English – A Streetcar Named Desire Notes, Critical Analysis, and Scholars

SW 270223

Key:
Stage directions
Eunice
Blanche
Stella
Stanley
Mitch

Setting and Context

Elysian Fields – represents the afterlife in Greek mythology. This is a lexical field (words that
are thematically related).

[L and M tracks] – symbolic of how the world is changing as trains represent the growing
industrialisation in America at the time. Trains cause the house to shake, which in turn
shows the audience how unstable society is.

Blues music in the background/stage directions are important to the setting as it literally
sets the tone of the scene as that of an ethnically diverse area. Blues music has origins in
slavery, which implies a link to the past and the American civil war. This also helps set up
one of the key themes of the play – the Old v. New South. New Orleans is “new”, hence the
use of music with roots in African-American culture.

Scene 1

 [building on a street in New Orleans which is named Elysian Field] – the setting
references the Greek afterlife.
 [Stanley carries… a red-stained package from a butcher’s]… [He heaves the package
at her.] The marriage between Stanley and Stella is immediately characterized as
sexual. The language used is very primitive, with references to hunter-gatherer times
– Stanley is the dominant partner in his marriage.
 “She showed me a picture of your home-place, the plantation… A great big place
with white columns.” Belle Reve is literally built upon racism – with the destruction
of the Old South, Belle Reve no longer can survive in the New South and therefore
Blanche has to move/adapt.
 “But don’t you look at me… not till I’ve bathed and rested! And turn that over-light
off! Turn that off!” Blanche lays out two recurring motifs in this line – baths and light.
Baths represent spiritual and mental cleansing, and the number of baths she takes
increases throughout the play as her mental state declines. Blanche uses light to
obscure herself and her past – we only see her in daylight or in a properly lit
environment when she is exposed for who she is.
 “What kind of bed’s this – one of those collapsible things?” – represents how her
stay, from the get-go, is temporary – she is not exactly welcome. This quote also
highlights how snobby and ungrateful she is towards the hospitality Stella and
 Stanley show her, as well as showing her to be a hysterical character who has little
social awareness.
 “I stayed and I struggled… I stayed and fought for it, bled for it, almost died for it… I
took the blows in my face and my body!” She likens the loss of Belle Reve to her
being a soldier, which is ironic because she is not a veteran, but Stanley is. Blanche
describes the loss of Belle Reve to Stella, whom she feels has abandoned her. She
uses a lexical and semantic field of death to describe the continuous emotional loss
she experienced while trying to keep Belle Reve together. This shows how helpless
as a character Blanche is, without the support of another person – she shows
resentment of Stella throughout, ending her long speech with “Where were you. In
bed with your – Polack!”, which characterises and reinforces the racism rooted in her
Old South, aristocratic thinking.
 “Have a shot?... Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often.” Stanley and
Blanche have an incredibly sexualised first meeting, where he offers her alcohol. She
is seen as a liar (as she went to drink as soon as she got into the apartment) and the
audience lack sympathy for her. The audience are presented with two unlikeable
characters, but will like Stanley more than her because he appears to have more
likeable traits.

Scene 2

 “When she comes in be sure to say something nice about her appearance.” Stella
knows that Blanche’s looks are important to her; her vanity is expressed in the first
scene but it is significant that another character acknowledges it because it is
recognised as a weakness.
 “Now let’s skip back a little to where you said the country place was disposed of.”
Stanley feels entitled to know what happened to Belle Reve – the play is very much
about the relationship between men and women, and the way that men treat
women. Even within a society built on racism (which both sisters belong to), Stanley
still comes on top as he exists within a patriarchal society.
 “There is such a thing in this State of Louisiana as the Napoleonic code, according to
which whatever belong to my wife is also mine – and vice versa.” Legal ignorance.
Condescending manner. Stanley’s concern for the law stems from his entitlement
and need to be more dominant than Stella in the marriage - he does not like the fact
that she could potentially have more than he does as a man, and thus feels the need
to take it from her. He wants to control Stella. As Belle Reve is in Mississippi, the
Napoleonic Code would not apply in this case, as it would only apply to property in
the state of Louisiana.
 “It looks to me like you have been swindled, baby, and when you’re swindled under
the Napoleonic code I’m swindled too. And I don’t like to be swindled.” Stanley
pretends to care about Stella being swindled, but it is pretty clear that his motivation
for caring about Belle Reve stems from the idea that he thinks he is entitled to it.
 [He crosses to the trunk, shoves it roughly open, and begins to open compartments.]
He believes that Stella is covering for Blanche, and feels as though it is acceptable for
him to rummage through her belongings to prove that she is lying. Stanley is visually
destroying Blanche’s world - it is noted that the trunk he goes through is all she has.
  “Give those back to me! I’ll have a look at them first!” Stanley, even within a day of
meeting Blanche, feels entitled to go through her personal belongings. The lack of
respect is justified by the end means, even if he is disrespecting both Stella and
Blanche to do so.
 “I hurt him the way that you would like to hurt me, but you can’t! I’m not young and
vulnerable anymore.” Blanche is naive to think that she cannot be hurt again; the
whole play is about her mental disintegration.
 “under the Napoleonic code – a man has to take an interest in his wide’s affairs –
especially now that she’s going to have a baby.” Stella specifically told Stanley not to
mention that she was pregnant, and Stanley pays no attention to what his wife
would want – he pretends to care about her and the baby, when all he’s after is the
money from the estate which he does not believe was lost on a mortgage. This is the
third time this scene he referenced the Napoleonic code, which expresses how
entitled he feels to the money from Belle Reve.
 “Yes – I was flirting with your husband, Stella!” – his infidelity and personality
referenced in scene one, where it is described his pleasure in life is women. He has
only met his wife’s sister once, and it shows that neither of them have any
boundaries.

