A Streetcar Named Desire

By Tennessee Williams

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Class Notes

In this document you will find quotes from the play, questions that arise while reading, observations, analysis, etc (*All of my ideas are in italics). Taken from the Signet Books 1975 edition.

Scene 1 (p.13-31)

In the opening of the play Stella and Stanley’s neighborhood is described as having an “atmosphere of decay,” (p.13). Further there is music constantly playing in the background generated by “Negro Entertainers”= Blues & Jazz, which sets an ominous tone if you consider the pervasive themes of the respective genres. Blues Music is oftentimes thematically about suffering from heartbreak or various other tragic twists in the life of the entertainer.

The first action of the play depicts Stanley arriving home and heaving a bloody package of meat up to Stella from the street (p.14). It is made evident in this scene that Stanley is meant to be perceived by the reader as a beast returning home with freshly captured prey. Thus Stanley is being portrayed as bestial, unevolved, or caveman like.

Blanche arrives in Stella’s neighborhood after taking a “street-car named Desire,” and transferring to “one called Cemeteries” and getting “off at---Elysian Fields!” (p.15). This dialogue foreshadows Blanche’s ultimate fate and symbolically conveys to the audience that Blanche is a passenger of desire, and that this tendency will ultimately take her to her grave: Desire leads to Cemeteries which ends at Elysian Fields.
- Elysium: (Greek mythology) the abode of the blessed after death, basically a place for the dead.

Blanche is shocked by the circumstances in which Stella lives; she rents an apartment in a poor, multicultural neighborhood, with a low class husband (p.16).

From the moment Blanche enters Stella’s home she feverishly hunts for alcohol (p.18). Blanche will do this for the remainder of the play. It is evident that Blanche drinks a great deal and is compelled to do so. To forget something? To cope? Due to addiction?

Another theme that will repeat throughout the play first emerges as she first encounters Stella; Blanche does not want to be looked at/ seen/ perceived in the “merciless glare” of raw/ naked lights (p.19) Blanche would rather hide in the shadows, would rather not have herself and her stories subjected to the scrutiny enabled when people can consider her/ see everything without hindrance.

Referring to herself, Blanche says, “Your sister has not turned into a drunkard,” (p.19) though all indicators seem to point to the fact that she has.

Blanche: I was so exhausted by all I’d been through my---nerves broke. I was on the verge of---lunacy almost! (p.21). We eventually learn that all of this is entirely true; Blanche has been having mental health issues, which demonstrably escalate throughout the play. Further, all of this is an understatement in light of what we ultimately learn about Blanche and her secrets.

The family estate is called “Belle Reve” (p.22), or in English, Beautiful Dream. Blanche’s name translates to White; the universal literary symbol for innocence and purity. All of these terms combine to create potent and ironic symbolism= A pure and beautiful dream. This essentially sums up who Blanche aspires to be and what she tries to convince others she is.

Blanche states yet again that she is unwell, “…I can’t be alone! Because as you must have noticed---I’m---not very well…”(p.23).

Stella describes her relationship with Stanley to Blanche, “I can hardly stand it when he’s 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…” (p.25). Stella is telling Blanche that her lustful desire for Stanley drives her crazy when it cannot be satiated. Stella’s description of what she goes through sounds akin to drug addiction.

Blanche feels abandoned by Stella, who left her alone to care for their family and crumbling estate (p.25)

Blanche goes on to explain that it was traumatic to care for their dying family and that she paid a tremendous financial and psychological cost due to providing their care (p.26-7). It seems reasonable to assume that this series of horrific events contributed to Blanche’s deteriorated mental health.

Stanley is described as a man who “sizes women up at a glance, with sexual classifications, crude images flashing into his mind,” (p.29)

The scene closes with Stanley asking Blanche about her late husband, which triggers her to say, “…The boy died. I’m afraid I’m--- going to be sick,” (p.31). This reaction makes it evident that Blanche is troubled/ traumatized by the death of her husband.

Scene 2 (p.32-44)

Stella learns in Scene 1 that the family estate (Belle Reve) has been repossessed by the bank. In Scene 2 Blanche begins explaining this to Stanley who wants more detail on the matter than Blanche has initially offered (p.34). Stanley married Stella with the understanding/ expectation that he was marrying into a rich family, this has now proven to no longer be the case, which seems to upset him.

