Masculinity as an Indication of Power and Dominance in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams: A Pragma-Stylistic Approach

Abstract

Since the field of Pragmatics is concerned with uncovering the hidden meanings in dramatic discourse, among other types of discourse, a pragmatic study of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams is conducted. It is investigated using Brown and Levinson's politeness and Culpepper's impoliteness principles; and how they are achieved through face saving and face threatening acts. In A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Stanley, the mere male character who is full of violent masculinity, attempts to express his animalistic desire through seizing the chance of being the only breadwinner of the family. Therefore, this research employs the pragmatic tools of politeness and impoliteness to investigate how masculinity is distinctly expressed in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams as there is a sort of a husband-wife conflict