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The portrayal of gender in the plays of Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neill, focusing on the traditional approaches and stereotypes presented in A Streetcar Named Desire and Long Day's Journey into Night. The essay also discusses the role of feminist theory in analyzing gender in literature and the importance of viewing women as individuals instead of stereotypes.
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Halmstad Högskola LUT Engelska 61-
Anja Jarekvist 851118 – 3546 C – Essay Tutor: Kristina Hildebrand
1. Introduction
The purpose of this essay is to make a comparative analysis of how Eugene O´Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night (1956) and Tennessee William’s “A streetcar named Desire” (1947) portray the characters’ socially constructed gender. Williams and O´Neill portray the male and female characters in diverse ways but they still offer a fairly traditional approach in both plays, meaning that the male and female characters are presented as different. The two authors portray the connection between men and women as exceedingly romantic, powerful and problematic. There are many similarities to be seen, making a comparative analysis between these two of their works intriguing and enjoyable. The essay will focus on how the plays portray gender, how stereotypes are used and questioned and make a theme-based comparison focusing on the social construction of gender; the characters’ acting space, their power versus powerlessness; and their emotional response, which sometimes follows and sometimes breaks the stereotypical patterns. As we shall see, Williams’ and O’Neill’s plays initially present power as belonging to the male gender but the female characters are slowly empowered, especially through their necessity for the male characters’ happiness.
2. Feminist theory
Robbins (1999) discusses women in relation to the politics of word as well as the politics of world. Feminist theory focuses on one thing: women. Women are the center of attention in order to outweigh and critique the lack of importance women may be accorded. This essay will discuss stereotypes. To further explain what is meant by stereotypes in this essay; when examining socially constructed gender, there are expectations on how men and women are supposed to portray themselves through expectations regarding their personalities and appearances. These gender related stereotypes have been created and developed throughout history, and give us guidelines on appropriate behaviors connected to our gender. Through a cultural and sociological perspective (where literature has its place) men are strong, women are
weak. Society places men in a position superior toward women, even though they constantly rely on the assistance of their women in order to fulfill their needs. The stereotypical features can all be traced back to various theories when discussing feminism. I do believe that today´s society might offer a slightly different attitude towards women, compared to when Williams and O´Neill wrote their plays. However, that there is still tremendous work to be done concerning this issue. Many of the structures and rules that were being followed back then are still of current interest to the feminist theorists in today’s society. Portraying gender is like portraying society and its hierarchy and politics. Robbins explains it in a fairly easy way:
Feminist theories argue that women are also formed by other structures that build on economic subjection and physic repression, and that these structures have tended to operate as structures of oppression because of the social and physic inequalities of gender.^1
However, there are aspects that do not fit into the stereotypical patterns of how gender is represented and revealed. There is more to be discovered when reading deeper into the plays. Robbins describes it as “/…/ encoding ʽproperʼ behavior and ʽproperʼ structures of belief and feeling” 2 Readers need to focus on how a patriarchal society can be perceived and criticized through literature. Robbins (1999) describes the importance of analyzing a text from a feminist point of view when examining matters related to feminism.
At the heart of feminist literary theory, therefore, is a will to political agency - reading in a particular way, writing about what one has read with this in mind, these things can make a difference.^3
Schweickart gives examples of the roles of women in texts and how the reader should view the text from a feminist point of view, since this criticism is much needed.
(^1) Robbins, (1999) 51. (^2) Robbins, (1999) 50. (^3) Robbins, (1999) 50.
3. The Two Plays
O’Neill’s and William’s texts use traditional approaches, where gender is represented from what is and what is not appropriate behavior for men and women. They both provide their readers with classical romance when discussing the timeless yet typical issues of life and love.
