A Streetcar Named Desire

This is certainly true in Stanley's case. In Scene Two, Stanley's primary interest in Blanche is in whether he and Stella are entitled to any money from Stella's family home. When he finds there is no inheritance, Stanley shows quite plainly throughout the following scenes that he has no use for Blanche: He doesn't like her personally and they have nothing in common. But as the play proceeds, it is obvious that Stanley does perceive Blanche as being something of a threat. She is a disruption to his and Stella's relationship in the physical sense since all three are living in close quarters, but what's worse, she is a part of what Stanley considers Stella's past, and Blanche's influence revives old prejudices and ways of thinking in Stella that threaten Stanley's dominance.

He is a very dominating: he overpowers his timid wife, Stella, constantly, to keep her from leaving him. He is very proud of his American heritage, several times referencing to his being in the United States Army and is enraged when Blanche calls him "common," or a "Polack." He seems incapable of refinement, and does everything whole-heartedly: he claims to love Stella thoroughly and hates Blanche vehemently. Stanley is honest to the point of brutality, and he does not care about offending others. Further, He even brags to Mitch about raping Blanche. He despises Blanche because they are opposites. His hatred of Blanche is so great that he rapes her, causing her final mental breakdown.

Although Stanley’s power works mainly to downgrade Blanche, his violent and aggressive nature also disempowers Stella. She is abused during poker night, a moment of masculine bonding. Following the poker night she is made powerful when she retreats to Eunice’s Flat. However, she returns to disempowerment when she leaves Eunice’s flat and Stanley ‘bears her into the dark flat’. Stella’s decision to stay with Stanley is not based on choice, but rather on the fact that she must. This enforces the dominant belief that women are unable to support themselves, emotionally and financially.

Comparing the play versus, the movie versions of A Streetcar Named Desire has been entertaining and enlightening. Originally written as a play, Tennessee Williams later adapted it into a screenplay for the film version. Consequently, both versions were extremely popular in their own right. Drama and social taboos create an emotionally charged viewing adventure. Williams characters are complex, exciting and just crazy enough to keep the audience spellbound. The DuBois sisters are complete opposites sharing only their love for each other as common ground. Blanche, the older sister, shows up for an impromptu visit with her sister Stella Kowalski. Stella and her husband Stanley live in New Orleans, in the French Quarter. Blanche has become destitute and has lost the family plantation. Stanley, incensed by the idea that Blanche has taken the plantation from him, sets out to destroy her by any and all means. The characters and performers provide a riveting and consequently soulful performance that is hauntingly unforgettable. Williams writing moves the audience to tears with dynamic characters, conflict and catastrophe of unimaginable depth.

It is clear from the beginning that Blanche is not a very honest character. She lives in a fantasy world of her own design. One of the very first things she does when she enters Stella’s

Unlike Stanley, Mitch has learned to be sympathetic towards Blanche and her representation of femininity. Mitch however, still cultivates toxic masculinity when he does not bring correction to his friend, Stanley, when he sees him being openly abusive. He also allows Stanley to ruin his chances at happiness with Blanche.

“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

From my point of view the protagonist of A Streetcar Named Desire is Blanche Dubois. Blanche is a woman who was born and raised in the plantations in Mississippi. She’s about 30 years old. She is an English teacher who got fired for having an affair with a 17 year old student. She goes to New Orleans in 1947 to stay with her sister, Stella, and her sister’s husband Stanley Kowalski.

Desire is prominent in Stella and Stanley’s relationship; Stella is drawn to Stanley because he has a strong male sexuality and he is drawn to her because of her traditional feminine sexuality. Stanley abuses Stella, and when Blanche finds out she is perplexed. Stella explains that, “there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark—that sort of make everything else seem—unimportant.”(1.4). Stella and Stanley stay together because they use sex to smooth out their disputes. Stanley views sex as an important aspect in marriage (Panda ). He views women as sexual objects; Williams gives an insight on Stanley, he says, “[Stanley] sizes women up at a glance, with sexual classifications, crude images flashing through his mind”(1.1). Stanley ends up raping Blanche at the end of the play; thus causing Blanche to lose her sanity. Although Blanche’s husband is only mentioned a few times in the play, the audience is able to see that his own sexual desire leads to his

If Stella stucked with her, she would be able to fully understand what her sister is going threw and would have a resolution of her problems. The thing that they might not know about Blanche is that the problem of the story is Stanley; is he “a brutal monster or a pragmatic survivor?” (holland P.12). Nobody knows, but what we do know is that Stanley likes to control everything, and for sure he wants to stay with Stella. Let’s take for example the first confrontation between Stanley and Blanche in the beginning of Scene 2; Stanley manly authority is closely established by the means of “lordly composure”(Holland P.45) which he receives Stella’s kiss and Stella’s request for money. Stanley hates Blanche for coming into his “territory” (Holland P.56) that made his vision distorted by raging jealousy that he confuses Blanche’s cheap jewellery for ropes of

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.

In the opening two scenes of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams, the audience has its first and generally most important impressions formulated on characters, the plot and the mood and tone of the play overall.

Stanley is who really introduces to Blanche is by revealing her past. Williams writes “And turn that over-light off! Turn that off! I won’t be looked at in this merciless glare!” (1819) Stanley goes snooping around into Blanche’s past and soon learns that she is living in a fantasy world. Stanley does not fall for Blanche’s lies and sets out to destroy her. Stella feels torn between her sister and Stanley but eventually stands with Stanley. Everyone has rejected Blanche, so when the doctor and his nurse show up to take her away to the hospital she feels accepted once more. “Whoever you are – I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” (1881) Blanche’s constant rejection from Stella, Stanley and Mitch leads Blanche to alienate herself and leads her to escape into her own fantasy.

Blanche's tragic flaw that cause her downfall or hamartia is her reliant on men, so much so that she makes choices and does things that are morally questionable. She manipulates and lies to potential suitors to make herself seem more attractive and younger-which in her mind is the only way a man will love her. She does this with Harold "Mitch" Mitchell and it seems to be working until Mitch is informed of all the lies he's been fed, at which point Mitch breaks up with Blanche and leaves her vulnerable for Stanley to

Scene one of "A Streetcar Named Desire" sheds a lot of light on Blanche DuBois personality as well as Stanley 's by the way he acts around her. As Blanche arrives to the Kowalski 's home, she takes " a streetcar named Desire" then transferring to "Cemeteries" and finally arriving at "Elysian Fields". These names are important events that signifies the course of Blanches ' life and how she has ended up in her current life situation. As Stella and Blanche catch up, Blanche belittles Stella for her low social status and her living situations. As well as not being joyful that Stella is married and in love, she and Stanley seem to be polar opposites which quickly sets the tone for the remaining of the play.