In the plays of Tennessee Williams, certain traditional oppositions have been used,
constituting, in an essentialist manner, the difference between man and woman. A
proper analysis of the modalities of functioning of these oppositions motivated by the
spirit of essentialism can help expose a phallocentric propensity that helps sustain sexual
difference. Tennessee Williams’ famous play A Streetcar Named Desire (Streetcar
hereafter), which involves the use of a variety of related oppositions, warrants an analysis
along this line.
Nancy Merle Tischler records Williams’ attitude to D H Lawrence’s emphasis on the
purity of sexual life as well as his phallocentrism in the following words:
While realizing that much of D H Lawrence’s work is “chaotic and distorted by
tangent obsessions, such as his insistence upon the womans’ subservience to
the male, Williams believes that “all in all his work is probably the greatest
modern monument to the dark roots of creation.” And he especially appeals to
the playwright as the “life-long adversary of those who wanted to keep the
subject (of the mystery and power of sex, and the primal life urge) locked away
in the cellars of prudery.” (Tischler 1961, 120-121)
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