Thomas Lanier Williams, later known as Tennessee Williams, was born in 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi. He was an American play writer that wrote various prominent plays. Many of his works are considered to be classics. In 1948 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with his play A Streetcar Named Desire and seven years later he received a second Pulitzer Prize for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire offers its readers a glimpse of the American South, through both narrative approach and plot. The way he writes and uses language as an influential instrument, all reflects back to the south and the appealing dialects that define the setting of the play. The culture of the Southern United States influences his plays and connections are too strong not to be noticed:
BLANCHE. Don´t you just love these long rainy afternoons in New Orleans when an hour isn´t just an hour – but a little bit of eternity dropped in your hands – and who knows what do to with it? 6
The reflections of the South can be seen in many ways, but especially through his male characters since they are first displayed with an expected roughness and masculine touch. As the story develops, Williams presents a much more sensitive and vulnerable side to his male characters. The vulnerability is strongly connected to the male desire of having a woman acknowledge their needs and feelings. This makes the content of Williams’ story develop in a somewhat surprising, yet stimulating way. This can be seen in Stanley’s desperate cry of regret, showing his essential need of having Stella by his side.
(^6) Williams, (1981) Act II, Scene 1
STANLEY. Eunice, I want my girl down here! EUNICE. She ain´t comin´down, so you quit! /…/ STANLEY. Stel-lahh! EUNICE. You can´t beat on a woman and then call her back. She won´t come, and her going to have a baby! /…/ STANLEY. STELL-AHHHH! STELL --- ( Stella comes down. Pauses near bottom step. Stanley falls to his knees, pressing his face into her belly. He weeps. /…/ STANLEY. Don´t ever leave me… don´t ever leave me… sweetheart…baby…^7
The vulnerability that O´Neill shows us here is contrasted against how he regularly portrays Stanley as a macho character with power over Stella. There is also a certain feminine touch in Williams’ female characters that is connected with the typical Southern culture. The way the characters act and talk fits into the legacy of the south. The differences between men and women are blatantly described. There are no misunderstandings when portraying the unacceptable and acceptable behaviors when allocating their respective gender roles.
STANLEY. (To STELLA.) Hiyah, sweetheart. STELLA. (Jumping up.) Oh, Stanley! /…/ Oh, Stan! (She runs into his arms and kisses him, which be accepts with lordly composure, and pats her behind familiarly.) I´m taking Blanche to Galatorie´s for supper and then to a show because it´s your poker night. /…/ STANLEY. /…/ How about my supper, huh? /…/ STELLA. (Kneels on chair by STANLEY .) I put you a cold plate on ice. 8
It is clear what is expected from both the female and the male characters of his work. Deborah R. Geis writes about the obviousness of gender roles in Williams’ play.
What is striking to me is not simply how often Williams’s play (and the subsequent Elia Kazan film) of A Streetcar Named Desire has been recycled, so that it has taken on the status of a cultural artifact, but also how deeply these re-citings of Williams’s text are caught up in issues of
(^7) Williams, (1981) Act I, Scene 3 (^8) Williams, (1981) Act I, Scene 2
Mary /…/ She still has a young, graceful figure, a trifle plump, but showing little evidence of middle-aged waist and hips, although she is not tightly corseted. /…/ What strikes one immediately is her extreme nervousness. Her hands are never still. They were once beautiful hands, with long, tapering fingers, but rheumatism has knotted the joints and warped the fingers, so that now they have an ugly crippled look.
James Tyrone /…/ He is by nature and preference a simple, unpretentious man, whose inclinations are still close to his humble beginnings and his Irish farmer forebears. /…/ He has never been really sick in his life. He has no nerves. There is a lot of solid, earthy peasant in him, mixed with streaks of sentimental melancholy and rare flashes of intuitive sensibility. 12
He displays his characters with both unpleasant and attractive features – by appearance and personality. The excitement comes from watching his story develop, and Williams writes in a very similar way when looking further into those specific gender related features. At first, the story revolves around the men being the head of the family, but as the story develops the importance of motherhood becomes significant as well as the reliance on the love of women, especially wives. ONeill portrays Mary as a troubled woman, filled with difficulties and anxiety and her weaknesses are strongly shown. Gloria Cahill explains O’Neill’s portrayal of women by looking into ONeill’s own life and his lack of mother figures. The search for a true mother figure is invariable a factor in O’Neill’s play. Cahill summarizes it by arguing the following:
What ultimately arises from this point of view is not a study of five separate fictional characters, but rather a composite picture of one woman, a progression from fragmentation to wholeness. 13
I believe that this is the greatest source of many issues regarding patriarchy and looking at the women as the weaker sex. Feminist theories try to establish an acceptable plateau for society to stand on all together, but it seems to be a
(^12) O´Neill, (1966) Act I (^13) Cahill, (1998) 96.
