The aftermath of WWII in A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams never imagined that his revolutionary play A Streetcar Named Desire would
provoke the admiration of the post-war audience and critics and would signify a crucial point in his
career as a playwright. Since its first performance in 1947 the play elicited the applauses of a
shocked !ut delighted audience and the many positive critical responses that praised its suggestive
atmosphere its smart use of stage elements its impressive realism in the characters" portrayal and
its thematic variety# violence se$ and death madness marginali%ation redemption illusion and
reality... etc. &'oudan( 4)-4*+. ,t the time of the play"s pu!lication the -nited States was
undergoing the socio-political conse.uences of the Second World War while ,merican population
de!ated or ignored the moral implications of the recent international massacre. /onscious of this
fact Williams wrote his work and took the social insecurities and traumas to the stage and o!liged
his deluded audience to face themselves through the !rutal confrontation !etween the opposite
characters of Stanley and 0lanche. 1rom a socio-political perspective A Streetcar Named Desire
and 2lia 3a%an"s film version analyse the moral conflicts and the contradictory attitudes of the post-
war society emphasi%ed !y making the spectator"s sympathy shift !etween one character or the
other.
A Streetcar Named Desire is set in the following years of the war a time undou!tedly
marked !y crucial changes in Williams" contemporary society. The idealistic and am!itious
,merican nation had decided to prove its political superiority and its military power to the
international community !y attempting to defeat the threat of 4a%i 5ermany. 6n 1941 the country
!roke its announced !ut never maintained isolationist policy after the 7apanese attack against 8earl
9ar!our :oining the war on the side of the ,llies. ,merican population had already heard a!out the
critical situation in 2urope and the evil deeds carried out !y 5ermany and its allies so after the
attack the indignant pu!lic opinion keenly supported what they considered a :ust war a moral
conflict for a good end. 2ventually the ,merican forces succeeded and !rought the war to an
imminent end yet the government approved a final act of e$treme violence# the dropping of the
atomic !om! on 9iroshima and 4agasaki in order to force the 7apanese rendition. This deadly
action which preluded the hysteria a!out a catastrophic nuclear warfare proved the a!sence of
good sides in any violent conflict where any of them possessed any moral superiority over the
other. The horrified population saw a nearer e$ample of the atrocities of war when some soldiers
returned home and found it e$tremely hard to adapt themselves to their old lives while others
needed medical assistance as they suffered from severe psychological diseases caused !y the
traumatic events e$perienced including depression flash!acks personality changes and e$treme
sensitivity to sound. ;n the other hand forced !y the a!sence of many men who were fighting in
2urope and the 8acific or working in factories far from home women started to play a more active
role in society thanks to their massive incorporation to the la!our world in traditionally male :o!s
and to other fields from which they had !een e$cluded until then. Women were taught !y a huge
propaganda campaign that its was patriotic and not unfeminine for them to work in non-traditional
:o!s. When the war ended some married women came !ack to the domestic work and childcare
while others saw a wide range of new opportunities and remained in their positions as working
women &Women+. <et from the hypocritical point of view of patriarchy this increasing
emancipation of women that contri!uted so much to the economic development of the country
during the war now meant a threat to the social esta!lished order in which women stayed at home
and men made money and held the power as the head of the family. =oral am!iguity guilt
traumatic e$periences !roken families the reaffirmation of the patriarchal order and other conflicts
derived from the social changes in the following years of the war are reflected in A Streetcar
Named Desire.
