Rebellion Of Blanche: The Carnival Reading Of A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire is the representative work of Tennessee Williams,the American modern dramatist.There are many plots showing unfair gender relations,so it is often regarded by readers and critics as a work to reveal the tragedy of the heroine for patriarchy.However,carnival theory can provide a new critical perspective to read this drama.Based on Mikhail Bakhtin’s carnival theory,this thesis will analyze the rebellious image of Blanche when she is oppressed and reveal the carnival spirit in her in A Streetcar Named Desire.This thesis is mainly divided into three parts: introduction,body and conclusion.The introduction briefly introduces Tennessee Williams,A Streetcar Named Desire,relevant researches in China and abroad and carnival theory.The main body falls into three chapters.The first chapter illustrates the process of Blanche’s resistance to bodily discipline through carnivalesque body by showing ambiguous identity,laughter and sex in body,resisting the bodily restrictions imposed by patriarchy.The second chapter analyzes Blanche’s carnivalesque language,revealing her resistance to male’s discourse hegemony through heteroglossia and defamiliarization.The third chapter discusses Blanche’s carnivalesque acts by crowning herself and decrowning Stanley in social relationships,helping her achieve demarginalization under patriarchy.In conclusion part,this thesis argues that carnival theory provides a new perspective to interpret A Streetcar Named Desire,and it also reveals that carnival spirit allows Blanche not to be the controlled and oppressed object by patriarchy but a woman who dares to resist authority.In this sense,the rebellious experience of Blanche highlights the significance of carnival spirit for the oppressed people to escape from dilemma and pursue freedom.