Stanley starts to rummage through Blanche’s belongings to find evidence that might help explain how the family estate was “lost” (p.55-6).

Blanche exits the shower to find Stanley waiting for her. What ensues is a conversation that is at times flirtatious and at times aggressive.

During her conversation with Stanley, Blanche utters one of the most notorious quotes in all of American theater, "a woman's charm is fifty percent illusion," (p. 41).

Blanche explains to Stanley, in the most convoluted way possible, that Belle Reve was repossessed by the bank due to the unwise expenditures of the family patriarchs, and due to the costly funerals of departed family members (p. 44).

It is easy to overlook, but this scene is extremely creepy. Blanche exits the shower to discover Stanley immediately poised to pounce with questions and accusations. In Stanley's home there is no such thing as privacy or secrets, he must know all--even the contents of love letters.

Scene 3 (p.45-61)

The scene opens with Stanley, Mitch, Pablo and Steve continuing to play poker into the early hours of the morning. They’ve been drinking and they’re rowdy.

Mitch and Blanche meet for the first time. Blanche observes that he is “superior to the others,” (p.41). Blanche seems to be observing that Mitch is not an unruly drunkard, he is shy rather than brazen, he is humble rather than ostentatiously loud and ill-mannered. Blanche also observes that Mitch has a “sensitive look,” (p.49). Stella attributes this to Mitch looking after his mother. Thus Mitch is different from his friends due to his shyness, his caring nature, being considerate, sensitive, etc.

Stella explains to Blanche that “Stanley’s the only one in his crowd that’s likely to get anywhere,” due to the “drive he has,” (p.50). It is therefore due to his sheer will power and his ability to dominate that he will find success.

Mitch and Blanche commence their flirtation (p.52-6). One of the details that emerges in this conversation is the inscription on Mitch’s cigarette case, “And if God Choose, I shall but love thee better--- after---death!”(p.53) This quote has some rather ominous undertones; it refers to loving someone to a greater, fuller extent once they have died, which is of course too late. In a sense this play is about doing the right thing when it’s far too late, if at all.

Blanche turns on the radio against Stanley’s wishes for a second time in a row. Stanley fiercely enters the room and throws it through the glass window. He then turns his aggressive outburst toward Stella, “There is the sound of a blow, Stella cries out,” (p. 57). This incident demonstrates a few important features of Stanley’s character; he beats his wife not due to an impassioned outburst, but because she has done something that he did not like. Music was playing against his wishes, and Stella told his friends to leave against his wishes. It is evident that Stanley does not hesitate to beat his wife, despite her pregnancy. Yet again in this scene Stanley behaves in an animalistic fashion; there is no sentimentality, no hesitance, just pure drive and brute force.

What ensues next is a continuation of the animalistic behavior; Rather than offering a heartfelt apology, Stanley screams Stella’s name outside in front of their apartment building like a wolf howling at the moon (p.59).

Stella responds to Stanley’s bellowing by coming out to greet him, “they come together in animal moans…Her eyes go blind with tenderness…” he “lifts her off her feet and bears her into the dark flat ,” (p.60). Here it must be acknowledged that Stella too is behaving like an animal. In their relationship carnal, lustful desire takes precedence over all else.

Though the descriptions that insinuate Stanley is an animal or unevolved are blatant, it must not be overlooked that Stella is described in much the same manner. In the above passage, for example, both are emitting “animal moans”. Further, if we judge that Stanley is a brute savage animal for beating his wife despite her pregnancy, then we must also judge Stella in the same way for liking it. Directly after the outbreak of conjugal violence, Stella goes back to the apartment with Stanley to engage in an amorous exchange. That is not the behavior of a woman in fear of her life; it’s an indication that she enjoys the violent dynamic they share.

At the end of the scene Blanche is the only person shocked by the violence that has just taken place;

Blanche: I’m terrified!

Mitch: Ho-ho! There’s nothing to be scared of. They’re crazy about each other.

Blanche: I’m not used to such--- (p.60)

However, everyone else’s reaction makes it clear; domestic violence is a common occurrence and is not remotely shocking or disconcerting. Blanche is in a world where chivalry is dead, where women receive no preferential treatment, where brute, violent, unrefined men rule--- quite the opposite of the southern aristocracy she grew up surrounded by.