Scene 3

 “Please don’t get up. Nobody’s going to get up, so don’t be worried.” Blanche is
being polite, but Stanley rudely interjects – this sets up one of many fights that
Blanche and Stanley have. It is a representation of the Old South v. the New South.
 [Stanley give a loud whack of his hand on her thigh.] Sexualising and treating his wife
poorly by disrespecting her in front of his friends.
 “Stanley’s the only one of his crowd that’s likely to get anywhere.” Stella is blinded
by love and does not believe that Stanley will remain a nobody.
 “You hens cut out that conversation in there!” Stanley, in front of his friends, feels
comfortable enough to degrade his wife and sister, dehumanising them both.
 “She knew she was dying when she give me this. A very strange girl, very sweet –
very!” Blanche and Mitch are connected by the traumatic loss of a loved one. There
is something innocent and tragic about this loss for Mitch that Blanche does not
have when she talks about her husband’s death.
 “We are French by extraction. Our first American ancestors were French
Huguenots.” Ironically, Blanche points out that her family is not even American,
making the racial insults she throws at Stanley feel hypocritical to the audience since
she isn’t fully American either. It creates a kind of contradiction to her belief that she
is of a higher social standing - they are both immigrants, but both American in their
own right, which she chooses to deny.
 “I bought this adorable little coloured paper lantern at a Chinese shop on Bourbon.
Put it over the light bulb! Will you please?” Light as a motif is explicitly shown on
stage. After the first lie she tells, she asks him to obscure the light because she does
not want her real age to be shown. She tells him to do so right after lying about her
real age.
  [Blanche waltzes to the music with romantic gestures. Mitch is delighted and moves
in awkward imitation like a dancing bear.] They are physically incompatible with
each other.
 [There is the sound of a blow. Stella cries out.] The violence is a common occurrence
- the fact it is done offstage suggests that Stanley tries to hide it but it is immediately
obvious to everyone around them. As the violence doesn’t need to be seen to be
understood, it implies that many of Stanley’s actions and many facts about Stanley
and Stella’s marriage are quite obvious.
 “My baby doll’s left me!” Stanley, again, is only concerned about himself even after
beating his wife.
 “You can’t beat a woman an’ then call ‘er back!” Eunice points out how Stanley
treats Stella. Implies that Stella chooses to turn a blind eye to his behaviour.

