In A Streetcar Named Desire, the men are seen as cruel and bitter due to their harsh use of force to achieve what they want. Whereas in All New People, the men are perceived as the victims of society rather than its actual driving force. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley fulfils the duty of carrying the traditional patriarchal role of the breadwinner in the society of the 1950’s era. He is represented as masculine through the use of his dominance in the household, control over Stella and being the prime influence in his social group of friends, as they see him as someone they want to be. However, this is contrasted in the modern day text of All New People, as Charlie conforms to the image of the ‘new man’ by emphasising the different types of masculine forms in society and how they are widely accepted. He expresses this through the use of showing emotion and being more considerate of other people’s feelings, while being aware of his own.
Tennessee Williams makes it prominent that in 1950’s post war America, men and women each had specific gender roles that they had to attain and carry out. Stanley’s physical sovereignty is embedded throughout the play due to way he behaves and his innermost desire to control everyone around him. “Well, you can hear me and I said to hush up!” “[yelling]: Sit down!” Stanley demonstrates his supremacy in the household through his aggressive tone when speaking to others, due to being the only way he can govern them as a way of illustrating his masculine assets. Society encourages his authority as men were expected to be the head of the house and carry the financial burden of the family , further emphasising Stanley’s bravado as he shows his superiority by being the breadwinner in the house. [Stanley carries a bowling jacket and a red stained package from a butcher’s] However, Charlie’s character in Zach Braff’s All New People can be compared and contrasted to Stanley’s pre-eminence in A Streetcar Named Desire as he shows less authority and more respect towards women, rather than trying to order them by using his patriarchal power. As Charlie’s tone consists of being polite, “Please just leave it alone.” He is often ignored and not acknowledged as his friends continue to go against what he says, “No, no, no, this is embarrassing” . Whereas in A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley‘s tone of voice is recognised and affects the people around him as it consists of being rough and harsh causing them to be frightened. This creates a clear distinction between the two plays as it can be implied that Stanley wanted to remain dominant in his society/household, the same way males had dominated American society before the war. He attempts to reinforce this through the women by asserting his patriarchal dominance over them and assuring to them that they are below him, therefore undermining their position in the society, in order to maintain his. On the other hand, Charlie can be represented as the sensitive ‘new man’ in society due to being more intact with his emotions. However, still being accepted for who he is, as the elements of masculinity are still being developed. Dr.Doyle states that in post war America it was much easier to be a man, due to knowing what was expected from them and how to achieve it; this meant that men during that specific period knew they had to be the wage earner in order to financially support their family and be more superior to women. Whereas now in modern day society, it is more complicated to be a man, yet still widely accepted on what type of man you are.
The use of drugs and alcohol is significant in both plays as it can be related to the theme of escapism. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams’ articulates masculinity through the use of whiskey placed on the table. This demonstrates maleness as it is said that alcohol was a ‘man’s market’ because all advertisements during the 1950’s were put in place to promote male masculinity and to emphasise what the ideal man should have, including the type of alcohol he purchases. Furthermore, the fact that the alcohol is whiskey and not something like wine also validates hard-core masculinity as wine is commonly related to romantic events with women. The character of Myron from All New People can be compared to Stanley as he also drinks and takes drugs, “Myron snorts a line of coke.” “Glue calms me.” This can be linked to strength as it shows how Myron is able to ‘handle’ the hard substances he inhales, further emphasising his macho. However, this also highlights masculinity as men are usually associated with drugs and alcohol as it helps maintain their high status in society because it can help differentiate the type of class you are in; liquor as upper-class, beer as lower-class. The theme of escapism is significant for both plays as they equally use alcohol and drugs to escape from the realism of society by using it as a haven, which is common and accepted in both eras of the plays.