Chivalry: “an honorable and polite way of behaving especially toward women”

Scene 4 (p.62-73)

Blanche enters Stanley and Stella’s apartment the morning after the domestic violence incident. Blanche confronts Stella and has the reaction that the audience is likely having; she’s disturbed by the violence, distraught that Stella is willing to put up with it, she is entirely taken aback that Stella does not want to escape Stanley’s brutality. Key quotes that demonstrate this include;

Blanche: …I’ve been half crazy, Stella! When I found out you’d been insane enough to come back in here… (p.63)

* * *

Blanche: You’re so--- matter of fact about it, Stella.

Stella: What other can I be… (p.64)

* * *

Blanche: Pull yourself together and face the facts…You’re married to a madman! (p.64)

* * *

Blanche: …You’re not old! You can get out [of the marriage]. (p.65)

* * *

Blanche: …don’t hang back with the brutes (p.72).

Which is to say, humanity has evolved since our primitive beginnings, you don’t have to settle for being treated in such a beastly and ghastly manner when humanity is capable of so much more.

As Blanche delivers the soliloquy from which this dialogue was extracted, neither she nor Stella realizes that Stanley is just out of sight listening to the whole exchange. In this moment it should be evident to the reader that this becomes the catalyst for the central conflict of the play: Stanley versus Blanche. Blanche is attempting to coax Stella away from her brutal, violent, animalistic husband. When their territory or possessions (Home & Mate) are threatened, animals fight to protect them.

The above quotes all put words to the internal monologue and sentiments of the audience.

Despite all that Blanche has said, Stella explains with total bluntness and clarity why it is that she stays with Stanley and puts up with the abuse. These quotes reveal her reasoning:

Referring to the domestic violence, Stella explains to Blanche, “…it wasn’t anything as serious as you seem to take it…When men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen…he didn’t know what he was doing,” (p.63)

* * *

Stella: …On our wedding night…he snatched off one of my slippers and rushed about the place smashing the light bulbs with it…I was---sort of--- thrilled by it (p.64)

* * *

Stella: …there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark--- that sort of make everything else seem--- unimportant.

Blanche: What you are talking about is brutal desire---just---Desire! ...It brought me here…where I’m ashamed to be (p.70)

In the above quotes Stella repeatedly explains that her relationship with Stanley is primarily lust driven. As such, all of Stanley’s flaws, transgressions and bad deeds are overlooked. Nothing matters more to either of them than satiating their animal lust for one another. Further, it is revealed that everything can be sacrificed if it becomes a hurdle to their relationship. In this way they are both animalistic/ bestial.

The above quote also subtly foreshadows the circumstances that have enabled Blanche to visit Stella endlessly. Brutal Desire (as in A Streetcar Named Desire) brought Blanche to Cemeteries/ Elysian Fields (a place of the dead). Thus her fate and has been yet again strongly hinted at.

Scene 5 (p.74-84)

The scene opens with Blanche drafting a correspondence to her former (and now married) boyfriend, Shep Huntleigh, in order to request financial assistance. It is filled with lies concerning Blanche’s activities, she’s evidently able to fabricate it all with total ease (lying seems to come easily to her) (p.74).

The upstairs neighbors and family friends are having a domestic dispute. Eunice is accusing Steve of cheating on her with another woman because she saw him go up to the lady’s apartment. As the dispute intensifies, domestic violence ensues (p.74-5):

Eunice: You hit me! I’m gonna call the police! (p.75)

(…aluminum striking a wall is heard, followed by a man’s angry roar, shouts and overturned furniture. There is a crash; then a relative hush.) (p.75)

Blanche: Did he kill her? (p.75)

Again, if one notes everyone’s reaction to the conjugal violence, apart from Blanche’s, it is treated as another banal daily event. Eventually Stella inquires whether Eunice called the police and declares that it was much more practical when she decided to get an alcoholic beverage instead of pressing assault charges (p.75).

Stanley asks Blanche if she knows “somebody named Shaw?”—a man purportedly from her home town of Laurel (p.77). As the conversation continues, it is evident that Stanley has been looking in to Blanche’s past with the intention of discovering negative or otherwise unflattering facts. One such fact is that Blanche, despite her flimsy, half-hearted denial, is quite familiar with the ill-reputed establishment.