Scene 4

 “How could you come back in this place last night?” Blanche is confused and angry at
how Stella could return to Stanley after being degraded and beaten by him. She has
Stella’s best interests at heart, and genuinely wants to do good, whereas Stanley is
driven by carnal want and desire for Stella and does not want the best for her.
 “He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he’s really very, very ashamed of
himself. And that – that makes it all right? No, it isn’t all right for anybody to make
such a terrible row, but – people do sometimes.” Stella chooses to defend Stanley
even after being beaten by him. The comparison to a lamb shows that while he has
the capacity to be gentle and loving, it is uncharacteristic behaviour that creates a
sinister tone, as he is not gentle or a good husband most of the time.
 “We’re got to get hold of some money, that’s the way out!” Commentary on how
reliant women are on their husbands to generate income. Without money, they
cannot survive in this world.
 “Shep Huntleigh” – is introduced as a character never seen on screen. The more
delusional and her mental state deteriorates more, the more she mentions Shep. We
are unsure whether this is a figment of her imagination or a real person.
 “How do I get Western Union? Operator? Western Union!” Blanche is technologically
incompetent, again, demonstrating her dependence on other people. This could be
read as her rejection of change, and sticking to her aristocratic, Old South behaviour;
Stella is able to adapt to the New South which is why she is able to survive.
 “Stanley doesn’t give me a regular allowance, he likes to pay bills himself,” Reference
to an abusive relationship. Flimsy excuse used by Stella suggests a more dominant
nature being masqueraded as caring – it does not seem as bad as it really is.
 “he’s common!... There’s something downright – bestial – about him!”
 “He acts like an animal, has an animals habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks
like one!... Don’t – don’t hang back with the brutes!”
 [Stella has embraced him with both arms, fiercely, and full in the view of Blanche.]

Scene 5
  “What are you laughing at, honey? Myself, myself, for being such a liar!” Blanche
recognises how delusional she is. The fact that she is self-aware of her behaviour
suggests that she is doing it consciously.
 “I bet you were born under Aries. Aries people are forceful and dynamic. They dote
on noise! They love to bang things around! You must have had lots of banging
around in the army, and now that you’re out, you make up for it by treating
inanimate objects with such a fury!” Blanche makes reference to astrology and star
signs to justify her opinion of him. The use of mystical and imaginary traits to inform
her opinions; fantasy is another theme introduced. While Stanley thinks in a practical
sense, Blanche very much thinks in a fantastical sense, creating a giant lie to live in.
 “Say, do you happen to know somebody named Shaw?” Stanley has been snooping
about her past, and uses that to threaten Blanche. The information is used to scare
Blanche, much in the way that blackmail is – he suggests that he knows more than
he lets on. This relates to the wider theme of Blanche’s inability to, no matter how
much she tries, run (or hide) from her past.
 “Honey, there was – a good deal of talk in Laurel.” Blanche does not explicitly say
what she did, but it is suggested that it was the gossip that made her leave Laurel.
 “I never was hard or self-sufficient enough... Have got to be seductive… I’ve run for
protection, Stella, from under one leaky roof to another leaky roof… It isn’t enough
to be soft. You’ve got to be soft and attractive. And I- I’m fading now!” Blanche
reveals her insecurity about aging, which explains the shame she feels whenever
someone sees her true age.
 “Young man! Young, young, young, young, young – man! Has anyone ever told you
that you look like a young price out of the Arabian Nights?”
 “I want to kiss you – just once – softly and sweetly on your mouth… It would be nice
to keep you, but I’ve got to be good and keep my hands off children.”

Scene 6

 “You mean you are leaving here soon? I’ve outstayed my welcome.”
 “Understand French? Naw. Naw, ! –“
 “I weigh two hundred and seven pounds and I’m six feet one and a half inches tall in
my bare feet”
 “Just give me a slap whenever I step out of bounds. That won’t be necessary.”
 “He isn’t – nice to you? He is insufferably rude… I – don’t see how anybody could be
rude to you.”
 “How old are you?”
 “He was a boy, just a boy,” Explains her attraction to the paperboy and to Mitch –
she clings on to the image of her ex-husband – that of a man who is docile and
gentle.
 “When I was sixteen, I made the discovery – love. All at once and much, much too
completely… But I was unlucky. Deluded.”
 “we danced the ‘Varsouviana’!”

Scene 7
  “[mimicking] ‘Washing out some things’?...’Soaking in a hot tub’”
 “Lately you have been doing all you can think of to rub her the wrong way, Stanley,
and Blanche is sensitive and you’ve got to realise that Blanche and I grew up under
very different circumstances than you did.”
 “What – contemptible – lies!”
 “But when she was young, very young, she had an experience that – killed her
illusions!... I think Blanche didn’t just love hi [the boy] but worshipped the ground he
walked on!”
 “Well, he’s not going to marry her. Maybe he was, but he’s not going to jump in a
tank with a school of sharks”
 “I bought her ticket myself. A bus-ticket!... She’ll go on a bus and like it.”… Her future
is mapped out for her.”

