A Streetcar Named "Power" A Foucaultian Reading Of A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) is hailed as one of the most distinguished playwrights of the 20^th century, and his works have exerted an active and far-reaching influence on American drama. He has been awarded two Pulitzer Prizes, and many of his plays have been adapted into movies with great success.Tennessee Williams's masterpiece—A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) proved an immediate success. The play was favored by both theatergoers and critics, and what's more, it succeeded in ranking Tennessee Williams among the top playwrights of his time. Along the time, critics held the view that it well embodied the Southern culture, which had been repressed by and then assimilated into the capitalist culture.As a playwright from the South, Williams made the best use of the Southern life he was quite familiar with and endeavored to expose the dark sides of modern American society and sensitive social problems, such as suicide, alcoholism and homosexuality. Williams paid much attention to the so-called outcast minorities who were excluded from the mainstream of the society. In addition, their inner spiritual world and the clashes between them and the estranged society had also been touched upon.Drawing upon Foucault's theory of power and discourse, the present thesis attempts to make a detailed and theoretical exploration into the clashes in A Streetcar Named Desire in the sense of "power relations", aiming to decipher "punishment and discipline" imposed on those outcast people and the reasons why these should happen. The thesis concludes that power permeates the entire society and decides one's destiny.The thesis begins with a general review of the American theater after World War II and its critical heritage dedicated to this play. Besides, a brief introduction to Foucault's theory of power and discourse is also included.The second part of the thesis will be devoted to analyzing the exile of the heroine, Blanche Dubois, via the metaphor of "the ship of madness" from Madness and Civilization written by Foucault. Through this image, we could get a glimpse of the society's attitude towards the insane. Blanche's experiences embody expulsion and exile, which, in Foucault's opinion, are inseparable from power.Thirdly, by dint of Foucault's theory on discourse, the thesis will make detailed analyses into a series of discourses at work in the play. Priority is given to the discourse of "sexuality", which is the key to a large number of conflicts. Feminist discourse is also discussed, for it mirrors that women are muted in the male-dominated society. Discourse functions to produce truth. The game of truth involves one's continual confessions to others, which is made possible when he is under severe control. The mechanism of confession plays a decisive role in determining the long-term depression of the "Other" in the society.The fourth part of the thesis is a discussion of the terminal of exile, that is, the punishment and discipline that Blanche Dubois has undergone. Foucault's philosophical thinking on disciplinary power sheds light on the bloody facts that modern institutions manifest. Knowing that Blanche has been pushed into the insanity house, we would never harbor any illusion about the so-called kindness.