Blanche: You’ve got to be soft and attractive…I’m fading now…I don’t know how much longer I can turn the trick (p.79)

Important symbolism emerges in this scene:

*The Paper lantern that Blanche has had Mitch install over the unrelenting glare of the exposed light bulb is mentioned again (p.79). An exposed light bulb symbolizes the unyielding and raw truth; the cover symbolizes how Blanche is trying to sugarcoat and ‘soften’ the truth, to hide or re-shape the truth, and so forth. Even at the outset of the play, Blanche declares to Stella that she refuses to be looked at in the “merciless glare” of overly bright lights—Because of course, she would be exposed for not being as young as she pretends, etc.

*As Stella pours a Coke for Blanche it overflows and spills upon her white skirt. Blanche’s reaction to this occurrence is entirely disproportionate to its relative banality, “Blanche gives a piercing cry… she sits down shaking,” (p.80). Symbolically this event represents something which is white, the literary symbol or purity and innocence, becoming soiled—losing its purity. Blanche is horrified because despite presenting herself as pure, that reputation is on the brink of being exposed as rather tarnished. It’s no coincidence that this occurs just after Stanley has inquired about a man named Shaw and the Hotel Flamingo (p.77), and also just after Blanche has asked Stella what she’s heard about her (p.78).

*After Blanche and Stanley depart for a night out on the town, a 17-year-old boy arrives in order to collect money owed for the delivery of the local newspaper. Blanche almost instantly starts to behave seductively toward the under-age, high school student (p.82-4). She opts to kiss him and punctuates the scene by saying, “…I’ve got to be good--- and keep my hands off children,” (p.84). It now becomes evident that Blanche is able to visit Stella endlessly, despite being a high school teacher in the middle of the school year, because she was in all likelihood ‘unable to keep her hands off of children’ as a teacher.

*In this moment we also see the duality of Blanche; on one hand she refuses to so much as kiss Mitch on their dates, she makes him bow as he presents her with flowers (p.84), yet she’ll pounce on a high school student without hesitation.

Scene 6 (p.85-96)

Mitch and Blanche spend the entirety of this scene on a date. Throughout the date, the contrast between Mitch and Stanley’s characters is blatant. Mitch is respectful, patient, sensitive, he asks permission to kiss Blanche, he’s considerate of Blanche’s feelings, etc. Mitch might be a somewhat unrefined and working class, but one suspects that he would never attack or intentionally harm a person.

Mitch is so naïve that he fails to realize his topics of conversation are entirely inappropriate for a date. Mitch discusses:

-How he excessively perspires (p.88)

-His weight, asks Blanche to guess his weight, has her poke his belly, etc (p.90)

-Blanche’s weight (p.90)

-Blanche’s age (p.93)

Blanche continues to cultivate the impression within Mitch that she is a pure and proper lady;

-By refusing to kiss him on their date (p.91)

-By claiming to have “old-fashioned ideals” (p.91)

-By willfully comporting herself in a manner that seems to be fraudulent when she’s with Mitch

As Blanche complains to Mitch about the conditions she must endure with Stanley, she utters an ominous bit of dialogue that foreshadows her fate, “…The first time I laid eyes on him I thought to myself, that man is my executioner! That man will destroy me…” (p.93)

Mitch alludes to Blanche that before his sick mother dies, she would like to see him settled/ married (p.94). Hence the end of the scene when Mitch says, “You need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be--- you and me, Blanche?” (p.96)

Blanche explains what happened to her late husband, Allan Grey (p.95). Throughout their marriage, Blanche could always detect that Allan was tormented by something, but she was not sure what. Then, one day Blanche discovered that her husband was having a secret long-standing affair with an older man. Later on that very evening as she, Allan and this older man were out partying, Blanche confronts him and indicates that she knows his secret; “I saw! I know! You disgust me…” (p.96). Mortified by having this secret exposed, Allan abruptly exits the casino and shoots himself in the head.

As Blanche recounts this anecdote and hence forth, she starts to hear the polka music (Varsouviana) that was playing when Allan killed himself. As the play progresses it seems that this tune is part of an auditory hallucination that Blanche is having. This is to say, Blanche continually hears this song, but she thinks it is playing aloud and is not merely caught in her head.

