Feminist Lens Addie Bundren And Blanche Dubois - 1247 Words

Through A Feminist Lens: Addie Bundren Blanche DuBois An astonishing story with fifteen narrators, As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner and a scandalously invigorating play, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams revolve around the notion that society’s standards and beliefs limit the happiness and freedom of women through the hands of men. Since patriarchal societies have disregarded women for centuries, literature contends to expose and enlighten readers to the rough situations women were forced into. While analyzing two lead female characters, Faulkner’s Addie Bundren and William’s Blanche DuBois, many readers realize the freedom and happiness of these women are compromised because of their gender. By also researching the†¦show more content†¦To her, she had done her part for society and for her husband. Throughout the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams uses Blanche as an example through her personality and dependence on men to expose the poor treatment of women. With the loss of her family’s estate and the life of her husband, Blanche depends on males to relieve her of guilt through sexual relationships. After having many affairs with younger men, she eventually moves to be with her sister, Stella, in hopes to find security. However, Blanche’s anxieties grow as Stella’s husband begins realizing her sexual past. Furthermore, Blanche falls in love with a man and beings to place her fate and dreams in his hands because her position in society is not designed to give her independence. Relying heavily on the strength that society has given men, she fails to realize her lack of independence will lead her to her own downfall and ruin rather than her salvation and escape. Although reality triumphs over fantasy in the end of the story, Blanche’s still choose s to retreat into her own private fantasies, which enables her to somewhat protect herself from reality’s harsh blows and to refuse the hand that fate has dealt her. Taking place in the early 1900’s, As I Lay Dying is set in Faulkner’s notorious fictional Yoknapatawpha County. The setting and historical perspective of this story contributes to the notion of how society