A Streetcar Named Desire Research Paper

“Stella has embraced him with both arms, fiercely, and full in the view of Blanche. He laughs and clasps her head to him. Over her head he grins through the curtains at Blanche.” (Williams 73) A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams exemplifies the theme of a struggle to attain happiness. The play not only portrays this theme in its characters and setting, but through the literary devices of Foil, Imagery, and Intertextuality. Williams took great care in applying each of these literary device techniques to the theme as he presents an intriguing contrast between Blanche and Stanley, vivid images both animalistic and broken, and imploring the use of the Odyssey to further

Stanley's violent side excites her, and that desire will continue to keep her with Stanley. When Blanche explains that she has a plan to let her leave Stanley, Stella says to her that, “You take it for granted that I am in something that I want to get out of”(80). Stanley’s corrupt nature does not make

Finally, Stanley rapes Blanche because “he has tried and tried to keep her down to his level” (Kagan 26) but she cannot go there.  The rape is his way of getting her there.  In the powerful scene where Stanley loses total control of his actions and strikes the person whom he has sworn to protect, love and cherish, William's shows Stanley's lack of control and hatred of the new threat in his life, Blanche.  What makes this scene so important to the topic is the way that the three characters react once the party has broken up.  Blanche is in her usual state of panic; Stella has retreated upstairs, while Stanley stumbles around calling out 'Steeelllaaa' in a drunken sweaty animal-like manner.  Surprisingly Stella answers her mate's calls and embraces him, the two of them exchanging words of compassion and kisses.  Stanley then picks up Stella and carries her off to his den to make love, which is Stanley's way of apologizing.  Stanley has to be the dominant male figure in all his relationships, not only with Stella and Blanche, but with his friends as well.  He is a leader and instantly rises to the challenge whenever his status is threatened.

A very apparent character trait of Stanley is his love for his wife, Stella. In scene two, Stella and Stanley notice all the very nice things that Blanche has in her trunk. For Blanche being a poor girl, Stanley knows that she shouldn't have so many nice things. Stanley expresses his concern to Stella as he says, "It looks like you have been swindled, baby...". This shows that Stanley only wants for Stella what she deserves, and if Blanche is not sharing what money is also Stella's, then it upsets him.

Blanche has gone against everything that Stanley has worked for; she thinks she can lie to the people in her life, she adds a style of personality that Stanley has been offended by, and she pushes his limits with music, lighting, and her clothes. Blanche manages to challenge him by doing all these things. Not only does Blanche challenge him, she has moved into his life unexpectedly, drank his liquor, and continues to destroy his way of life.

Firstly, in Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire”, the writer presents disconcerting behaviour throughout the text. Tennessee Williams uses Stanley to display different types of disturbing behaviour, and the events that occur due to his attitude. Stanley is presented having a masculine, animalistic nature, which includes his open violent behaviour. His animalistic nature is displayed when he ‘charges after Stella’, in scene three of the play, and when there is the ‘sound of a blow’ in the household, indicating that Stanley had physically hurt Stella so much causing her to cry. Critic, Michael Coveney explains that in the

Stanley is a character in this play, whose perspective is clearly reality based. Since Blanche’s outlook on life is fantasy based, there is a lot of hostility between the two characters. Stanley is the one that always exposes the lies that Blanche is always hiding behind. He is constantly trying to get her to accept his perspective. When she finally begins to understand him, it’s too late. With such a huge change, she loses her mental state. Her personal beliefs get interchanged between fantasy and reality, to such an extent, that it seems as if she no longer realizes what is true or what is malign.

Throughout the play I felt that Stanley was always up to something. He was a violent character in the play and was an enemy to Blanche who was the protagonist. In the play Stanley may sound like he is big and strong, he is actually on the defensive. He would not have felt like he had to deal with Blanche if she would not have come live with him and Stella. He resented Blanche because of her actions of trying to turn Stella against Stanley.

From his very first appearance, Stanley is revealed to be a brutal, even barbaric man. In Scene One, the audience is introduced to Stanley as he hurls a bloody package at Stella with a shout of “Meat! (2). Simple, forceful, and grotesque, this action is reminiscent of a caveman, and shows the audience Stanley’s true nature from the very beginning. Clearly, he is not the Platonic image of an enlightened man.

Stanley is a quick tempered man. (“ Don’t ever talk to that way to me!“Pig-Polack-disgusting-vulgar-greasy”-them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here! What do you two think you are? A pair of queens?” ( Williams 73).)

He is married to Stella who is Blanche’s sister. In the play Stanley is the theme of realism. He is shown in the play as a working man, and a masculine character who in the play will do what he wants and does not care what people think.

It was not just her self that put her in the lime light of being a victim; it is also her new change of environment and people. Stanley is Stella's husband; he is described to be very masculine and aware of his sexual magnetism. “Strongly, compactly built”. He is mostly at ease with people however, if they lack loyalty and affection to him, he will bully them. Especially women, as he believes them just to be easy conflict. It is seen in scene 3 that Stanley has little respect for women. “I said to hush up!” This is addressed to his wife who is seen emotionless and impassive in this play. As for Blanche how is fussy and at edge, she would be very effected by the crude attitude that Stanley presents and so tries to hysterical take Stella away from her husband. Stanley does not forget of this act of interference and makes him all the more determined to be rid of Stella’s “charity case”. The real reason for Stanley’s bulling is that Blanche immediately received all Stella’s attention. “How about my supper huh? I’m not going to no Galatorires’ for supper” This made Stella dominant in power over Stanley and Blanche, something Stanley was not used to. “I put you a cold plate on ice”.

He likes to possess and control everything around him, he almost ‘owns’ Stella, and he has changed from her days at Belle Reve, pulling her “down off them columns and how [she] loved it”. But the arrival of Blanche, and her aristocratic ways annoys Stanley, as Stella begins to revert to her old ways. Blanche encourages her to stand up to him, and continually stresses the difference in their levels, although Stanley is not ashamed that he “was common as dirt”. Therefore, the only way that he can overcome Blanche and restore his authority is to beat her and triumph over her physically, which he eventually does. Although ironically, it is the effect of Stanley and his actions on her mind that finally provokes her downfall.

Stanley overhears these comments as they are ‘unaware of his presence’ (S4:pg.164*; and wants to dispose of Blanche to protect his marriage as Blanche has a hysterical determination to urge Stella to leave Stanley. Stanley refuses to accept Blanches’ conduct as she had no right to intervene and arbitrate as a guest in Stanley’s home supporting the idea that Stanley was preparing her downfall all along.

The play A Streetcar Named Desire revolves around Blanche DuBois; therefore, the main theme of the drama concerns her directly. In Blanche is seen the tragedy of an individual caught between two worlds-the world of the past and the world of the present-unwilling to let go of the past and unable, because of her character, to come to any sort of terms with the present. The final result is her destruction. This process began long before her clash with Stanley Kowalski. It started with the death of her young husband, a weak and perverted boy who committed suicide when she taunted him with her disgust at the discovery of his perversion. In retrospect, she knows that he was the only man she had ever loved, and from this early catastrophe