Scene 7 (p.97-105)

It is the eve of Blanche’s birthday celebration. As Blanche baths, Stanley takes this opportunity to expose the secrets that he has learned about her past. These include:

-Blanche is not at all innocent, despite what she pretends (p.98-9)

-Blanche is not respected by anybody in Laurel (p.99)

-Blanche moved to the ill-reputed hotel Flamingo where she was ultimately evicted due to her conspicuous promiscuity (p.99)

-Men would date Blanche, learn the truth of who she is, then dump her (p.100)

-Blanche came to be known as a mentally unwell ‘town character’ (p.100)

-Blanche lost her job as a teacher due to having a relationship with one of her 17-year-old students (p.100-1)

Blanche sings the song It’s Only A Paper Moon as she baths. Excerpts float in to Stanley and Stella’s exchange as Stanley reveals the above secrets from Blanche’s past. The Lyrics are:

Say it is only a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

Yes It is only a canvas sky
Hanging over a muslin tree,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

Without your love,
It's a honky-tonk parade.
Without your love,
It's a melody played in a penny arcade.

It's a Barnum and Bailey world,
Just as phony as it can be,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

~interlude~

Without your love,
It's a honky-tonk parade.
Without your love,
It's a melody played in a penny arcade.

It is obviously not random that Blanche is singing a song whose lyrics espouse the importance of believing in illusions and fabrications that are far more appealing than reality. Further, a major theme in this song, to paraphrase, articulates the notion that lies and falsehoods are not fabrications if one chooses to accept them as the truth. Translation; if everybody chooses to perceive Blanche as a proper, high class lady, as someone of conservative values (etc.), then that’s what she is. The sentiment in this song also echoes and encapsulates Blanche’s most notorious proclamations in this play (‘a woman’s charm is 50% illusion’, ‘I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be the truth’, -paraphrased-, etc). Blanche would prefer for everyone to believe in a beautiful illusion rather than in an ugly truth (one might also call such a thing a 'belle reve').

Blanche pokes her head momentarily out of the bathroom and can immediately detect that something is ‘wrong’ with Stella, “You have such a strange expression on your face,” (p.102). By the end of the scene, it is clear to Blanche that Stella is troubled by something and she becomes more accusatory, “Something has happened!---What is it?” (p.105)

Throughout this entire play, and particularly during this scene, as Stanley is revealing Blanche’s dirtiest and most salacious secrets, Blanche is bathing. On the surface bathing is such a banal, common event that it is easy to breeze over with little to no consideration. However, I would argue that it deserves a great deal of attention and analysis at this point in the play;
- Blanche has a variety of secrets that one might colloquially refer to as dirty (often these tend to be of a sexually inappropriate nature); she was known to be promiscuous in her home town, she lost her job due to having a sexual relationship with one of her students, etc. Thus in light of these so-called ‘dirty’ secrets, it is no surprise that Blanche is constantly bathing in an effort to wash the dirt of these secrets away.
- One can also examine the symbolism of bathing from a Christian perspective; Blanche is constantly bathing in an effort to be born again/ baptized as a new person whom has shed and been absolved of the sins/ secrets of the past. In scene 2 after a bath she even states, “…here I am, all freshly bathed and scented, and feeling like a brand new human being!” (p.37)

Stanley tells Stella that he has not only discovered Blanche’s aforementioned secrets, but he has disclosed them to Mitch, thus bringing an end to their pending engagement (p.103-4). Further, it’s his intention that she will, shortly after this apparent shaming, leave their home. It is evident that Stanley has undertaken his research into Blanche’s past solely with malicious intent. This is to say, he wasn’t trying to protect anybody by exposing the aforementioned secrets, his objective was entirely one of Character Assassination. One might argue that Stanley was only exposing the truth--- no debating that fact, to be sure. However, it is the fact that Stanley sought and circulated Blanche’s secrets much in the way one wields a weapon. Stanley’s sole intent, it would seem, was to destroy Blanche’s character and to solely circulate details that would tarnish her to those she loves most.

Scene 8 (p.106-112)

This scene takes place the night of Blanche’s birthday gathering. The mood is somber and awkward. Blanche has no clue that Mitch has chosen not to attend because Stanley informed him about Blanche’s secret-ridden past. In fact, Blanche is entirely unaware that Stanley and Stella know about the salacious details as well.

