Blanche is treated by both her sister and Stanley, make her unstable and emotional. Stella makes her emotionally unstable such as she overreacts, and Stanley makes her unstable in the way he treats her as aggressively as he does.

Symbolism is placed throughout the plays A Streetcar Named Desire and Making History, Williams and Friel have their share of this in both plays. Williams uses Blanches alcoholism and vanity as a symbol of her instability, Turn that off! I wont be looked at in this merciless glare Blanches vanity is caused by men, she thought when at Belle Reve after her husband killed himself, she worked within the walls of a brothel called The Flamingo she could be promiscuous, she could need the feeling of security, on the other hand she could lack the self respect to make it outside of The Flamingo. Other things that link to Blanches vanity is And I-Im fading now! this links to her fading from the light, that she doesnt like to be seen in the light, but it could also be that her looks are fading or the fact that her mind is fading. Nevertheless another thing which shows her insanity is the polka music which was a famous type of music then, Williams uses this to show her emotions leading back to her past life at Belle Reve, such as when she remembers Allen her fianc when he shot himself, this could be when she hears the music it is a comfort blanket of sorts and it may help her through the hardships of her life. However, Friel uses the divide of Ireland and England as ONeills sense of belonging he does not know where to go, he says a lot of things that suggest that he is thinking about changing sides and moving to England for the easy option other than fighting a losing battle with Ireland Do I grasp the Queens Marshals hand? Or do I grip the hand of the Fermanagh rebel ONeill is a lot more passionate about Ireland than England this may mean that his heart is in the right place and his head follows the wrong path to greatness. The ending acts description of the area which ONeill and his friend have move to flee from the English is the same as the description of the beginning acts area, this is a circle structure, this could be a symbol for nothing ever changes just names and faces and ONeill is aware of that and uses alcohol to drown his sorrows such as Blanche does. ONeill ends the play as a weak person who has lost all that was given to him, Friel uses the use of interrogatives to show ONeill as a dominant type and he still uses them at his weakest, this could show that even at his weakest point he still trys to be dominant in his speech.

In conclusion, Williams is more successful of showing his unstable central character, he shows this in many ways, such as her past and alcoholism, there is also the polka music to make the audience think that it is part of the background but instead they find out its within her head, Blanche is haunted by the music because it resembles her dead fianc who shot himself. While Friel uses such things as ONeill being raised in England but being Irish, so the split of England and Ireland could be the divide of his heart and his head. Friel is trying to ask which country was ONeill really from? And which country should he fight for? In overall comparison one may argue that Williams shows insanity or Unstable central character in a more vivid way within her speech and the stage directions.

Word Count: 1790