Scene 8

 [The three people are completing a dismal birthday supper. Stanley looks sullen.
Stella is embarrassed and sad. Blanche has a tight, artificial smile on her drawn face.
There is a fourth place at the table which is left vacant.]
 “I don’t know what’s the matter, we’re all so solemn. Is it because I’ve been stood up
by my beau?”
 “Mr Kowalski is too busy making a pig of himself to think of anything else!... Go and
wash up and then help me clear the table.”
 [He hurls a plate to the floor.] “That’s how I’ll clear the table! [He seizes her arm.]
Don’t ever talk that way to me! ‘Pig – Polack – disgusting – vulgar – greasy!’”
 “what do you two think you are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said
– ‘Every Man is a King!’ And I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!”
 “Stell, it’s gonna be all right after she goes and after you’ve had the baby. It’s gonna
be all right again between you and me the way that it was.”
 “QUIET IN THERE! We’re got a noisy woman on the place.”
 “Ticket! Back to Laurel! On the Greyhound! Tuesday!”
 [Blanche tries to smile. Then she tries to laugh. Then she gives both up and springs
from the table and runs into the next room. She clutches her throat and then runs
into the bathroom. Coughing, gagging sounds are heard.]
 “You needn’t have been so cruel to someone alone as she is… But people like you
abused her, and forced her to change.”

Scene 9

 “The rapid, feverish polka tune, the ‘Varsouviana’, is heard. The music is in her mind;
she is drinking to escape it and the sense of disaster closing in on her.]
 [She offers him her lips. He ignores it and pushes past her into the flat. She looks
fearfully after him as he stalks into the bedroom.]
 “There now, the shot! It always stops [the music] after that.”
  “I wasn’t going to see you anymore.”
 “I don’t think I ever seen you in the light… That’s a fact!”
 “I’ll tell you what I want. Magic! [Mitch laughs] Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to
people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth. I tell what ought to be
truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be dammed for it!”
 “After the death of Allen – intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my
empty heart with…”
 “You life to me Blanche. Don’t say I lied to you. Lies, lies, inside and out, all lies.
Never inside, I didn’t lie in my heart…”
 “You’re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother.”
 “Get out of here quick before I start screaming fire!”

Scene 10

 “she has decked herself out in a somewhat soiled and crumpled white satin evening
gown and a pair of scuffed silver slippers with brilliants set in their heels.”
 [now she is placing the rhinestone tiara on her head before the mirror of the
dressing-table and murmuring excitedly as if to a group to spectral admirers.]
 “Here’s something I always break out on special occasions like this! The silk pyjamas I
wore on my wedding night!”
 [Improvising feverishly]
 “A cultivated woman, a woman of intelligence and breeding, can enrich a man’s life –
immeasurably! I have those things to offer, and this doesn’t take them away.
Physical beauty is passing. A transitory possession. But beauty of the mind… grow!
Increase with the years! How strange that I should be called a destitute woman!
When I have all these treasures locked in my heart…. I think of myself as a very, very
rich woman!”
 “But I have been foolish – casting my pearls before swine!”
 “There isn’t a goddam thing but imagination! And lies and conceit and tricks!”
Stanley reveals how Blanche has deluded nobody but herself. It is ironic that she
claims to be an intelligent woman but not realise how obvious it is to others that she
is making things up. Drunkenness or intoxication does not affect the nature of a
person; Stanley is still able to understand Blanche’s character and vulnerability and
exploits it.
 “What did you do that for?” – Stanley is the calmest he has been in this scene
because he knows he has complete control. The helplessness of Blanche is expressed
through the condescending and almost curious tone of the question, almost as if he
is asking a child.

Scene 11
  [Stella is packing Blanche’s things. Sound of water can be heard running in the
bathroom… Stanley, Steve, Mitch, and Pablo – who sit around the table in the
kitchen.]
 “Put it in English, greaseball.”
 “If anyone calls while I’m bathing take the number and tell them I’ll call right back.”
 “I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley. Don’t ever believe it. Life
has got to go on. No matter what happens, you’ve got to keep on going.”
 “I’m anxious to get out of here – this place is a trap!”
 “Please don’t get up. I’m only passing through.”
 “She says that she forgot something.” – she recognises that something isn’t right
with the situation, and the lack of understanding causes her to run back into the
place that she is so desperate to escape.
 “Oh, my God, Eunice, help me! Don’t let them do that to her, don’t let them hurt
her! Oh, God, oh, please God, don’t hurt her! What are they doing to her? What are
they doing?”
 “What have I don’t to my sister? Oh, God, what have I done to my sister?”
 “Whoever you are – I have always depended on the kindess of strangers.”

Critical Views