For the first time in the play Stella aggressively confronts Stanley concerning his lack of table manners (The subtext of course being that she is most angry about Stanley’s malicious treatment of Blanche). In this moment Stella is attempting to shift the power dynamic of their relationship and home; she is trying to assert that certain behaviors are unacceptable and that they will not be tolerated. Stanley perceives this and acts to crush this rebellion to re-assert the only acceptable order of their home. This excerpt demonstrates the matter with total clarity:

Stella: Your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go and wash up and then help me clear the table.

(He hurls a plate to the floor.)

Stanley: 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!”---them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here! (…) I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!” (p.107)

Moments after Stanley’s outburst, “Stella begins to cry weakly,” (p.108), thus bringing a swift end to her fleeting rebellion.

Stanley delights in offering Blanche the malicious birthday gift that he acquired for her (he gives it to her “with false amiability”p.110); a bus ticket back to Laurel. Blanche suddenly flees from the room, “clutches her throat…Coughing and gagging sounds are heard,” (p.111).

Stella confronts Stanley and her statements are rather revealing with regard to Blanche’s past and due to the fact that they demonstrate that she has absolutely no doubt about the true nature/ intent of Stanley’s behavior:

Stella: …You didn’t know Blanche as a girl. Nobody, nobody, was tender and trusting as she was. But people like you abused her, and forced her to change (p.111)

Stella reveals that Blanche was in some way abused by multiple individuals who exploited the fact that she was ‘delicate’.

Further, Stella accuses Stanley of being abusive. This is extremely important because it reveals that unlike her sister, Stella is not delusional, her eyes are open to the facts and she is entirely realistic about the man to whom she is married. As such, when Stella ‘stands by her man’ at this moment and henceforth, she is making a conscious decision, which cannot be overlooked when assessing the climax of the play.

Stella demands that he explain why he has treated Blanche in the aforementioned manner. Here’s his highly revealing reply/ soliloquy;

Stanley: When we first met…you thought I was common…I was common as dirt. You showed me the snapshot of the place with the columns. I pulled you down off those columns and how you loved it, having them colored lights going! And wasn’t we happy…till she showed here? (p.112)

Translation: You love my common, brute vulgarity; you wanted me to pull you out of your elite world of manners and culture and into my world of animalistic lust and desire and carnal pleasure. Everything was fine until Blanche showed up and started challenging and judging our life. This is why Blanche had to be eliminated/ exiled. Stanley understands that in his conflict with Blanche over Stella, only one will win, the other will end up alone and abandoned.

Scene 9 (p.113-121)

Blanche is home alone, she is experiencing yet another auditory hallucination of the Varsouviana song. She is “drinking to escape it and the sense of disaster closing in on her,” (p.113).

Blanche still does not seem to be aware that Mitch now knows her ‘dirty secrets’.

Blanche’s auditory hallucinations have now expanded to not just include the aforementioned tune, but the moment her late husband, Allan, shot himself (p.114). Up until this moment with increasing clarity the reader has likely been questioning the state of Blanche’s mental health; there’s hallucinations, compulsive lying, drinking, promiscuity and incessant bathing, the perpetual re-living of the traumatic moment of her husband’s suicide, etc. Blanche is becoming increasingly unwell and negatively impacted by past traumas and present stressors. Henceforth this will be an important consideration to keep in mind as the climax is assessed.

Mitch confronts Blanche about her drinking and more significantly about their dating habits on page 116. Mitch complains that Blanche is never willing to go out on public dates with him in daylight;

Mitch: ...You never want to go out till after six and then it’s always some place that’s not lighted much.

Mitch is hurt because he thinks that Blanche does not want to date him in the daylight because she’s embarrassed to be seen with him. The true reason, however, is that Blanche does not want to be looked at in natural light due to a fear of being literally (age wise) or metaphorically (as a liar) exposed.

Mitch next addresses Blanche’s false claims of conservatism;

Mitch: I don’t mind you being older than what I thought…That pitch about your ideals being so old-fashioned and all the malarkey you’ve dished out all summer…I was fool enough to believe you was straight (p.117).

