great advice VT
(elaborate please on allan grey )
wow, you read through all of that.
sure.
Okay so, basically, the author Tennessee Williams was gay. In the times when the text was written ('50s America), people who were gay were often lobotomized because it was assumed a mental illness (coincidentally, his younger sister was also lobotomized, I think she had epilepsy). Of course, as you can imagine, Williams would have had major qualms with this. Just because of his sexuality, he could have been lynched or lobotomized, and obviously, those are undesirable.
If we observe the character of Allan Gray, we can ascertain a few things. I'll quickly summarise his role in the play... he is firstly introduced to us as one of Blanche's lovers. They are at a ball together, and he dissapears outside. Blanche notices he dissapears with a man, and she goes to investigate. She discovers he is gay when she finds him mackin' with another guy outside, and Allan subsequently commits suicide.
Now, this all occurs, at least in the movie, in about 10 seconds. But we can draw some pretty concrete conclusions about this:
1. Allan left the dance to go and make out with this guy - it's safe to assume he did so because he didn't want to be caught and get persecuted.
2. Allan is going out with Blanche - he's masquerading as a heterosexual to appear 'normal' in society - he doesn't want to be persecuted.
3. And lastly, he has to deal with the shame of two things
a. being caught out as being a homosexual
b. being caught cheating on his partner
c. being exposed as a fraud for going out with a member of a gender he's not attracted to
d. and specifically, being caught by the significant person he had been lying to, as opposed to any other random person
All of these inner shames and insecurities effectuate in his suicide.
Now, if we are to look at the broader scope of the text and examine the character of Allan Gray, he is but a blink in the eyes of the play. I think we can mostly agree that the play is primarily concerned with Blanche's descent into insanity, no? Well if we are to think of what Allan Gray does, he is one of the many memories which the protagonist Blanche attempts to repress - along with the hidden shame of losing the estate, etc. His character appears nowhere else throughout the text - it's just a minor point that the author touches on. Why? Why bother to include him? It seems such a minor memory, but there has to have been a reason - he didn't put it there by chance, it serves a function, but do we really think that the only ostensible function of Allan Gray's character is to catalyse the protagonists descent into madness?
Well, I thought about this for a while, and with the background knowledge I had of the text, I decided that Williams (the author, I'm speaking about) would have used Allan Gray for a purpose.
I argued, basically, that Allan Gray does not like the culture of heteronormativity which is prevalent in his society. He subsequently wrote a book dealing with mental illness (note: another issue passionate to him, perhaps because of his sister's mental condition?) and in the broad scope of the book, he decided to put a small, insignificant character which embodied himself and his troubles: Allan Gray. Whose to say that this is an invalid interpretation? Everything clicks. Allan Gray is disturbed about the culture of heteronormativity in the book, set in 50's America, just as Williams himself, at the time of writing in 50's America, would have despised the discrimination against homosexuals. He subsequently put the character into the text to stand for his beliefs.
You could take this even further by mentioning Allan's role within the book - a very insignificant one indeed, and link it through to the idea that Williams was scared of persecution himself. If he wrote a book saying "I HATE THE CULTURE OF HETERONORMATIVITY" then you can safely assume he'd be lynched or lobotomized. He, of course, had to make it subtle. So he used a small character in a small section of his large play, so that it would of course be discreet; perhaps often overlooked, but still there, available as perhaps a memento and testament to his own beliefs, or to educate his audience in whatever sly/subtle way possible to his qualms with society.
If you disagree, then let me put it to you this way: what if Allan Gray hadn't been gay? What if he was a straight, normal guy, who just decided to cheat on Blanche? That would have still served EXACTLY the same purpose - causing Blanche to endure another experience which she possesses no capabilities to cope with. It doesn't matter if he's gay or straight, it's still going to hurt Blanche with knowing that she'd been cheated on (although being cheated on by a gay man does in my opinion add insult to injury, but nonetheless you get the gist). If Allan Gray was straight, Blanche would still have descended into insanity for having been cheated on, as well as everything else that happens in the play. But what do you know, he is gay, that's a fact, and there's most probably a reason for that. You don't make a character in a book gay at the drop of a hat, for no reason as an author, and this is no exception.
And IMO that's significant enough to build a concrete essay around. And the examiners seemed to agree.
Hopefully, you're convinced.