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A Tragic Life is a Tragic Death NAME NAME
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Tragic stories are often literal in their tragic sentiment with characters dying or undergoing
much physical agony. Famous tragedies including Oedipus and Macbeth have protagonists that
suffer through extreme physical and emotional pain as their family members die through tragic
plotlines. However, some stories are tragic not because of death or physical pain but rather
because of life altering social and emotional damage. Two such works that are tragic in their
social and personality damage to the main character are A Streetcar Named Desire and Whos
Afraid of Virgin Wolf . The authors of both stories create tragic story lines through the motifs of
failed dreams and denial of reality. By examining these motifs, along with the social dynamics
and interactions of Stanley, Stella, and Blanche from A street Car Named Desire and those of George, Martha, Nick, and Honey from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf the reader comes to see
that a tragedy does not have to be literal with regards to death but can rather be metaphorical in
the ensuing damage. Ultimately, these damages alter the characters and their relationships for the
rest of time, essentially resulting in the tragic death of specific relationships, emotions, and
outlook rather than human life. In a way, these social deaths are far more tragic than human
death, for the characters must carry on living while cognizant of an altered state of mind and life.
The first recurrent theme that the authors of Whos Afraid of Virgina Wolf and A Street Car
Named Desire use to create a tragic story is by killing the characters hopes and dreams rather
than the actual characters. In A Street Car Named Desire , no character exemplifies this motif
more than Blanche, whose life seems to be one continuous disappointment. From the onset of
the story, the reader is made aware of Blanches goal to live the life of a southern aristocrat, a
dream that never materializes. The first roadblock in her dream was when she found out that she
had no money to her name, because her male relatives exchanged the land for their epic
fornications. However, the real obstacle to the actualization of her dream of living a high-
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society southern life was when her husband killed himself. She had met her husband was she was
only sixteen and she claimed to have loved him terribly. In fact, she held on to love letters from
her husband even after she was disgusted by his actions. When Blanches husband died so did
any chance of her staying in Belle Reeve and living a life of a southern bell. After her husbands
death, her life soon slipped into an immoral, out of control, tail spin that eventually lead to her
being kicked out of Belle Reeve. This forced her go to the only family she had left. However,
when Blanche goes to New Orleans, she still carries with her a smidgen of hope that her life may
improve and may even steer towards her aristocratic goal. This is manifested in Blanches
optimism in finding a man and marrying. This effort and optimism ultimately lies within her relationship to Mitch. The relationship seems to head in a positive direction and when Blanche
finally kisses Mitch she is so happy that she proclaims, There is a God. This statement serves
as a reinvigorated belief in her potential goal actualization. However, her plans and hopes are
abruptly deterred when Stanley reveals Blanches past to Mitch, who no longer considers her a
marriageable women after learning this information. With her final chance of reaching her goal
and dream gone, Blanches life falls back to disappointment and depression.
Likewise, in the story Whos afraid of Virginia Wolf there is also a motif failed hopes
among its characters. The two main characters whose failed dreams are the most apparent are
George and Martha. George no doubt had the hope when he was younger to eventually take over
the University as dean. This becomes evident when he talks to Nick as if eventually they will
control the University and sleep with lots of women. However it seems like a vain attempt by
George to try to use Nick for his Georges own purposes; a plan that would fail just like
Georges plans to be dean. Additionally, Georges previous goal of becoming a successful author
was crushed my Marthas father and his refusal to allow Georges book to be published.
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Furthermore, Marthas dream of self-importance was connected to Georges potential for
success. She married George because she hoped that George would become the head of the
University, like Marthas father, thus continuing the family tradition. However, George was not
competent enough to run the school, and never received the promotion hed hoped for.
Ultimately, Georges failure to succeed also prevents Marthas dream of familial prestige, and all
they have left is drunken nights together.
Likewise, the story seems to portray Nick as a younger version of George. The story even
hints to the fact that Nicks hopes of one day taking over the school will also fail like George. In
fact, Nicks inability to maintain an erection leads Martha to reveal that this is an issue with allmen in her life. This brings forth an obvious connection between Nick and George who both
apparently cannot perform in the bedroom, perhaps a metaphor to their failure in meeting
expectations in general. It is very tragic that the reader knows that although Nick is young and
athletic, his life will most likely parallel Georges. The motif of failed dreams reveals the tragic
reality that characters in A Street Car Named Desire and Whos Afraid of Virginia Wolf have
failed to reach their goals and carry little hope in the success of their futures.