progression where success is not yet within reach. As long as women are being categorized as one specific gender with specific required features, the problems will still remain. I believe that Cahill´s description shows that society must start to view women as individuals instead of comprising them as the composite picture of one woman. It becomes clear after reading both plays, that feminist theories and deep criticism are still necessary in today’s society as they were seventy years ago when they plays were being produced.
4. Portraying gender
Looking at the descriptions of their characters, there is no doubt that is it possible to discover many resemblances between the two plays. I (unfortunately) consider both O´Neill´s and Williams´ portraying of gender to be believable when it comes to telling the reader about gender roles during the twentieth century. There are strong stereotypical features to be seen in both the male and female characters. Williams and O´Neill embrace the stereotypical features when portraying their protagonists, but not without a contrast that is occasionally seen – which makes their way of portraying gender thought-provoking and stimulating. There is a clear example in Williams´s play, where Stella fits into the category of stereotypes while Blanche illustrates the opposite behavior after Stanley physically abuses Stella.
STELLA. /…/ In the first place when men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen. /…/ He didn´t know what he was doing… He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he´s really very, very ashamed of himself. BLANCHE. And that – makes it all right? /…/ In my opinion? You´re married to a mad man. STELLA. No! /…/ BLANCHE. (Pushing broom aside.) Stop it! Put it down! I won´t have you cleaning up after him! STELLA. Then who´s going to do it? Are you? 14
(^14) Williams, (1981) Act II, Scene 2.
JAMIE (very drunk, his head nodding). Sure thing. Where else could I find suitable feminine companionship? And love. Don´t forget love. What is a man without a good woman´s love? A God-damned hollow shell. 15
The conversation seems ironic about the importance of female companionship and love. However, the irony could easily be translated into a harsh truth since it is obvious, when watching the story develop, that the men of the Tyrone family strongly depend on Mary´s happiness in relation to their own (unfulfilled) joy. The realization of their dependency connected to their mother/wife becomes too much to handle and it translates into an ironic statement that pushes the truth away from their reality. Anger is a theme with almost all the male characters in these two plays, which is interesting since anger is one of a few emotions that are acceptable for men to show. It is in many ways considered to be a manly feature, which might be considered remarkable since anger and other emotions are in fact human features and not specific to the male gender. ONeill and Williams collaborate with the expectations from society, but they also show the unacceptable behaviors of men – seen through the eyes of society. Vulnerability and delicacy connected to the male gender is not something that received acceptance from society. Men were strong, women were weak – a declarative statement that has been outlined throughout history, even in today’s society. Williams and ONeill declared that statement through their plays, but at the same time they made it clear that even though women occasionally could be stronger than men, they still struggle with becoming independent individuals. A clear example of this is to be seen in Williams’s character Blanche. She is a woman that has a sexual appetite, is not afraid to speak her mind and shows little respect regarding expectations even though she sometimes tries to fit into the female role of what to be expected from her. To diagnose her as mentally ill shows quite clearly that she does not fit in with society’s expectations how a women should think and act. There is little that shows that she actually is mentally ill, except the other character´s way of looking at her. A woman like that must be mentally ill, since her behaviour is considered unsuitable in many different ways. At least that is how the
(^15) O´Neill, (1966) Act IIII.
