This document contains an essay proposal and outline for a coursework comparing the presentation of transgressive behavior leading to the downfall of characters in three works: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Miss Julie by August Strindberg, and Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. The proposal includes the chosen texts, themes of desire, destruction, and morality. The essay title and 6 potential points are provided with examples and references from the texts to support each point. The points examine how fate, gender roles, desire, and the characters' blindness to transgressive acts contribute to their downfalls.

1. A2
COURSEWORK
ESSAY
PROPOSAL
PRESENATION

2. Chosen texts for study
TEXT 1:
(Core text)
A Streetcar Named Desire
Play by
Tennesse Williams

3. Chosen texts for study
TEXT 2:
Lolita
Novel by
Vladimir Nabokov

4. Chosen texts for study
TEXT 2:
Miss Julie
Play by
August Strindberg

5. Desire
Destruction
THEMES
Morality

6. Essay title
Using your knowledge of the contexts in which
these texts were written and the reactions of
readers over time, compare the ways in which
Tennessee Williams in ‘A Streetcar Named
Desire’, August Strindberg in ‘Miss Julie’ and
Vladimir Nabokov in ‘Lolita’ present
transgressive behaviour of characters leading
to their downfall.

7. Accessing
the
AO’s

8. Essay points
Point 1: Fate is ultimately at blame for the downfall of characters as it is fate that
fuels their desires.
Point 2: Women are treated as the main instigators or culprits of transgressive
behaviour.
Point 3: Transgressive behaviour in the eyes of the main characters, leading to
their blindness and subsequent collapse.
Point 4: Desire is the route cause of transgressive behaviour.
Point 5: Transgressive behaviour of women is deemed far more serious than
that of men.
Point 6: The downfall of characters, is not only due to their transgressive
behaviour but the influence of social laws on them.

9. Examples of
essay points plans

10. Essay points
Point 1 AO1
AO2
AO3
AO4
A
Streetcar
Named
Desire
Tennessee
Williams
Fate is ultimately
at blame for the
d o w n f a l l o f
characters as it is
fate that fuels
their desires..
“They
told
me
to
take
a
street-­‐
car
named
Desire,
and
transfer
to
one
called
Cemeteries,
and
ride
six
blocks
and
get
off
at—
Elysian
Fields!”
the
play
shows
us
two
people
who
move
inexorably
forward
to
their
respecEve
fates
through
acEons
they
take
under
the
influence
of
a
sequence
of
circumstances
at
once
random
and
of
their
mutual
making.
Directors
notes,
Miss
Julie
A
woman’s
role
was
not
down
to
fate
but
social
construct.
Lolita
Vladimir
Nabokov
Fate is ultimately
at blame for the
d o w n f a l l o f
characters as it is
fate that fuels
their desires..
“As
for
me,
although
I
had
long
become
used
to
a
kind
of
secondary
fate
(McFate's
inept
secretary,
so
to
speak)
peQly
interfering
with
the
boss's
magnificent
plan.”
I
can
only
say
that
Humbert’s
fate
seems
to
me
classically
tragic,
a
most
perfectly
realized
expression
of
the
moral
truth
[…]
Humbert
is
every
man
who
is
driven
by
desire,
wanEng
his
Lolita
so
badly
that
it
never
occurs
to
him
to
consider
her
as
a
human
being
[…]which
is
the
eternal
and
universal
nature
of
passion.
A
woman’s
role
was
not
down
to
fate
but
social
construct.
Miss
Julie
August
Strindberg
Fate is ultimately
at blame for the
d o w n f a l l o f
characters as it is
fate that fuels
their desires..
“I
curse
the
moment
I
was
concieved
in
my
mother’s
womb!”
Miss
Julie
to
Jean
the
play
shows
us
two
people
who
move
inexorably
forward
to
their
respecEve
fates
through
acEons
they
take
under
the
influence
of
a
sequence
of
circumstances
at
once
random
and
of
their
mutual
making.
–
Directors
notes,
Miss
Julie
A
woman’s
role
was
not
down
to
fate
but
social
construct.
Strindberg’s
‘Woman’s
inferiority
to
man
and
the
reasons
for
her
subordinate
posiAon.’