Masculinity can be questioned in both plays as they each explore romance and the need for love in similar ways, alongside with the fear of being alone. In the 1950’s era, society strongly encouraged marriage as it was seen to be the norm , this is shown as the character of Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire is searching for a life partner as he is influenced by Stanley’s relationship, yet Stanley mocks him. Mitch is desperate to find someone to marry as his mother is dying and without her, he would be alone and fears what he might do. “You all are married. But I’ll be alone when she goes.” This shows how he is dreading the thought of being isolated and having nobody there to comfort or support him, like his mother does. Being reliant on Blanche he states, “You need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be – you and me, Blanche?” Here he offers Blanche a request of approval of their relationship as he wants to continue it further, in hopes of getting married and not being alone. Similarly in All New People, Charlie can be seen as being isolated as he says, “Of course I’m lonely.” “You know I didn’t write a suicide note…because I had no one to write it to.” By Charlie saying this, it automatically contradicts his masculinity as men are expected to be sociable and have a lot of friends. However, in Charlie’s case, he has no friends and doesn’t mention any family he could refer his suicide note to. His isolation is then further emphasised when he mentions his ex-girlfriend and thinks of her, “He smiles.” This proves Charlie’s vulnerability when it comes to romance as it shows that he wants to be in love with someone and longs for a relationship due to his fear of being alone, “Before I would do anything I could to avoid being alone.” This displays how in modern society, it is normal for men to be single as marriage can be seen as less important due to secularisation and loss of interest, this leads to less judgement towards them as it is more accepted in present day. Whereas in A Streetcar Named Desire, Mitch is considered of not fitting in as he is the only unmarried male out of his social group of friends. This leads to the mockery towards him that is caused by Stanley as he doesn’t fulfil the norm of being the stereotypical married man that holds a superior status. However, due to society’s norms, Mitch desires marriage more as he feels like an outcast and believes that with Blanche, he will be able to fulfil the role as a husband and be more accepted in his community.
Stanley and Stella’s relationship can be compared to Myron and Emma’s relationship as they equally show aspects of brutality and savagery within the play. Stanley, being aware that his wife is pregnant, shows cruelty as he uses physical abuse against her, [Stanley charges after Stella] , yet then pleads for her forgiveness, [He breaks into sobs] “Stella! My baby doll’s left me!” “I want my baby down here. Stella! Stella!” This shows Stanley’s short tempered masculine nature as it clearly connotes that when he is angry, he is unaware of what he is doing, but does it by force due to his patriarchal dominance. However, he then realizes his mistake and then cries for Stella back, which contradicts the strong and pre-eminent role of a masculine man, as it shows he is dependent on Stella and desperately needs her in his life. Correspondingly, this type of insensitivity can be seen in All New People when Emma rejects Myron, and he decides to reveal her secret as he says, “Well, if you’re not gonna tell them, I guess I’ll have to…” Although she begs him by saying, “You gave me your word. You swore on your life.” He claims to still love her, even though he exposed her innermost secret to the group and caused her pain. This is seen as ruthless of Myron as it can be perceived as revenge and a way to still maintain his high dominant status in society, which overcomes the fact he got rejected by Emma. Furthermore, the two plays highlight how men like Stanley and Myron need to be in power as it helps showcase their position in the society. This illustrates how they can’t tolerate the fact that women try to overtake them; therefore they assert their manipulative yet domineering nature against the women, causing them to surrender and be subjugated by the males. However, men show brutality and savagery in this way as they are pressured by society to be in control, hence why they defend themselves and panic when someone attacks their predominance; as they do not want to lose the status that gives them the authority to overrule others.
In conclusion, men, no matter what class they’re in, always feel the need to be in control as it helps shape their position in society and makes them feel more superior to others. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley uses his physical strength and bitter tone to assert his pre-eminence over the women, which eventually leads into acts of brutality. Although there are weaker men in the society, they still possess power and are still considered to be supreme due to the fact they are males. However in All New People, the men are seen as being the victims of civilisation. Due to freedom and liberalism in modern day society, it leaves the men without strong role models, religion, community or rules, therefore leading them astray and confused about the moral rights and wrongs as they don’t have a set guideline on what to follow. The brutality that is portrayed in the text is mainly caused by themselves due to modern community, further emphasising how it’s the society’s fault that they are perceived as vulnerable and lonely.