For the longest of time, literary texts has been a form of detoxification for a majority of individuals, and to others, has been a form of education through the content, ideologies and values the author implements within the texts. However, despite the elasticity of literary texts, the amount of understanding the audiences can draw out from the texts are greatly impeded by the amount of context they have about them. The open-endedness of literary texts draws great horrors of misinterpretation due to lack of context. Furthermore, some literary texts require a great amount of preconceived context about the text for audiences to further understand the ideologies, values, themes and ideas an author intends to portray. Both literary texts “The metamorphosis”, a novella created by Franz Kafka and “A street car named desire” a play by Tennessee Williams, requires a decent amount of context awareness for the audiences to withdraw understandings of the texts. “The metamorphosis”, a novella in which the protagonist undergoes metamorphosis under the time and due to the of booming capitalism follows on towards the tragic end of the protagonist. Likewise in “A street car named desire”, a female belle, from southern America undergoes harsh social treatment caused by the post war world mentalism. Hidden underneath contexts, lies the further understanding of texts audiences are subjected to miss further highlighting the importance of preconceived context. 

A writer's past is the motivation they often acquire to write a written piece. The writer would generally interpret their personal experiences and past events into their own story to further enhance the detail within. Knowing the past of an author is important for the audience as it helps understand the context of a specific story. The context of place and time plays a major role in understanding the written piece as well. 

Understanding time and place is important when considering both the play and the novella as Tennessee Williams and Franz Kafka faced a lot of challenges growing up by having different ideologies and values towards society; in addition to both having their motivation to write their stories (The Metamorphosis and A Streetcar named Desire) from a troubled family home life.

When referring to both Williams and Kafka having their different ideologies and values to society, it is important to note that they both grew up in revolutionary era’s. Williams grew up post World War 2 where men were trying to establish their dominance once again to society as women entered the work field; this is portrayed through the characterization of Stanley Kowalski. Where as Kafka grew up in the era of capitalism, this whole concept of capitalism is shown through The Metamorphosis as in the beginning of the novella, once Gregor had metaphorized into a bug this initial first thought is how is he going to get out of bed to go to work to provide for his family. 

A Streetcar Named Desire reflects society back in the mid-1940’s New Orleans where Blanche Dubois is an example of how the world back then would mistreat mentally ill individuals. In Blanche’s case, she was very much exposed to past abuse that had molded her mind and caused a great deal of anxiety which has caused her to have a very generalized but cynical response to society as a whole. However, in the case of the Metamorphosis, we see how in the early 1900’s Austria, Gregor Samsa question the ways of the world and as a result is reluctant to participate in any of the responsibilities that he is obligated to fulfill. An example of this would be providing for his family but because of this Gregor is unable to form meaningful relationships and anyone that he openly disagrees with tends to see his behavior and questioning as unusual. This is no surprise as society back then in the case of Williams and Kafka did not deal with these issues in the way that they are today with professional mental institutes but rather any such people were viewed as mad or obstacles in the way of a “developing” society which would get them into mental asylums where they were removed from society instead of being treated with care and consideration.

Conflict, both internal and against society, is abundant through both A Streetcar Named Desire and the Metamorphosis. Blanche’s conflicts, both with herself and her inability to control her sexual desire, as well as unrelenting and repetitive conflict with Stanley Kowalski, her brother-in-law and the symbolism used by Williams to represent a new, brash and self-serving future. Through the use of plastic theater, such as the paper lantern used to hide the truth as well as Blanche’s true appearance and motives, and the Varsouviana, a tune that plays in Blanche’s head every time she thinks of her dead husband and doesn’t stop until she hears the gunshot, Williams portrays a woman fraught with internal conflict and unable to cope with her past. Her inability to cope with her unrelenting desire renders her vulnerable and fragile on the outside. Unfortunately for Blanche, she also happens to live in a time period where the household was dominated by men and the concept of masculine dominance over all aspects of life, and where mental health was rarely discussed, and any signs of mental illness rendered you an outcast or a reject of society. Due to her inability to gain self-control, to rise over her inner challenges, she is unable to sufficiently cope with Stanley, who outwits and outmuscles her at every turn, culminating in her rape, this being the representation of the new, hard-working society overcoming the romanticism of the South, and by extension, the idea of reality triumphing over illusion and fantasy, despite Blanche remarking how “primitive” Stanley would sometimes act. Conversely, because of current circumstances, such as Stanley limiting any help Blanche would be able to receive, including blocking Stella and Mitch from helping her in any way, she wasn’t able to overcome her inner conflict, as she clearly wasn’t able to deal with it alone, and there was no-one able to help her either. Similarly, in the Metamorphosis, Gregor has difficulty adapting to his new body, but over time he becomes more accustomed to his new self. This represents the inner conflict has of losing his humanity and becoming more “animal”. While Gregor continuously worries about his family's’ financial situation, especially his sister’s future, and tries to preserve a photo he had framed of a woman in furs, he eventually dislikes food he once craved, learns to walk on the walls and ceiling, and during some points even disregards his family’s views completely, as symbols of his increasing affiliation with his insect form, while also trying to preserve some links with his humanity. Because of his changed form, he, like Blanche, also gets rejected by the ones he holds most dear, mostly his family. The difference is, that they do try to help as much as they can, but seek to get rid of him once they see he is financially unsustainable and unbearably repulsive to boot. This aims to show the inhumanity in a capitalist society, that people are worked to death for almost nothing while the rich and powerful benefit immensely, and they would rather disregard their son, or what’s left of him rather than try in vain to sustain him. 

Context of the environment in which Kafka grew up in plays an essential role in understanding the treatment of Gregor and Gregor’s feelings of isolation throughout the novella. In the early 1910’s the Austro Hungarian Empire, which was comprised mostly of catholics, alienated against jews for being different forcing them to live in poorer parts of the main cities and was a capitalistic society which saw wealth going to a small number disproportionate to the rest of the population. The understanding of this context says much about why Kafka chose to make Gregor, from the middle to the end of the novella, very isolated and alone from his family. Similarly the context that society in Kafka’s time revolved mainly around transactions of money help the reader understand why at beginning of the play Gregor still wished to go to work after turning into a bug, and why after he stopped earning money his family began neglecting him. 

Context about views on mental health and the development of a new American society in the 1940’s help the reader better understand the attitudes towards Blanche, and Stanley’s reentry into society in the last scene of the play. In the 1940’s, mentally ill individuals were largely stigmatized and the concept of mental illness was largely ignored or treated atrociously with surgeries such as lobotomies which were performed on Williams’ sister. The last scene of the play is incredibly trivial, the scene is described to have a “tragic radiance” whilst everybody else in the apartment goes about their day casually. Blanche is being taken to an asylum without being told by anyone while she is preoccupied by her dress and how it is “The blue of the robe in the old Madonna pictures” while the men simply poker. The weight of the scene compared to its triviality can be better understood when the audience better understands how mentally ill individuals were disregarded in society similar to how Blanche is neglected as she leaves blindly to an asylum. Williams utilizes structure to end the play with Stanley being the victor. Throughout the play, Stanley symbolizes the new and brutal America, an American society in which men re enter society after WWII and believe in the American dream. On the contrary, Blanche symbolizes the old and aristocratic America. Williams ends the play with Blanche being sent to an asylum whilst the last line of the play speaks “This game is a seven-card stud”. Structuring the play to end with Blanche being sent to an asylum whilst the men discuss poker illustrates how Stanley’s new America ends prevailing over the old and aristocratic America that Blanche represents. The audience is able to better understand representations of the old and new America through Blanche and Stanley and is also able to better understand the prevailing new America with context on the topic.