essay: significance of isolation

‘“Modern literature shows isolated characters as being profoundly damaged.” Compare the significance of isolation in two other texts you have studied.’

intro:

• in Streetcar:

  • intentional isolation, in a sacrificial protectionist way

  • isolated geographically, becoming aloof from birthplace/upbringing

• in TLQ:

  • intentional isolation, in a sacrificial protectionist way

• in Map-Woman

  • isolated geographically, becoming aloof from birthplace/upbringing

p1 - streetcar:

• AO1: intentional isolation, in a sacrificial protectionist way

• AO2:

  • Blanche sits in a chair very stiffly with her shoulders slightly hunched (pg3)

  • “I stayed at Belle Reve and tried to hold it together…all the burden descended on my shoulders” (pg11)

  • “I, I, I took the blows in my face and my body! All of those deaths!” (pg12)

  • I have an idea she doesn’t understand you as well as I do” (pg22)

• AO3:

  • counter-cultural in a period where men were the heroes n champions, as veterans became family men

• AO4:

  • in The Glass Menagerie, Tom is presented as similarly isolated in a sacrificial way, trapped in his role as a breadwinner, rather than following his dream of writing and adventure

reiterate AO1

p2 - The Long Queen:

• AO1: intentional isolation, in a sacrificial protectionist way

• AO2:

  • “no girl growing who wasn’t the apple of the Long Queen’s eye”

  • “all her possessions for a moment of time”

  • “then taken Time for a husband”

  • “unseen, she ruled and reigned”

  • “young when she bowed her head”

• AO3:

  • queen liz

  • no husband

  • dedicated her life to being a symbol in power for all women, amidst a highly patriarchal society

• AO5:

  • feminist criticism:

    • although she was in a powerful position n successfully refused marriage, this birth right of a role remained restrictive n she likely had even more pressure, being unmarried

p3 - streetcar:

• AO1: isolated geographically, becoming aloof from birthplace/upbringing

• AO2:

  • her appearance is incongruous to this setting

  • “all freshly bathed and scented, and feeling like a brand-new human being” (pg20)

  • “now that we’ve lost Belle Reve and have to go on without Belle Reve to protect us” (pg25)

  • “Which way do we - go now - Stella?”

• AO3:

  • Blanche brought up as a Southern Belle in the Old South » her roots

• AO5:

  • Marxist false consciousness: although she became detached from her roots n emotionally isolated from her family in Stella, she held a job successfully, becoming self-sustaining, yet societal expectations eg on her sexual liberty and lack of husband = marriage

p4 - The Map-Woman:

• AO1: isolated geographically, becoming aloof from birthplace/upbringing

• AO2:

  • “a woman’s skin was a map of the town/where she’d grown from”

  • “birthmark, tattoo”

  • “she went out, thinking/she knew the place like the back of her hand…and found that what was familiar…was only facade”

  • “when she showered, the map gleamed on her skin”

  • “she knew you could run the back way home”

  • “she sponged, soaped, scrubbed”

• AO3:

  • duffy moved to Stafford aged 8 and Manny aged 16

  • lived in poverty-stricken Gorbals, Glasgow 1st

• AO4:

  • Andre Breton quote Duffy approved: “childhood is the only reality”