A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

Author

 Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams in Columbus, Mississippi, on 26 March
1911.
 Williams’ childhood was not a happy one and, at the age of 14, he ‘discovered writing as an
escape from the world of reality’ in which he felt ‘acutely uncomfortable’.
 Williams was a prolific writer who published short stories, poems, essays, two novels, an
autobiography, and dozens of plays. It is for his plays that he is most widely known. The
most successful of these, in both commercial and critical terms, are The Glass Menagerie
(1944), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), and The Night of the
Iguana (1961).
 Although Williams received less critical acclaim in his later years, he is regarded as one of the
foremost American playwrights of the twentieth century.

Introduction

 A Streetcar Named Desire is often regarded as among the finest plays of the 20th century,
and is considered by many to be Williams' greatest work.
 The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949.
 The American poet Hart Crane was an important influence on Williams; in Crane's
determination to create poetry that did not mimic European sensibilities, Williams found
endless inspiration. The epigraph to A Streetcar Named Desire is a quatrain from Hart
Crane’s “The Broken Tower”.
 Critic Harold Clurman wrote of A Streetcar Named Desire: “Its impact at this moment is
especially strong, because it is virtually unique as a stage piece that is both personal and
social and wholly a product of our life today. It is a beautiful play”.

Plot
The play is set right after WWII in the New Orleans of the 1940s. Stanley and Stella Kowalski (25
years old and pregnant) live in the downstairs flat of a corner building. Blanche DuBois, a
schoolteacher from Laurel, Mississippi, arrives on a streetcar named Desire at the New Orleans
apartment of her sister, Stella Kowalski. Blanche tells Stella that she lost Belle Reve, their ancestral
home, following the death of all their remaining relatives. She also mentions that she has been given
a leave of absence from her teaching position because of her bad nerves.

Though Blanche does not seem to have enough money to afford a hotel, she is disdainful of the
cramped quarters of the Kowalskis’ two-room apartment and of the apartment’s location in a noisy,
working-class neighbourhood – Blanche to Stella: “You sit down, now, and explain this place to me!
What are you doing in a place like this?” This attitude of Blanche quickly catches the attention of
Stanley who begins to dislike her and begins a hunt to track down the truth as to why she is here in
the first place. He even suspects her of having cheated Stella out of her share of the family
inheritance as she is also entitled to a share of Belle Reve.
The unhappiness that accompanies the animal magnetism of Stella and Stanley’s marriage reveals
itself when Stanley hosts a drunken poker game with his male friends at the apartment. Blanche gets
under Stanley’s skin, especially when she starts to win the affections of his close friend Mitch. After
Mitch has been absent for a while, speaking with Blanche in the bedroom, Stanley erupts, storms
into the bedroom, and throws the radio out of the window. When Stella yells at Stanley and defends
Blanche, Stanley beats her. The men pull him off, the poker game breaks up, and Blanche and Stella
escape to their upstairs neighbour Eunice’s apartment. A short while later, Stanley is remorseful and
pleads Stella to forgive him. To Blanche’s alarm, Stella returns to Stanley and embraces him
passionately. Mitch says to Blanche, “There's nothing to be scared of. They're crazy about each
other.”

Blanche later says to Stella, “You're married to a madman!... Only you're not being sensible about
it... you've given in. And that isn't right, you're not old! You can get out. To which Stella replies,
“I'm not in anything I want to get out of... I have told you I love him.”

The next evening Mitch takes Blanche on a date and she reveals to him her most traumatic
experience which was the discovery that her husband (Allan)—a poet whom she had married at the
tender age of sixteen—was a homosexual. Soon after this discovery he committed suicide. Mitch
describes his own loss of a former love, and he tells Blanche that they need each other.

Blanche had earlier stated to Stella, “I want to rest! I want to breathe quietly again! Yes--I want
Mitch... very badly! Just think! If it happens, I can leave here and not be anyone's problem....”