0orn in 1911 Williams was a young man who e$perienced !oth the World War 6 and the
5reat >epression years making him aware of the social pro!lems of his country which he
thoroughly represented in his stories com!ining a realistic social dimension and psychological
portraits with e$pressionist imagery poetic dialogues etc. 0efore Williams the post-war theatre
was dominated !y musical comedies and revivals of classic and modern works like Shakespeare
Shaw or Wilde &'oudan( 1 ? 4@+. 4ow preluded and inspired !y ;"4eill"s tragic drama in which
characters fell into despair una!le to communicate with each other William"s drama appears as a
new and realistic contri!ution to ,merican drama. ,ccording to drama historian 2than =ordden it
meant a A!rutal reply to the illusion-loving theatre of the 19BCs for Williams speaks truth to
someone whose whole life is a lie the deluded 0lanche >u0oisD. 6ndeed the author reflects in a
impressively e$plicit way the collective conflicts of his time through the confrontation of two
contraries em!odied !y the antagonism of 0lanche and Stanley &and even !y 0lanche"s emotional
insta!ility+ characters that attempt to recover their lives in the changing post-war world. The play
introduced the audience to truly adult themes# prostitution homose$uality rape domestic violence
alcoholism mental !reakdowns... 1rom the very !eginning although the initial stage directions sets
a charming and tender atmosphere this is a sort of fake wellness as there is a sense of underlying
decadence that inevita!ly emerges in the setting and conse.uently in the characters" emotions &AThe
sky is &E+ tender !lue almost a tur.uoise which &...+ attenuates the atmosphere of decay D+.
=ost readers usually state that 0lanche >u0ois is the protagonist of the play led !y the fact
that she is the character who triggers the conflict of the plot and the one who awakens the interest
and empathy of the audience. ,ctually the play can !e summari%ed as 0lanche"s :ourney from her
escape from a destructive desire that took her near the sight of death to her final punishment in
madness due to her lack of success in forgetting the past and learning from it. 9er central role in the
story is somewhat highlighted in the opening scene of the play when Stella and Stanley"s peaceful
life is suddenly distur!ed !y 0lanche"s arrival and her news a!out the loss of 0elle 'eve. 6n 3a%an"s
film all the focus is on 0lanche where the added se.uence of her disorientation when arriving at a
crowded station right !efore taking the famous streetcar opens the film. 6n this last case her first
appearance is sym!olically more interesting# 0lanche !ecomes a ghostly figure that comes out from
!ehind a white steam cloud emphasi%ing her fragile nature or sym!oli%ing her metaphysical
approach to a place where according to 5reek mythology only the heroic and the virtuous could
rest &AThey told me to take a streetcar named >esire and then transfer to one called /emeteries and
ride si$ !locks and get off at--2lysian 1ieldsFD+. ,lthough 0lanche follows in a way the literary
figure of the femme fatale that is an economically independent and se$ually active woman who
deceives and seduces men for self-interested purposes &A<es a !ig spiderF That"s where 6 !rought
my victims.D+ it is this Southern 0elle"s overwhelming guilty for her sins and her desperate search
for redemption what provokes the spectator"s sympathy. 0esides her characteri%ation as a woman of
a fragile nature weak character and delicacy in manners transmits the idea that she is some!ody
that needs urgent help and especial care. She is AThe 0roken TowerD &9art /rane"s poem appearing
in the epigraph chosen to introduce the play+ a confused woman who enters Athe !roken world G To
trace the visionary company of loveD a love that faded away with his hus!and"s death and her
overwhelming desire to recover what is lost leads her to take wrong decisions.
The character of 0lanche has !een regarded as Williams" most outstanding creation due to
the rich interplay of reality madness fragility and strength within her making possi!le many
readings of her !ehaviour in the overall meaning of the play. 'educed to a mentally and emotionally
unsta!le person haunted !y guilt and the memory of tragic casualties that she witnessed and
provoked the post-war audience may have seen in 0lanche >u0ois the soldier that returns home on
the verge of madness as a result of traumatic past e$periences or even their own commotion for the
result of the war. 6n scene B 0lanche makes a comment on the !itter situation of her time and
e$presses her desire for protection# AThere"s so much confusion in the world... 6 need kindness
nowD em!odying the present society that tries to forget the traumatic past. 0lanche has also
witnessed several casualties in 0elle 'eve which !ecame her gloomy !attlefield the 'eaper"s
Ahead.uartersD !ursting with distur!ing images of death while she found herself una!le to do
something to prevent it &A&E+ that dreadful wayF &E+ Sometimes their !reathing is hoarse and
sometimes it rattles and sometimes they even cry out to you H>on"t let me goFHD+. >espite this
devastating e$perience that turned her into a psychologically ill person the audience can see in
0lanche a hint of military heroic strength since she never a!andoned the !attle and stayed to !ury
her relatives a fact which leads her to reproach her sister for having deserted &A0ut you are the one
that a!andoned 0elle 'eve not 6F 6 stayed and fought for it !led for it almost died for itFD+ and to
re:ect ine$istent accusations from her. <et 0lanche did not only saw death !ut also does she !elieve
to have caused it since her !eloved hus!and ,llan killed himself due to her contempt for his
homose$uality. With her words of disgust uttered in a fateful night on a dance floor she pulled
indirectly the trigger that killed her hus!and and the memory of this !loodshed torments her. 6n the
play 0lanche is less hard on herself when e$pressing her guilt a!out such event simply stating A6
hurt him &...+D whereas in the film where ,llan"s homose$uality is replaced !y a sort of deep
depression 0lanche confesses to =itch in tears# A6 killed himD. 9er resultant o!session with death
is transmitted !y references to 0rowning"s sonnets &A,nd if 5od choose 6 shall !ut love thee !etter
IafterIdeathFD+ her fear of a vendor shouting A1lores para los muertosD and references to A=r.