society around her in Williams´s play interprets it. There was no room for straightforward women:
STELLA. (Coldy) Go on and say it all, Blanche. BLANCHE. /…/ He acts like an animal, has an animal´s habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one! There´s even something --- sub- human --- something not quite to the stage of humanity yet! Yes --- something --- ape-like about him, like one of those pictures I´ve seen in --
The expectations on a healthy woman do not include courage, attitude and a sexual appetite. Therefore, she is diagnosed as mentally ill which gives an explanation for her behavior. It simplifies it, and maybe even makes it curable? This is an interesting yet repulsive way of defining femininity and womanhood, a definition that can be seen in today’s society as well as in the 1940´s. Expectations on appearances connected to the male and female gender is still a problematic issue. The culture that surrounds us could be seen as a result of our legacy, and developments of those problematic issues. It is hard to get rid of a legacy which is so strongly connected to rights and wrongs. The excitement in both Williams´ and O´Neill´s plays can often be traced back to a number of sites where gender is being portrayed differently, meaning that something unexpected appears that makes us look at the characters in a different way. Geis (2009) discusses a number of sites in A Streetcar Named Desire where the meanings do not follow the expectations - as if it is something that the audience requires and find fascinating.
Perhaps some of the “fascination” of Streetcar is a number of these sites – masculinity, femininity, madness, desire – where these slippages of meanings /…/ tend to occur: where the lines don´t fall neatly into place. 17
(^16) Williams, (1981) Act I, Scene 4. (^17) Geis, (2009) 239.
BLANCHE. Well, you do, honey lamb. Come here! Come on over here like I told you! (She drapes herself in scarf. He obeys like a child. BLANCHE , gripping his arms, looking into his face, her expression one of almost ineffable sweetness.) I want to kiss you --- just once – softly and sweetly on your mouth… (She does.) Run along now! It would be nice to keep you, but I´ve got to be good and keep my hands off children. 19
The male character of Stanley shows the audience many of the features of a typical man: strong, masculine and powerful, yet emotional and vulnerable, which was a combination that was not often seen. O´Neill, on the other hand, gives his characters somewhat of a softer touch that is seen through the entire play but especially during the end. O´Neill portrays his character Mary with weakness, self-pity, limitations and sorrow.
TYRONE. Mary! For God´s sake, forget the past! MARY (with strange objective calm). Why? How can I? The past is the present, isn´t it? It´s the future, too. We all try to lie out of that but life won´t let us. (Going on.) I blame only myself. I swore after Eugene died I would never have another baby. I was to blame for his death. /…/ TYRONE (with bitter sadness). /…/ Can´t you let our dead baby rest in peace? MARY (as if she hadn´t heard him). It was my fault. I should have insisted on staying with Eugene and not have let you persuade me to join you, just because I loved you. 20
Those are not all of her qualities but the deeper you get into the story, the more of these qualities are being displayed. The male characters of his play also show signs of the sorrows that Mary carries, but in another way. They are not supposed to show their weaknesses in such an obvious way since they are men and therefore they have certain obligations towards their family. The family is depending on the strengths of the men, but as the story develops you realize that the male strength and its foundation are lost.
(^19) Williams, (1981) Act II, Scene 1. (^20) O´Neill, (1966) Act II, Scene 2.
Understanding society is of high importance when interpreting female and male characteristics. What we consider as appropriate has been shaped throughout history, in the eyes of society. It is not something that is easily forgotten. No matter what, there are still ideas of rights and wrongs connected to gender and the importance of the roles that we try to display in different ways. An interesting aspect comes from considering the different decades in which the plays where written and set. Robbins (1999) explains the importance of when and where something is being interpreted.