11. Essay points
Point 2 AO1
AO2
AO3
AO4
A
Streetcar
Named
Desire
Tennessee
Williams
Women are treated as the
main instigators or culprits
of transgressive behaviour.
‘Yep,
it
was
pracEcally
a
town
ordinance
passed
against
her!’
Stanley
to
Stella
Scene
VII
‘She
[women]
could
take
him
without
giving
herself
into
his
power.
Rather
she
could
use
this
sex
thing
to
have
power
over
him.’
Lady
Cha_erlys
Lover
D.H.
Lawrence
By
having
a
sexual
relaEonship
with
women
of
superior
status,
the
male
transgressors
bring
themselves
to
conquer
the
females
of
high
society,
bringing
them
disgrace
and
ruin.
Sex
is
thus
the
means
to
leverage
social
hierarchies
and
social
inequaliEes.
Gender
conflict
in
Strindberg’s
Miss
julie,
Chung
Chin
Yi
“Hysteria
was
historically
considered
a
female
disease,
and
in
the
late-­‐nineteenth
century
was
defined
as
an
illness
brought
on
when
a
woman
failed
or
refused
to
accept
her
sexual
desires
and
did
not
become
a
sexual
object”
Lolita
Vladimir
Nabokov
Women are treated as the
main instigators or culprits
of transgressive behaviour.
‘I
would
shed
all
my
masculine
pride—
and
literally
crawl
on
my
knees
to
your
chair,
my
Lolita!’
Miss
Julie
August
Strindberg
Women are treated as the
main instigators or culprits
of transgressive behaviour.
‘And
when
I’d
seen
you
returned
home,
I
was
determined
to
die.’
Jean
to
Miss
Julie
Ballet

12. AO1
AO2
AO3
AO4
A
Streetcar
Named
Desire
Tennessee
Williams
Transgressive
behaviour in the
eyes of the main
characters, leading
to their blindness
and subsequent
collapse.
‘I’ll
tell
you
what
I
want.
Magic!
[…]
I
don’t
tell
truth,
I
tell
what
ought
to
be
truth.
And
if
that
is
sinful,
let
me
be
damned
for
it!’
‘Not
even
her
moral
code,
[…]admirable
as
far
as
it
goes,
qualifies
her
as
a
symbol
of
transcendence
so
much
as
her
piEful
a_empts
to
combat
actuality
do.
And,
ironically
and
tragically
enough,
it
is
her
very
preference
for
soulful
illusion
and
for
magic
over
actuality
which
paves
the
way
for
her
voyage
to
the
madhouse.’
Lolita
Vladimir
Nabokov
Transgressive
behaviour in the
eyes of the main
characters, leading
to their blindness
and subsequent
collapse.
"Oh
Lolita,
you
are
my
girl,
as
Vee
was
Poe’s
and
Bea
Dante’s,
and
what
li_le
girl
would
not
like
to
whirl
in
a
circular
skirt
and
scanEes?"
‘the
great
promised’
can
only
exist
in
the
imaginaEon
and
can
only
be
infinite
in
the
imaginaEon.
Reality
is
decepEon
and
change.
The
consummaEon
of
desire
quenches
its
source.’
Virginia
Poe
was
Edgar
Allan
Poe’s
1st
cousin
and
wife.
She
was
13
when
she
married
27
year
old
Poe.
His
poem
Annabel
Lee
is
said
to
be
inspired
by
her.
Likewise,
Dante
was
infatuated
by
Beatrice
PorAnari
who
features
in
his
Divine
comedies.
Essay points
Point 3

13. Miss
Julie
August
Strindberg
Transgressive
behaviour in the eyes
of the main characters,
leading to their
blindness and
subsequent collapse.
‘my
mother
decided
to
bring
me
up
as
a
child
of
nature
and,
what’s
more
I
had
to
learn
everything
a
boy
has
to
learn,
so
that
I
might
serve
to
demonstrate
that
a
woman
was
just
as
good
as
any
man.’
‘the
great
promised’
can
only
exist
in
the
imaginaDon
and
can
only
be
infinite
in
the
imaginaDon.
Reality
is
decepDon
and
change.
The
consummaDon
of
desire
quenches
its
source.’
''Woman,
being
small
and
foolish
and
therefore
evil
.
.
.
should
be
suppressed,
like
barbarians
and
thieves.
She
is
useful
only
as
ovary
and
womb.''

14. THANK
YOU