When the next scene begins, about one month has passed. It is the afternoon of Blanche’s birthday.
Stella is preparing a dinner for Blanche, Mitch, Stanley, and herself, when Stanley comes in to tell her
that he has learned news of Blanche’s sordid past. He says that after losing the DuBois mansion,
Blanche moved into a fleabag motel from which she was eventually evicted because of her
numerous sexual relationships. Also, she was fired from her job as a schoolteacher because the
principal discovered that she was having an affair with a teenage student. Stella is horrified to learn
that Stanley has told Mitch these stories about Blanche. While Stanley is narrating the news Blanche
is in the bathroom singing these lines which are quite significant:

"Say, it's only a paper moon, Sailing over a cardboard sea--But it wouldn't be make-believe If you
believed in me!" - the lyrics of the song could suggest that her future depends upon whether
people will believe her act. And this juxtaposition of Blanche’s make-believe ideals and Stanley’s
revelations on Blanche breaking her illusions create tension in the play.

The birthday dinner comes and goes, but Mitch never arrives. Stanley indicates to Blanche that he is
aware of her past. For a birthday present, he gives her a one-way bus ticket back to Laurel. Stanley’s
cruelty disturbs Stella that it appears the Kowalski household is about to break up, but the onset of
Stella’s labor prevents the imminent fight. Several hours later, Blanche, drunk, sits alone in the
apartment. Mitch, also drunk, arrives and repeats all he’s learned from Stanley. Eventually Blanche
confesses that the stories are true, but she also reveals the need for human affection she felt after
her husband’s death. Mitch tells Blanche that he can never marry her, saying she isn’t fit to live in
the same house as his mother – “You're not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother.”
Later, Stanley returns from the hospital to find Blanche even more drunk. She tells him that she will
soon be leaving New Orleans with her former suitor Shep Huntleigh, who is now a millionaire.
Stanley knows that Blanche’s story is entirely her imagination, but he is so happy about his baby that
he proposes they each celebrate their good fortune. However this celebration turns into an
argument which ends in Stanley raping Blanche.

The next scene takes place weeks later, as Stella and her neighbour Eunice pack Blanche’s bags.
Blanche is in the bath, and Stanley plays poker with his friends in the front room. Blanche has
suffered a mental breakdown. She has told Stella about Stanley's assault, but Stella has convinced
herself that it cannot be true. A doctor will arrive soon to take Blanche to an insane asylum.

The doctor arrives with a nurse, and Blanche initially panics and struggles against them when they
try to take her away. Stanley and his friends fight to subdue Blanche, while Eunice holds Stella back
to keep her from interfering. Mitch begins to cry. Finally, the doctor approaches Blanche in a gentle
manner and convinces her to leave with him. She allows him to lead her away and does not look
back or say goodbye as she goes. Stella sobs with her child in her arms, and Stanley comforts her
with loving words.

Additional Remarks - About the Title

The title of the play comes from a line that is uttered by Blanche herself in Scene 1 of the play after
she arrives at her sister’s home. – “They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer
to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields!” Desire is precisely what
Blanche has followed, driven by sexual passion and as a result she has experienced a kind of death,
indicated in the name of Cemeteries, as she has been branded as a social outcast and taken away to
the asylum.

Music

Music plays an important role in A Streetcar named Desire. There are two main types of music used
in the stage directions: the blue piano and the Varsouviana Polka. Both are strong symbols of
emotion, primarily for Blanche. The blue piano is usually invoked in scenes of great passion; Williams
states in the opening stage directions that it "expresses the spirit of the life" of Elysian Fields. The
Varsouviana is the polka tune to which Blanche and her young husband, Allen Grey danced when she
last saw him alive. The music plays when Blanche is reminded of her husband in specific or when she
is particularly disturbed by the past in general.

Themes

1. Desire, Destruction, and Death

Blanche, Stanley, Stella, and Mitch are driven by a variety of desires, including the need for romance,
sex, power, or self-protection. The word desire is in the play's title for a reason: the desires of these
characters almost always lead to their destruction and to the destruction of those around them.

Death as well as desire and destruction are tangled together for Blanche because of two major
tragedies in her life. She is haunted by the death of her young husband, whom she loved, and by the
loss of her beloved family estate, Belle Reve. And we have seen how her need for love and affection
and her illusory life has led to her breakdown and destruction.

