Dionysian And Apollonian Spirits In A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams’ s most popular work,A Streetcar Named Desire,is one of the most critically acclaimed plays of the twentieth century.In 1948,this play helps Williams win Pulitzer Prize for Drama.The main characters Stanley and Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire have sparked many discussions,who can be respectively regarded as a representative of Nietzsche’s Dionysian spirit and Apollonian spirit in my view.The main contents of this thesis are divided into three parts,which are analyzing Stanley’s behaviors and personalities from the perspective of Dionysian spirit,illustrating the Apollonian spirit embodied in Blanche,and discussing the meaning of life from Nietzsche’s perspective.Applying Nietzsche’s Dionysian and Apollonian spirits to analyze Stanley and Blanche in Williams’ s A Streetcar Named Desire can give us deeper insight into the conflicts and tragic ending in this drama,present us a vivid case on how a tragedy comes into being when the two spirits clash,and prompt us to reflect on the meaning of life.Nietzsche holds that though life is meaningless we choose to give meanings to our life.Williams’ s A Streetcar Named Desire shows us the force of Dionysus represented by Stanley,and the aesthetics of Apollo symbolized by Blanche.Dionysus breaks the boundaries between each individual,and is eager to return to the primitive status of the human being by immersing himself in the ecstasy;while Apollo employs appearance and illusion to soften the harsh reality and to make the world desirable for human beings to live.When Apollo encounters Dionysus,the tragedy happens because Dionysian spirit is closer to the rule of mother nature.However,the meaning of life is not determined by the facts but by people’s choice.Whatever the current situation is,the person involved has the choice to embrace a happy and positive life.Thus,we are never defined by the outside world as being successful or not,but by ourselves and the special values we set for ourselves.