Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire essays

Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire essays Character Analysis of Stanley Kowalski A Streetcar Named Desire revolves around the association of Blanche with Stanley, who represents contemporary social values driven by male dominance. He is violent and barbaric throughout the play, both in costuming (an element of spectacle) and in dialog (in this case, an expression of both diction and character). As the play progresses, Stanley uses every possible tool available to him to subjugate Blanche, including destroying any possible healthy relationship, ostracizing her, and finally raping her. In his first encounter with Blanche, Stanley is irritated because he knows she has been drinking his liquor. He senses an invasion of his territory by Blanche, who has taken something that belongs to him. Stanley welcomes her into the Kowalski home; however, that acceptance requires that Blanche acknowledge his authority. When he removes his shirt in this scene, it is not so much to titillate Blanche as to demonstrate his masculinity. Stanley's desire to dominate everyone around him finds its ultimate expression in his relationship to Blanche. That desire ignited in Act I. During their first confrontation, Stanley attempts repeatedly to intimidate Blanche into giving him the information he wants concerning the loss of Belle Reve. Initially however, Blanche responds only with flirtation and laughter and ultimately, with a long diatribe relieving her of responsibility for the loss, and bestowing all the legalities on to him. During the next scene, when Stanley physically intimidates Stella, showing his own physical prowess, Blanche attempts to take her away from him. In the course of the play he appears obsessed with finding Blanche's weakness; when he discovers that she has committed sexual indiscretions in Laurel and senses her feelings of guilt concerning them, he acts immediately. In the second confrontation between Blanche and Stanley we see another territorial dispute. Ignor...

Free Essays on Semiotic

Notions of the Semiotic In this paper I will use Kristeva’s notion of the semiotic to evaluate marriage and the everyday life acts that are encompassed by it. Kristeva’s notion of the semiotic and the symbolic provide the magnifying glass, which is needed to see into and beyond the obvious reasons of love, lust, and companionship. Through this analysis the brief emergences of the semiotic will be made apparent in several aspects of married life. I will also attempt to critique her theory by showing its biasness. Marriage is one of the most beautiful phenomenon that any two beings can participate in. It is through this union of two that the semiotic takes form and unveils itself to be noticed. The union of marriage is similar to the usage of religion in today’s symbolic world. In fact, the two go hand in hand and adhere to the different semiotic needs of the individual. Religion attends to the semiotic needs of the self-consciousness. Having a God that will love, understand, and forgive you for each and every mistake or wrong that you commit is a protection that only religion can provide, a consistency that will never fail. Religion also provides a unity with a greater, more divine being, that union is created to replace the bond created between a mother and an infant still in the womb. The infant knowing no language communicates solely through desires and needs, to which the mother responds. The infant at this stage cannot discern itself from the mother and thinks of the two a ! s one or whole. Thus the concept of wholeness is now imprinted in the infant’s mind. This wholeness or unity is severed when the mother can no longer provide the child’s every need and desire. Religion and the union with God are an attempt to replace that severed bond. Marriage is also a response to the loss of wholeness that is suffered in the oedipal stages of a child’s life. Marriage is an action taken to fulfill the so-called... Free Essays on Semiotic Free Essays on Semiotic Notions of the Semiotic In this paper I will use Kristeva’s notion of the semiotic to evaluate marriage and the everyday life acts that are encompassed by it. Kristeva’s notion of the semiotic and the symbolic provide the magnifying glass, which is needed to see into and beyond the obvious reasons of love, lust, and companionship. Through this analysis the brief emergences of the semiotic will be made apparent in several aspects of married life. I will also attempt to critique her theory by showing its biasness. Marriage is one of the most beautiful phenomenon that any two beings can participate in. It is through this union of two that the semiotic takes form and unveils itself to be noticed. The union of marriage is similar to the usage of religion in today’s symbolic world. In fact, the two go hand in hand and adhere to the different semiotic needs of the individual. Religion attends to the semiotic needs of the self-consciousness. Having a God that will love, understand, and forgive you for each and every mistake or wrong that you commit is a protection that only religion can provide, a consistency that will never fail. Religion also provides a unity with a greater, more divine being, that union is created to replace the bond created between a mother and an infant still in the womb. The infant knowing no language communicates solely through desires and needs, to which the mother responds. The infant at this stage cannot discern itself from the mother and thinks of the two a ! s one or whole. Thus the concept of wholeness is now imprinted in the infant’s mind. This wholeness or unity is severed when the mother can no longer provide the child’s every need and desire. Religion and the union with God are an attempt to replace that severed bond. Marriage is also a response to the loss of wholeness that is suffered in the oedipal stages of a child’s life. Marriage is an action taken to fulfill the so-called...

Wage inequality in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Wage inequality in UK - Essay Example Thus, one viable interpretation, not necessarily the correct interpretation, of the disparities in wage based on gender, race, ethnicity or localities that may be observed in the United Kingdom is that the disparities are due to the differential productivity of labour resulting from differences in gender, race, ethnicity, locality or on how each social group would trade leisure for work. Lately, however, economics have recognized the role of institutional and social factors on how wage rates may differ across social groups based on gender, race, ethnicity, or locality. The institutional or social factors may be a result of discrimination, differential power parity, or political dominance. There is not much theorizing in this area of study by conventional economists and, in the literature, the discrimination, differential power parity, or political dominance is typically not articulated by a comprehensive or fundamental socio-economic theory but by empirical models using dummy variabl es that represent stratification by any one of the social variables like gender, race, ethnicity, or locality. ... Demand and supply for skilled and unskilled labour before and after globalisation Source: Towers 2006, p. 6 At the same time, a phenomenon that is seen to be affecting how disparities are being affected by economic events is globalization. Towers (2006, p. 6), for instance, posited that with globalisation, the demand for skilled labour has shifted rightward while those for unskilled labour has shifted leftward. The rightward shift in the demand for skilled labour and the leftward shift in demand for unskilled labour are shown in Figure 1. The rightward and leftward shifts in the demand for skilled and unskilled labour, of course, is translated to higher real wage rates for skilled labour and lower real wage rates for unskilled labour. Based on Tower (2006, p. 6), therefore, it is also viable to argue that to the extent that skilled and unskilled labour has been associated with gender as well as gender dominance, exploitation, or the like, globalization can been seen as a variable tha t can exacerbate or moderate income inequality based on genders. Further, to the extent that opportunities or exposure to skills training and the like can differ across social groups, globalisation can also exacerbate or moderate income inequalities across races, ethnicity, and localities. Figure 2. Log wage differential between men and women in the United Kingdom 1978-1999 Source: Gosling and Limeux 2004, p. 280 The working assumption of the work of Gosling and Limeux (2004) is that there is wage disparity in the United Kingdom in favour of men. The log of differential shown in Figure 2, however, shows that wage rates of women are rising faster than the wage rates of men. Thus, Figure 2 suggests that with globalisation, women has been increasing their wage rates faster than the men's