Stanley's greatest desire is to maintain his dominant position as the head of his family. He insists that
his wife Stella play a submissive role, and he beats her if she resists. Their marriage is an ongoing
cycle of sexual desire and violence. When Blanche threatens his domination of his family, Stanley
decides to destroy her. He achieves his goal, exposing Blanche's past and dominating Blanche by
raping her. Stella loves both Blanche and Stanley. She desires to keep the peace, but in the end Stella
is forced to choose between her sister and her husband. With a new baby to care for, she sides with
her husband. Therefore, Stella's desire to maintain both relationships ends in frustration and
torment for her.

Mitch desires an ideal wife. He falls for Blanche's Southern belle affectations and becomes
infatuated with her. However, when Mitch finds out the truth about Blanche's past, he becomes
disillusioned and bitter and their relationship is destroyed. He ends up a broken man, whose desires
have been shattered.

2. Truth versus Illusion

Williams explores the theme of truth versus illusion mainly by contrasting Blanche and Stanley.
Blanche finds the harsh realities of life too difficult to take. Therefore she hides behind her refined
Southern values and manners and uses them to manipulate other people. “I can't stand a naked
light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action.” However, when Stanley reveals
the truth about her disreputable past and then brutally rapes her, Blanche's illusions collapse and
she becomes insane. On the other hand, Stanley is a bluntly honest and crude man who despises
lying. However Stanley has no ability to express compassion for others. Instead he uses the truth as a
weapon to control and destroy Blanche.

Stella balances truth versus illusion. She sees her relationship with Stanley for what it is and accepts
it. However she has trouble accepting what he reveals about Blanche's past because she loves her
sister, and she believes her sister's behaviour is understandable considering the tragic outcome of
Blanche's marriage. In the end, however, Stella chooses illusion over truth in order to preserve her
marriage, refusing to believe that Stanley raped Blanche.

3. Repression and Dependence

Stella and Blanche live in a time when women were expected to be dependent on men, both
financially and emotionally, and both women suffer as a result. Blanche is fixated on finding a man
to protect her. Indeed Blanche sees this goal as necessary for her survival. When her last hope of
marrying Mitch is destroyed, Blanche becomes hysterical, consumed by the panic of facing life
without a man.

Stella's financial, emotional, and sexual dependence on her husband Stanley traps her in a life with a
man whom she suspects has raped her sister. Stella to Blanche about Stanley - “I can hardly stand it
when he is away for a night...When he's away for a week I nearly go wild!...And when he comes
back I cry on his lap like a baby...” Her need to preserve her marriage is so powerful that Stella
sends Blanche to a state mental hospital rather than face the truth that her husband raped her
sister.
 THE PLAY AS A CRITIQUE OF THE NOTION OF THE IDEAL AMERICAN FAMILY

Throughout the twentieth century, both men and women experienced shocking changes to society’s
expectations of their gender norms. With the rise of the feminist movement during the twentieth
century, women were able to leave the home and embrace the workforce. However, after the
trauma of WWII and the onset of the Cold War (during the 1950s), men experienced a twist in
society’s expectations that resulted in an ideal man that very few men were logically able to achieve.
There was a general shift in attitudes toward marriage and childbearing, a shift that caused many
young adults to start their families at an early age.

This was the decade in which the image of the white middle-class American family first appeared in
the public eye. This was the prime era for the white picket fence, the dog, two children (one boy,
one girl), a nice home, multiple cars, and a stay-at-home wife, as well as a hardworking husband who
fulfilled all of the family’s needs. The media was producing an overwhelming amount of
advertisements that promoted this type of family as the poster-child for America; numerous
televisions shows were created in this era reflecting the traditional American family, such as Leave It
to Beaver, I Love Lucy, and The Andy Griffith Show. The father was the dominant parent in the
family, making the money and the choices. And surprisingly, women were willing to conform and
share the same set of ideas. Hence, the long post-war era of late 1940s and 1950s came to be
known as the ‘era of the perfect family’ in America.

These expectations of the time were also seen in American literature - and the one character who
stands out as a primary model for this was Stanley Kowalski. Despite fulfilling his patriarchal roles,
critics point out that Stanley Kowalski is not just a charming, sensual man prone to occasional
outbursts of violence. He is a batterer— a man whose aggressive masculinity and desire for control
give him the profile of an abuser. And it is only with the arrival of Blanche DuBois that Stanley’s
animosity is clearly brought to the limelight, making the play a strong satire on the notion of this
post-war ideal American family.