2dgar ,llan 8oeD"s gothic work especially the parallelism !etween the >u0ois family"s story and
that in 8oe"s AThe 1all of the 9ouse of -sherD !eing 0lanche and Stella the only surviving si!lings
of a large agoni%ing family due to its decadency derived from their sins.
,s a conse.uence 0lanche is transformed into emotionally and psychologically sick person
and appears to suffer from the same symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder that soldiers
e$perienced when returned home from war such as depression flash!acks personality changes
and e$treme sensitivity to sound. The latter music and sounds are very present throughout the play
filling the dramatic silences reinforcing the lyricism of the dialogues and transmitting in an
e$pressionist way what is inside 0lanche"s mind. Thus the painful moment of her hus!and"s
deathGmurder is remem!ered in dramatic moments that call to mind similar episodes of post-
traumatic flash!acks# a polka music played only in her mind and therefore not listened !y =itch
takes her !ack in time in order to relive the event &AThat--music again... The HJaraouvianaHF The
polka tune they were playing when ,llanIWaitF There now the shotF 6t always stops after that.D+
and in an addition of 3a%an"s film 0lanche"s words recalling her hus!and"s last minutes of life A,
few moments later--a shotFD are emphasi%ed with the sudden echo of an actual shot. 9er sister
Stella and in a certain way =itch acts as the familiar support she needs to recover from the trauma
always protecting and serving her sister !ut deeply affected !y the soldier"s disease and further
conse.uences of it like her inclination to alcoholism.
9owever in a demonstration of Williams" a!ility to com!ine myth and reality 0lanche
!ecomes unsuita!le for these apparent 2lysian 1ields due to her ina!ility to redeem herself and
therefore this place of salvation reserved for the heroic turns into a dark even gothic scenario
where her flaws and errors are accentuated and :udged in the same way that the condemned are
trapped in hell or the purgatory &A6n desperate desperate circumstancesF 9elp meF /aught in a
trapD+. 9er scornful attitude towards Stanley may derived from his representing the violent side of
human !eing the primitivism that leads to kill others which is keenly despised and re:ected !y
0lanche since the very !eginning and even more so after having witnessed his !rutal attack against
Stella in the poker night &AThere"s even something--su!-human--something not .uite to the stage of
humanity yetF Stanley 3owalski--survivor of the stone ageF 0earing the raw meat home from the
kill in the :ungleF &...+ Some!ody growls--some creature snatches at something--the fight is onFD+.
