Williams and Yates set their works in the conformist American society after World War II, they illustrate the terrible effects of this society on women. through the genre of modern tragedy. A Streetcar Named Desire is set in 1947, in the atypical American setting of New Orleans, filled with diverse cultures and nationalities, allowing Williams to present the growing tensions between conflicting societal, racial and gender groups. Williams describes A Streetcar Named Desire as a play about the "savage and brutal forces of modern society", although these "brutal forces" seem appeased in 1955 Connecticut, the setting of Yate's Revolutionary Road, where April still suffers from the constraints imposed Women's. in a post-war suburban society. Yates and Williams explore crucial questions of the hypocritical constraint of female desire; the destabilizing limitations of gender roles, the fatal subjugation of the female voice, the lack of individuality, repressive male domination and their detrimental effects through the culmination of Blanche's excruciating depression and April's tragic death. These women address the issues that evolved during this era of restrictive social conformity, born of the evolution of society after the extraordinary turbulence of World War II: one in the form of a fluid play of eleven scenes and the other through a play in three parts. novel.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay April and Blanche are limited by the constraints of their contrasting but equally limited societies, making them incapable of recapitulating their true natures. It can be argued that Blanche's true nature is one of ambitious determination to improve her life; Blanche tells Stella, while trying to convince her to leave Stanley, that she wants to "make a new life for myself." This goal of transformation reflects her hidden motivation and the fact that she aspires to “a new life” illustrates her dissatisfaction with her place in society due to the choice of the word “new” rather than another life. This is linked to the fact that Blanche tells Stella: "I don't want realism, I want magic", because she chooses to ignore real life, which demonstrates that she feels out of place in the company. In this way, Blanche fails to reflect the society around her and instead lashes out at it. Like Blanche, April questions society, her true nature can be considered that of an outsider to society. While talking with Frank, during the preparations for the move to Paris, April wonders if "moral" and "conventional" have the same meaning, this illustrates that she sees society as corrupt because she thinks that what is happening in society then becomes what is correct. – “convention”, thus describing her critical nature as part of what makes her a social outsider. Julia Milhouse views this comment as Yates' way of conveying April's role as a "complete heroine-villain". This can be supported by April's inability to be influenced by the fads and fads that drive society, in this way she is a hero, as she continues to be. the progression of the living revolution. Likewise, it can be argued that Blanche feels obligated by society's expectations of her former status to act like a southern belle. In her first appearance, she has an "uncertain manner" and is dressed in "white clothes". The "uncertain manner" reflects the effects of one's disgraced past, as society accepts the affairs ofher male ancestor, but not her own, which leaves her uncertain about the role she should play as a woman, rejected by the uptight society in which she lives. dressed in “white”; this implies that she is trying to pretend to be herself. White symbolizes purity, which is contrary to her sexually promiscuous nature that she tries to hide. George Hovis suspected Blanche of being “trapped in the role of beauty”. Hovis's view is supported by society's expectation of women to remain as pure as the Virgin Mary, idolized as a model figure of purity. April believes she is different so she can escape society's trap, as other characters describe her as "special", while April sees the use of this word as placing her on the outside of society, others see her in a positive light, but only while she conforms. After April's move to Paris fails, she realizes that she and Frank are "just like the people" she saw as constrained by society and that she is not "special". It can be argued that April continues to resist the idea of ​​herself as a constraint, the use of the comparison "like" creates a similarity and not a direct comparison, thus showing that she is still clinging to the hope of its true nature. Perhaps it is this stubborn desire that leads to her untimely death and her refusal to play the role that destroys her internally. Thus, both women arguably reflect the social development of an American society in which their individualism was, ironically for the land of the free, considered a threat. Like many women living in post-World War II America, Blanche and April are limited. by the strict gender roles that structure their lives. Blanche is a female figure who has partly broken the constraint of her gender role by having a job. In the 1940s, women could only assume nurturing