Stanley especially believes in male dominance within the institution of marriage and is completely in
charge of the Kowalski household. On the night of his poker game with his friends, Stanley whacks
his wife loudly on her thigh, embarrassing her in front of her sister and the other men. Stella says,
“It makes me so mad when he does that in front of people”—suggesting that this humiliating
behaviour is not uncommon. During an argument with Stella in Scene Eight (Stanley thinks that Stella
calls him a pig as she feels superior owing to Blanche’s dominance), in which he throws his dinner
plates to the floor, Stanley even warns, “Every Man is a King!’ And I am the king around here, so
don’t forget it!” Stanley’s need for control leads him to abuse Stella both emotionally and physically.

Blanche remarks that Stanley must have been born under the sign of Aries:

“Aries people are forceful and dynamic. They dote on noise! They love to bang things around.”

According to a critic, "He is a smasher, not only of objects but of people; he becomes increasingly
violent as the play proceeds".

On the other hand, Stella keeps up with the notion of the ideal family by playing the part of the
placid, submissive wife. Like a typical battered wife, Stella accepts her relationship with her husband
as it is, even telling Blanche that “I’m not in anything I want to get out of.” Accordingly, Stella
explains to Blanche in scene four that her sexual relationship to Stanley makes up for everything
negative, saying that “there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark — that
sort of make everything else seem — unimportant”. And this is why he puts up with his abuse and
ignores the fact that he has raped Blanche - because she doesn’t want to lose him.

Hence, many critics have gone on to pronounce the Kowalskis’ union a successful one, a happy
marriage that is interrupted—and threatened—by the intrusion of Blanche DuBois. Mark Royden
Winchell, in “The Myth is the Message, or Why Streetcar Keeps Running” (1993), likewise argues
that “As politically incorrect as it may be, the Kowalski household embodies a patriarchal vision of
home as Heaven. There is not enough potential conflict here for either tragedy or farce. Not until
Blanche enters the scene”.

From the very beginning of the play, the spatial limitations of the Kowalski’s apartment makes
Blanche uncomfortable. She represents a proud symbol of the doomed aristocratic south refusing to
settle for the new industrial squalor. Gradually she “begins to look slowly around” as she starts to
examine the place in order to know how to defeat it. Stanley fears that Blanche “would wreck his
home...Blanche is dangerous . . . destructive [and] would soon have him and Stella fighting”, and he
was not wrong.

Blanche tries to manipulate Stella and convince her of the superiority of the opposing, better, past
world Blanche considers herself to have come from:

“What are you doing in a place like this (...) Never, never, never my worst dreams could I picture –
(...)” Scene one, p.14

Stanley looks at Blanche as a likely threat for his domain where he, up to now, has had thorough
control. It is from this very point onward that a constant power struggle between Blanche and
Stanley begins. They compete "for the possession of Stella, for the affection of Mitch; they share
bottle of whiskey; they dress and undress in the view of others; they both wish to occupy the
bathroom". Both these characters try to gain control and are, therefore, naturally set at odds against
each other.

The final act of domination comes at the end of Scene Ten when Stanley carries Blanche offstage and
rapes her. Blanche poses a threat to Stanley’s idea of manliness, causing him to react with extreme
violence as a way to defend himself and in turn, reclaim his masculinity.

Stella supports the patriarchy and is allowed to survive as Stanley's wife; Blanche is destroyed
because she cannot find her identity or role in the patriarchy and is slowly forced into
marginalization" She is rejected even by her sister and is thrown to a place, the mental hospital,
where she will not "cause disturbances".

Conclusion - Thus, when we look at the three major characters of the play through this lens of the
ideal American family, we realise how although Stanley and Stella to an extent uphold this image, it
is Blanche’s arrival that disrupts it. She makes Stella realise what she is missing and thus brings about
a conflict in her mind – as to who to side with. However, in the end, after Blanche’s leave, we can
see the image coming together – Stanley, Stella and the baby, but how ideal this is, is put to question
as Stella knowingly is putting up with Stanley for his love – Thus Williams satirising this notion.