Furthermore, though the characters mentioned have shattered dreams and hopers, they
seem to be in denial over their failures, which is another recurring motif in both stories. In A
Street Car Named Desire no two characters are locked in denial more than Blanche and Stella.
The reader immediately sees that Blanche is in denial when she at the very start of the story she
implies a facade of a proper southern bell while lying about her abhorrent drinking habits.
Throughout the story the reader can see a pattern of denial with Blanche as she lies about her age
and says that she is the younger sister of Stella and will only stay in dimly lit rooms that will not
reveal her aging physical attributes. There is no doubt that the reason why she fooled around
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with the seventeen year old was because it made her think feel young again. Blanche continues
to lie not only to other people but to herself. Her constant lying almost pays off and she gets
Mitch to believe she is a she has old fashion ideals. However, when Stanley reveals to Mitch
the truth, any hope of him every settling down with Blanche is gone. However the most tragic
part of Blanches continuous denial of the truth is that if she would not have lied inside and out
to Mitch than maybe they would have ended up together. However, her lying destroys any hope
she had with Mitch and any hope she had of a better life. Her denial further haunts her when she
is raped by Stanley. No one would side with her after the rape, which makes sense since she lied
to so many of them. It is so tragic that her lying not only lost her the one man that could havesaved her, it allowed for Stanley to rape her and get away with it, further destroying her mental
and emotional state.
Another character in A Street Car Named Desire that relays the motif of denial is Stella.
Stellas denial is mostly seen in her categorization of Stanleys actions. That is, no matter what is
done or how harmful the results, Stella never questions the moral or ethical implication of
Stanleys actions and words. For example, after Stanley beats Stella, she just attributes it to their
sexual hunger and passion. Stellas denial becomes more obvious when she says that out of all
the guys, Stanley will be the only one going somewhere with his life, even though Stanley
seems the most boorish out of all his friends. Stellas denial comes full circle when she believes
Stanley did not rape Blanche. She denies the rape not because she thinks Stanley is incapable of
such a terrible action, but rather to acknowledge such actions would surely destroy her marriage
and force her to come to terms with many unfavorable realities. As a result of Stellas denial of
Stanleys true nature, Blanche falls deeper into her own fantasy world until Blanche is admitted
to an insane asylum. It is tragic than Stella denial leads her to continue to live with a man that not
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only beats her, but also raped her sister the day Stella gave birth, a traditionally emotionally
important milestone for parents.
Similarly , the characters in Whos Afraid of Virginia Wolf also experience strong
sentiments of denial. One first sees that George is in denial when he tells Nick the story of a boy
from his school that accidentally kills his parents. The reader later finds out that this story is
actually a fictional book that George tried to pass of an autobiography and publish through
Marthas father, who turned it down because he considered it to be trash. His denial is
manifested in his holding on to the story in any way he can. Even though the book will not be published he now tries to pass it off to Nick as a true story that happened to a schoolmate. His
investment in this denial, supplemented by belief in its potential, is so strong that attacks Martha
for revealing the truth. However the biggest act of denial (and plain fabrication) is George and
Marthas creating a fake child. From the start of the story there is mention of George and
Marthas son, who is described in detail to Nick and Honey along with the boys interests. The
child seems like the only thing George and Martha ever actually made or created. They speak of
how the son was born and his childhood in great detail. However, it soon revealed to the reader
that the son does not actually exist. The most interesting and odd part about the son fabrication is
the claim that the reason why George killed him was because Martha mentioned him to
someone else. This shows that this made up son is not a game that George and Martha play on
guests, it a their personal fantasy. This made up son reveals the tragic reality that George and
Marthas lives are so empty that they must fantasize about children they dont even have.
When tragedy is a result of death, it is usually the circumstances that lead to the involved
death that are tragic, rather than the death itself. For example, in Romeo and Juliet the tragedy
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was not the fact that both Romeo and Juliet died, bur rather the circumstances in which they die;
the deaths could have been prevented and love could have conquered all. The tragedy is the loss
of life rather than death. Likewise, in both A street Car Named Desire and Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf, the tragedy is loss of life; perhaps not loss of literal life, but loss of potential life
in the self-actualizations of emotional and social goals and dreams. By examining both stories,
the reader comes to see that a tragedy does not have to be literal with regards to death but can
rather be metaphorical in the ensuing emotional and social damage. Ultimately, these damages
alter the characters and their relationships for the rest of time, essentially resulting in the tragic
death of specific relationships, emotions, and outlook rather than human life.
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