This is the moment in which the author attempts to convey his utopian vision of the role of art and
literature in a perfect society. 9e considers these elements essential tools to educate and shape well-
mannered and reasoning !eings that could control the lowest of human instincts and !ecome
mem!ers of a civili%ed country &ASuch things as art--as poetry and music--such kinds of new light
have come into the world since thenF That we have got to make growF ,nd cling to and hold as our
flagF 6n this dark march toward whatever it is we"re approaching.... >on"t--don"t hang !ack with the
!rutesFD+. Williams knew a!out the 4urem!erg Trials of 194) and 194* in which the defeated
na%is" war crimes were punished !y the victorious ,llied forces !ut wondered who would punish
-S,"s war crimes in for instance 9iroshima and 4agasaki. =ay!e following /hurchill"s statement
a!out the trials where he re:ected Athe cold !looded e$ecution of soldiers who fought for their
country.D &4urem!erg+ Williams does not ApunishD 0lanche !y killing the character as it is usually
done in literary works with femmes fatale like her !ut !y a process resem!ling the sin itself some
kind of /ontrapasso law. 0lanche is a woman overcome !y an acute sense of guilt and a tendency to
see herself as a victim and a victimi%er feeling that Asome things are not forgiva!le. >eli!erate
cruelty is not forgiva!le.D words applied to Stanley !ut also to herself. Kike the tormented soldier
0lanche is conscious of the fact that her main fault has !een to deny help to her e.ual and to
provoke his death. 6t is true that Stanley is her ultimate victimi%er !ut in her sick mind he is also
the one to :udge and sentence her for her cruel and lustful sins in the same cruel and lustful manner
&A6 hurt him the way that you would like to hurt meD+. 0lanche is depicted as the !rave soldier the
tragic and romantic hero that displays strength !ut her fragility and weakness when getting over
past traumas make her final triumph impossi!le to achieve.
The character of Stanley 3owalski stands out in a clear opposition to 0lanche as the
heartless o!stacle that prevents her from achieving her vital goals and this role of the perfect
antagonist is clearly marked since his first appearances. Sweaty aggressive realistic and vulgar he
is the vital force that confronts 0lanche"s refinement delusion and weakness. 6ndeed =arlo
0rando"s outstanding performance on the stage and in the film version of the play em!odies
perfectly Stanley"s disgusting personal traits !eing the actor himself who defined and e$pressed his
contempt for Stanley# A9e"s the antithesis of me... 9e"s intolerant and selfish... a man without any
sensitivity without any moralityD &/ohan+.
9owever as the play"s plot is developed Stanley seems to gain the audience"s empathy as he
turns out to represent the strong ,merican power &A0ut what 6 am is a one hundred percent
,merican !orn and raised in the greatest country on earth and proud as hell of itD+ a former soldier
of 8olish heritage who tries to !e egalitarian demanding for him the same rights as the decadent
aristocratic upper class represented !y 0lanche &AKook at these feathers and furs that she come here
to preen herself inF &E+ Where are your fo$-pieces StellaLD+. Kargely ignorant he at least possesses
the virtue of honesty and despises any instance of deception especially when he is the one
deceived. <et like the -nited States in the war he was capa!le of a!uses of power as well using
last resort methods to achieve ApeaceD. The poker game in scene B is a meeting of different old
soldiers in which Stanley is the leading voice of the game the one who deals the cards and sets the
rules at home and =itch is the sensitive counterpoint worried a!out her mother"s illness seduced
!y 0lanche"s dishonest charms and finally deceived.
9e stands for the ,merican masculine power that fights against any kind of repression and
dominance asserting himself !y imposing her power over women and !y claiming his dominion
over Aeverything that is his that !ears his em!lemD which o!viously includes his wife Stella. This
se$ist component of his character reflects the hypocritical attitude of patriarchy after the war which
attempted to take !ack to the domestic realm the emerging new independent woman who
encouraged !y the State itself worked outside home in the war years. 6n the same manner Stanley
always adopts a misogynist attitude towards women considering them se$ual o!:ects and always
conscious of his se$ appeal &A9e si%es women up at a glance with se$ual classifications crude
images flashing into his mind and determining the way he smiles at them. &E+ with the power and
pride of a richly feathered male !ird among hens.D+ esta!lishing a relationship with Stella largely
!ased on se$ual desire &AWhen he"s away for a week 6 nearly go wildF+. Stella is also portrayed as a
!eing that should !e dominated she is A=rs. Stanley 3owalskiD a woman una!le of taking care of
herself. 1ortunately Stanley"s patriarchal voice is present to remind her of her o!ligations as a wife
and future mother and take care of her interests &A&...+ we have the 4apoleonic code according to
which what !elongs to the wife !elongs to the hus!and and vice versa.D+. When StanleyMs wife
complains a!out his ta!le manners he teaches her a lesson a!out how to talk to a man !y smashing
all the plates and even mistreating her. Williams surprised the audience with the representation of
such a private issue as domestic violence conveying the origin of pu!lic !ar!arity could !e sought
in the violence present in the heart of the ,merican family.
