A Streetcar Named Desire -- by Tennessee Williams (1948)

Description

A Streetcar Named Desire helped skyrocket Marlon Brando into fame. Although you might not be familiar with the play, you might have an innate recognition of the line: "STELLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" You can thank Tennessee Williams for that. Williams' ethos as an important American playwright was absolutely solidified in this piece, as many critics herald the play as his finest and uphold it is one of America's most influential pieces of drama.

Is it bad that it is my least favorite out of The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? Maybe I just committed a terrible offence in saying that . . . Please forgive me . . .

Playbill.com describes the play: "Fragile Southern belle Blanche DuBois moves to New Orleans to live with her sister, Stella, and her brutish brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, in a dingy apartment. Temperaments clash, fireworks fly and secrets are revealed in Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama." 

Stanley Kowalski is undoubtedly a brute, but I am not sure "fragile" is the primary descriptor I would use for Blanche DuBois . . .

SPOILERS INCLUDED

Blanche shows up at her sister's apartment in New Orleans. Blanche shares how appalled she is at her sister's living situation. Stella lives in a two-room apartment which is a far-cry from the estate she grew up in with Blanche. The reason for Blanche's arrival is questioned throughout the play. How did the property get lost? Why is she not able to stay in her hometown? Why can't she find a husband? These questions are not entirely answered. What is unambiguous, though, is that she has a drinking problem (like so many of Williams' troubled protagonists). Her life is filled with contradictions: she preaches social conventions, but drinks without ceasing. Eventually, Stella's husband, Stanley, challenges Blanche.

To say Stanley has a temper is to make a severe understatement. He physically abuses Stella while she is pregnant. Blanche is aghast, but Stella is permissive. For reasons to examine at great lengths, Stella is devoted to Stanley. Stanley continuously serves as a foil to Blanche with his unashamed poker-playing, drinking, and crude straightforwardness. He does not understand why Blanche is at their apartment and inspects her every move.

Blanche's history involves a ruined marriage due to her finding out about her husband's true sexuality (a common theme/plot point in Williams' writing). Her history also includes being shamed out of town for her alleged promiscuity. At her sister's apartment she takes bathes frequently and yearns for love and understanding, which she believes she finds with Mitch, a friend of Stanley's. Do you think Stanley allows that to happen? Stanley not only ruins a possible relationship between Mitch and Blanche, but he also attempts to rape her while his wife is at the hospital in labor. Clearly, Stanley is an antagonist of extreme proportions.

By the end of the show, Blanche has to figure out where she will go next: she cannot remain in the environment found at her sister's apartment. Blanche experiences a mental breakdown as a doctor was called to take care of her. In all honesty, the play is devastating.  

Candid Reactions

• Williams calls for an "atmosphere of decay" in the lighting. His poetic nature is consistently breath-taking. 
• Why did he say the two guys were 28 or 30? Was this his way of getting the director to not be so literal or concerned about the meticulous details?
• How connotative to compare Blanche to a moth!
• The theme/motif of light, especially with Blanche, is planted from the start. Light is often associated with the truth, and Blanche seems to struggle with admitting the truth. 
• It is appropriate to use the word "species" in describing Stanley (18). Stanley is characterized animalistically (made up word?), so the word prepares the audience for what they are about to witness. 
• The talk of the "grim reaper" reminds me of Fences. 
• Why did they end Scene Two with a vendor shouting "red hot" (45)? Williams was foreshadowing expertly, that's why!
• The use of music in the background is helpful in developing tone/atmosphere
• Blanche continues to block the light--metaphorically brilliant (pun intended--puns should always be intended!)
• Blanche proposes, "Sorrow makes for sincerity, I think" (58). I'd agree. 
• Yeah, I'd say Blanche needs kindness, too!
• The idea of your spouse smashing every lightbulb in the house post-wedding is downright terrifying. Ever heard of a red flag, Stella?
• Blanche explains her disapproval of Stanley and famously jabs, "Thousands and thousands of years have passed him right by, and there he is-- Stanley Kowalski -- survivor of the stone age!" (83)
• Blanche romantically describes what it feels like "when an hour isn't just an hour --  but a little piece of eternity dropped into your hands -- and who knows what to do with it? (97-98). I mean, COME ON! Williams can write a line of dialogue that stops you in your tracks!
• When Blanche addresses her relationship with lights and candles, I could not help but think of the role lights play in The Glass Menagerie. Williams gets infinite mileage out of the light motif. 
• What is it with Williams and birthday cakes? His three most famous plays include it!
• Blanche's suitor problems remind me of Laura's problems in The Glass Menagerie. 
• Strong TGM vibes when they eat dinner with the empty seat.
• Mitch says he has never seen Blanche in the light (143). The motif continues!
• I was stunned by the interaction between Blanche and Mitch in Scene Nine wherein he rips the paper lantern shade off the light to see her for who she is. There are moments in reading where you stop at the end of a sentence or sequence and you wonder why you were just so moved. This scene is one of those moments for me. I am not entirely sure why I was so caught up in that moment, but I was. More pondering necessary!
• This scene just reminds me so much of The Glass Menagerie. Blanche professes her desire for magic, an escape from reality. Her attitude parallels Tom's mightily. 
• We get a great callback to the red-hot-yelling vendor at the end of Scene Nine, a masterfully conducted scene. 
• Blanche asserts, "Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable" (157). How empowering for a woman to say about being in an abusive relationship. 
• How devastating is the end of this scene!
• This matron is scaring me!!!!! And all she said was "Hello, Blanche" (175). How did Williams do this to me?!
• HOW SAD    

Top Two Aspects/Reasons for Winning

1. Architecture

Williams crafts scenes with laser vision and a tender heart. He develops the light motif evenly throughout the show with great lyrical success. He orchestrates the drama's crescendos and decrescendos mindfully in his dialogue. He incorporates moments of foreshadowing as an utter tease. Each bit of dialogue is attended to with supreme understanding for its influence on the play.

2. Abuse

Williams addresses domestic abuse and alcoholism in this play. Unfortunately, both topics have plagued the history of Americans. Here, he has created a portrait of those topics which exposes all of its warts, scars, and blemishes in an unromantic way.

Classroom Implications

I am unsure if schools use this text, but I think it would be best suited for upper grades in high school. I would focus on theme and character analysis. The piece could be helpful in a creative writing course, too, as an exemplar of how to develop theme.

Personal Takeaway

Some universal motifs do not read as cliche, but as engaging.

Ranking

	Dialogue	Characters	Plot/Conflict	Symbol/Literary Devices	Overall Enjoyment	TOTAL SCORE 8.25
0	Unfollowable; unrealistic; diction does not match character	Undeveloped; does not reflect humanity	Not engaging; predictable; reader can step away from text because it isn’t gripping	Devices are apparent for cleverness and do not enhance the story	Reader has no interest in re-reading play
1	Not consistently realistic	Well-developed; most depictions reflect humanity	Semi-engaging; some unnecessary plot-points (1.5)	Devices somewhat enhance story	Reader would re-read with pleasure and reminded of work (1)
2	Realistic; connotative; diction matches characters (2)	Fully-developed; depictions reflect humanity  (1.75)	Engaging; unique; reader finds it impossible to put down text because the conflict is so gripping!	Devices seamlessly enhance the story and provide rich interpretation (2)	Reader would re-read the play on own volition, enthusiastically