If you've ever read A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, then you know that this word is of great significance throughout the book. I'm not going to spoil anything, but the characters in this play show various forms of desire. In this play, the prevalent meaning is"...a sense of longing for a person or object or hoping for an outcome. The same sense is expressed by emotions such as "craving" or "hankering". When a person desires something or someone, their sense of longing is excited by the enjoyment or the thought of the item or person, and they want to take actions to obtain their goal."
Also, the motivational aspect of desire has long been noted by philosophers; Hobbes (1588 – 1679) asserted that human desire is the fundamental motivation of all human action.
That goes the same way for the story in this play. The character Blanche DuBois shows constant signs of desire for love and men as a way to escape her troubles. So, in fact, it correlates to the motivational aspect of desire in philosophy as stated above. It is the fundamental motivation for almost all of Blanches actions. She either constantly needs men, or money.
If my views on this are undoubtedly incorrect, please kindly say so. Otherwise, what does desire mean to you? How far can it go emotionally and/or mentally?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desire_(emotion)
Indeed, i agree with you that human desire is fundamental motivation of all human action. I beleive the epitome of desire is clearly shown in A Streetcar named Desire. Most characters in the book go at full lengths to get what they want, even resorting to lies and hurting others who were already emotionally hurt.
ReplyDeleteIf by desire, you refer to the act of willingly undertaking some action, then I think I agree with you. However, if by desire you refer to human lusts, appetites, or desire for gratification, then I disagree. This second understanding of human will leaves out reason and logic, which can cause a person to abandon immediate desires to fulfill some greater good or to obtain some future reward. For example, I love cheese. At any given point in time, I desire cheese. However, I understand that consuming dairy products is very bad before running long distances. Therefore, I do not eat cheese unless I can be sure that it is temporally distant from my next track practice or meet. Thus, reason allowed me to override my desire, and I do not eat cheese even though I really, really want to.
ReplyDeleteJust so you know, the whole reason/desire thing was originally brought up by Plato, and I made sure to read a bit about his view of human will before writing this response.
Fried cheese is lovely.