Texts, feminist theories argue, are always produced out of a specific reality, and they bear the marks of their time, place and mode of production. They are always to be understood as relating to historic and geographic specificity, both in terms of the moment when they are first produced, and the moments when they are produced by our readings of them. 21
However, the expectations may have changed a bit, but what is seen as stereotypical today is not significant differently from how it was decades ago when the plays were produced. The surprising moments in these plays are still the same: when the patterns of acceptable gender behavior are transformed into something sincere and authentic that all humans share, male or female: love, passion, vulnerability and sorrow. Those features are not male or female, they are in fact human. These human needs emerge gradually in both O´Neill’s and Williams’ plays. The construction of the plays shows their audiences that no matter how strong the expectations of society might be, the human need of expressing true feelings should not be seen as a weakness. The expected gender roles might shape us to some extent, but they do not determine who we are – which both O`Neill and Williams´s give us great examples of in the course of their plays and the portraying of their characters. The most interesting part of Williams´s construction of gender is that he shows us two women that are very different in many ways but they could both be seen as a stereotypical woman, depending on how you expect women to act and behave. It is a concept that fits into
(^21) Robbins, (1999) 48.
TYRONE. Oh, he´s on to you, too. He knows this fuss about eyes and hair is only fishing for compliments. Eh, Jamie? JAMIE (his face has cleared, too, and there is only a boyish charm in his loving smile at his mother). Yes. You can´t kid us, Mama. 23
Their vague attempt to woo her in the way she deserves becomes nothing more than an illusion of what she really needs and wants. However, they love their wife/mother more than anything but they never seem to know the right thing to do and they all seem intimidated by her two-faced personality. This respect for the mother clearly provides Mary with a power that she is nowhere near being ready to bear. The entire family´s happiness depends on her happiness and it seems to be hard to get it all to work out. Because of that, they all get stuck between trying to live in the present and in the same time escaping the present. The husband and her two sons do not know whether to pity or blame Mary, since they struggle with their own demons and unresolved business that have made them into bitter yet loving people. The motherly love is to be seen in Williams´s play as well,
MITCH. /…/ Well, I ought to go home soon. /…/ I got a sick mother. She don´t go to sleep until I get in at night. STANLEY. Then why don´t you stay home with her? MITCH. She says to go out, so I go, but I don´t enjoy it. All the while I keep wondering how she is. /…/ You all are married. But I´ll be alone when she goes. 24
Both plays provide the reader with a persuasion of the importance of motherhood and that mothers may be the women that the men are most likely to respect. The description of these female protagonists shows that they are living in a patriarchal society but yet they seem to be the key to the happiness of many of their surrounding male characters. The male characters in both O´Neill´s and Williams´ plays show a weaker side as the plays unfold. The weaker sides of them need confirmation by their women to be able to uphold the patriarchy that they believe in. The female characters, such as Mary Tyrone and Stella Kowalski, do not seem to be
(^23) O´Neill, (1966) Act I (^24) Williams, (1981) Act I, Scene 3.
fully aware of the power they carry as the key to male contentment. Robbins describes patriarchy as a living phenomenon that is constantly surrounding us, no matter where we are.
/…/ and feminist theories identify patriarchy at work in the home, the state, the church or other religious systems, the law, education, the workplace, in culture at large, and even in women themselves since women often internalize the values they are fed by powerful external institutions. 25
Both Mary and Stella accept these values, instead of being aware of how meaningful their power is – a power that they are not aware of since they choose to follow the patterns of patriarchy, giving authority to the male characters surrounding them. However, if we choose to view it the other way around – the lack of power cannot be overlooked. If Stella would have decided to leave her husband she would have had to suffer the consequences of her choice, since there was no room in society for female divorcees. Furthermore, giving birth to a child as Stella did would have made circumstances even more difficult. Stella’s decision not to leave Stanley might disappoint feminist readers. What might be even worse is that Stella had to stay by her husband’s side not to risk a future of alienation from the surrounding society.
By emotional response I refer to the emotional interaction that is (or is not) carried out between the male and female characters. There are expectations on how emotional response should be displayed depending on whether you are male or female. Cahill presents it by discussing Jung´s point of view of the anima/animus, which in this case shows the feminine sides of the male characters as they reluctantly admit their dependence on the female characters. At the same time, it shows the strength of some of the female characters where gender roles could be shifted in opposite directions. Cahill´s theory explains how masculine and feminine psychological qualities are not necessary connected to gender – they are human features.
(^25) Robbins, (1999) 51.