roles, such as nursing, in which they arguably performed an extension of their maternal role. It is obvious that women were not supposed to be independent since socially accepted jobs like teaching, Blanche's profession, only offered "pitiful pay." The use of the word "pitiful" suggests that the compensation is charitable and reflects the way slaves were treated in the Old South. It can be interpreted that Williams portrays women as slaves to their gender roles, due to their forced dependence on heritage. Blanche's forced dependence on men is comparable to April's self-imposed dependence on Frank. This is seen in April's inability to make decisions independently of her husband: when planning her move to Paris, she states, "I'd like to start right away." The choice of the phrase "love" conveys April's insecurity as she seeks Frank's consent. Blanche and April's dependence on men would be seen by women today as repressive, due to the contrast between the freedom that women in modern America can exercise and the limited outlook of the 1940s and 1950 in A Streetcar Named Desire and Revolutionary Road. The end of each text makes the boundaries of defined gender roles seem well-entrenched, as at the end of Streetcar Named Desire Stella is seduced by Stanley, as his "fingers find the opening of her blouse." This creates continuity in the repression of the woman because regardless of Stanley's role in incarcerating Blanche in a mental institution, Stella conforms to her role as Stanley's wife and possession. Similarly, Yates ends Revolutionary Road with Mrs. Givings, a status-obsessed woman who actsas a symbol of social conformity, describing April to her husband as "unhealthy". This critique of a woman's inability to conform shows how society has been indoctrinated by gender roles, creating a hopeless outlook for women, making April and Blanche reflective of the women of their time and of the future. Williams and Yates each highlight the class of voiceless women, at a time when the 19th Amendment granted American women the right to vote. Through Blanche's talkative nature, Williams illustrates the struggle women had to endure in an attempt to make their voices heard. This can be inferred from the lack of support women's voices have received throughout history, with writer Mary Evans resorting to writing under a male pseudonym. to allow his work to be fairly evaluated. These voiceless women are embodied by Blanche whose voice, at the end of the play, "fades nervously", Blanche is very moved. reflects society, because just like the Old South, its influence diminishes over time. The phrase "fades" is a metaphor for the way in which opportunities gained by women during World War II were taken away, reflecting the decline of Blanche's voice in the play. Some literary commentators have blamed the loss of Blanche's voice on Stanley. Shirley Galloway stated that "Stanley subjugates Blanche and all that she represents, in the same way that men have subjugated women for centuries", although Stanley's subjugation of Blanche reflects the nature of the relationships between the sexes throughout history, he cannot be held solely responsible, as the society they live in together attempts to hold Blanche back, resulting in her decline. Likewise, Yates's use of a multi-perspective form in Revolutionary Road which allows her to represent women's lack of power (although not through words) in the structural and literal lack of April's voice in the novel. As Sabrina Patrizio says "her voice is contained until the very last moments of her life", this is supported by the form of the texts, with few chapters focusing on her point of view while the majority of the novel comes from Frank's point of view. The uneven distribution of the narrative reflects the inequality of opportunity in Frank and April's relationship. Thus, making April, as Sabrina Patrizio puts it, a reflection of the “silenced class” of 20th century women, like Blanche. Blanche and April reflect the changing ideals of societies, as they both struggle with the expectations of women's domestic lives, which led to the cultures of New Orleans and Connecticut. The pressure of social expectations has a seismic impact on April's opportunities; she tells Frank that they "only had another [child] to prove the first one wasn't a mistake." The word "prove" suggests that April was trying to conform because she was trying against her own will to hide a "mistake", so that society would not look down on her. From the use of the word “had,” we can infer that Yates was trying to portray women as having no choice since they “had” to fulfill their role as mothers. Limitations on women's choices have been a fundamental problem in America, with abortions being illegal until 1975, hence the lack of freedom April felt regarding having children would have been comparable to 20th century American readers . The question of women's right to abortion is still a very controversial issue today, with feminists strongly believing that women should have control over their own bodies. April is therefore representative of the emerging feminist elements of society because she "made herself", which can be considered as.