,lthough audiences were shocked !y Stanley"s final reaction against 0lanche in scene ten
the spectators were already familiar to violent episodes in their everyday lives. 6t is possi!le that
some people did not even interpret it as a se$ual a!use while others were likely to forgive him as
they struggled to forgive the country for dropping the !om!. ,fter all 0lanche is the enemy who
invades his home with dishonest intentions insults him corrupts Stella and disrupt the peace and
order of the ,merican family in which Stanley should dominate over Stella. Stella agrees with him
su!missively and accepts a victorious Stanley that slips his fingers !etween the !uttons of her
!louse !ack into her life :ust like ,mericans accepted the reality of violence into their own lives
&Welsch+. Still there is a remaining feeling of confusion in the audience"s sympathy for Stanley
some sort of shame for silently supporting his savagery. Williams himself descri!ed the rape as Athe
ravishment of the tender the sensitive the delicate !y the !rutal forces in modern societyD &/ohan+.
The 9ollywood industry could not permit that this monstrous !ehaviour served as a model to the
pu!lic and changed the end of the play in order to punish the crime of the rapist finally making
Stella and her child run away from him and his frightening authoritative calling although the
audience knows she will come !ack as she did once.
6n A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams meditates a!out one terri!le fact# the war
had meant ,merica"s opportunity to recover from the >epression years and to achieve a !etter
position in the international political and economic frame !ut at a very e$pensive cost for the social
conscience. 4ot even nowadays the motivation of protecting the country does not prepare anyone
for having a fighting friend dying in one"s lap or !eing una!le to do anything while watching
someone die at one moment and kill someone at the other. The sounds of death lingered in the
soldiers" minds :ust like 0lanche can not stand the memory of 0elle 'eve and ,llan in hers.
8arado$ically the readerGaudience that approaches Williams" play is somewhat attracted !y Stanley
and his selfish heartless and misogynistic personality making one wonder which principles actually
rule contemporary society. The last scene of the play shifts audience sympathies one last time.
Suddenly it is Stella who represents the pu!lic condemnation of violence &A;h my 5od 2unice
help meF >on"t let them do that to her don"t let them hurt herFD+. 2unice finally points out an
important truth which serves as a conclusion to any traumatic period# AKife has got to go on. 4o
matter what happens you"ve got to keep goingD.
/risthian Jillamar.
Works cited and consulted.
/ohan Steven &1997+. Masked men: masculinity and the movies in the fifties. 6ndiana
-niversity 8ress
5Nme% 5arcOa ,scensiNn. &19@@+ Mito y realidad en la obra dramtica de Tennessee
Williams. Salamanca. -niversidad de Salamanca.
=ordden 2than &19@1+. The American Theatre. 4ew <ork. ;$ford -niversity 8ress.
A4urem!erg TrialsD. Wikipedia the 1ree 2ncyclopedia.
http#GGen.wikipedia.orgGwikiG4urem!ergPTrials. Kast =odified# ?) =ay ?C11.
'oudn( =atthew /. &ed.+ &1997+. The Cambridge Comanion to Tennessee Williams.
/am!ridge -niversity 8ress.
Welch William =.!Trauma of "ra# $ar haunting thousands returning home%. -S, today.
http#GGwww.usatoday.comGnewsGworldGira.G?CC)-C?-?@-cover-ira.-in:uriesP$.htm. 8osted#
?G?@G?CC) ?#C@ ,=.
Welsch /amille-<vette. AWorld War ""& Se'& and Dislacement in A Streetcar Named
Desire% in =urphy 0renda &ed.+ &?CC9+( Critical "nsights: A Streetcar Named Desire(
8asadena. Salem 8ress.
!Women and World War ""%( ,!out.com - Women"s 9istory(
htt:))$omenshistory(about(com)od)$ar$$ii)Women*and*World*War*""(htm. Kast
=odified# ?C11