All summer Blanche barely kissed Mitch due to the claim that she was conservative. Now in light of the fact that she has been exposed as promiscuous, Mitch feels rejected. If Blanche was willing to sleep with everyone in her old town, why not him? Mitch seems to feel that he was being toyed with and manipulated. However, though Blanche was somewhat disingenuous about her values and her past, I would argue that with Mitch she was trying to be a different woman, the woman she tried to convince everyone she was. To fully assess this matter, the reader is required to take a few firm stances, which will ultimately shape their analysis:

Can people change or do they remain more or less the same for life?
Is it fair and reasonable to judge a person according to past deeds?
Do people deserve forgiveness for past transgressions, or must they be condemned forever?
Does Blanche owe it to Mitch to tell him about her past? Should that impact who he believes her to be (at present)?

Depending on your stance concerning the above questions, your ultimate analysis of Blanche will be impacted.

Blanche delivers one of the most iconic quotes of the play when she says, “I don’t want realism. I want 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 the truth…if that is sinful, let me be damned for it! ---Don’t turn the lights on! (p.117) Mitch eventually accuses Blanche of lying to him, to which she replies, “Never inside, I didn’t lie in my heart…” (p.119). All of this conveys to the reader that she is not a liar with malicious intent. She lies, rather, to make herself and others feel better. As such, if a truth might distress a person, she adjusts the story until it is no longer negative. In this case, Blanche thinks that she can magically transform the truth of her life simply by presenting an alternate version of it. Finally, Blanche lied about many crucial details, but she tells Mitch her feelings for him and her intentions were sincere.

Blanche offers her account of the facts unearthed by Stanley (p.118). In more blunt terms, Blanche states:

-She brought her 'victims' to a hotel called the Tarantula Arms: A tarantula is a spider known typically as a fearsome creature that hunts “small prey at night, stealthily sneaking up on a potential meal and then pouncing”

-It was the death of Allan that triggered her promiscuity in order to fill her “empty heart”

-It was panic and the hunt for protection that not only caused the promiscuity, but drove her into a relationship with her 17 year old student

The ominous Mexican Woman selling ‘flowers for the dead’ can be heard repeatedly until the end of the scene (p.119-21). This of course is a fairly heavy-handed attempt at foreshadowing. The death being foreshadowed is Blanche’s, which she on some level realizes—this is why she is so disturbed by the flower vendor. We’ll ultimately see Blanche experience a certain demise, not a physical one, but certainly a metaphorical death/ destruction or mental collapse.

Mitch ends his confrontation by more or less demanding that Blanche give him what he’s “been missing all summer,” (p.120), which of course is a thinly veiled reference to sexual intercourse. Mitch goes on to inform Blanche that he no longer has the intention to marry her, and furthermore, that she’s not “clean enough to bring in the house with” his mother (p.121) due to her rampant promiscuities.

Scene 10 (p.122-130)

The scene opens with Blanche speaking aloud to herself (and seemingly to others in an entirely hallucinatory scenario), further evidencing the deterioration of her mental health (p.122).

Stanley arrives home from the hospital unaccompanied—Stella has not yet given birth, but Stanley is in a celebratory mood.

Stanley’s interaction with Blanche at the outset of the scene might best be described as falsely jovial, sarcastic, or facetious. Despite Blanche’s claims that she received an invitation from a millionaire acquaintance (p.124) or that Mitch returned to apologize (p.126), Stanley realizes that Blanche is lying. He allows her to ramble on, as it were, and to dig her hole even deeper, cultivating the false impression that he believes her and that he does not know otherwise.

Blanche refuses Stanley's offer to “bury the hatchet and make it a loving cup,” (p.125). Of course, what Stanley means by this is that he and Blanche end their conflict and move on. It’s interesting to speculate concerning whether Stanley would ultimately have verbally and physically assaulted Blanche had she accepted the symbolic olive branch that he extended. It must be understood that Blanche in refusing to ‘bury the hatchet’ thusly opted to continue and therefore escalate her on-going conflict with Stanley.

Blanche explains to Stanley that her efforts to share culture, sophistication, intellect, (etc) have been the equivalent to ‘casting pearls before swine’ (p.126). This turn of phrase intends to convey that Stanley and Mitch lack the sophistication and intellect to realize/ appreciate Blanche’s most important traits. This quote, however, also reveals that Blanche is oblivious to why it is that Stanley and Mitch are upset with her. Regardless of whether one agrees with Stanley and Mitch, they have legitimate reasons to be upset with Blanche; they have been willfully deceived by her, they have also been manipulated by her, Mitch essentially developed feelings for a phantom woman; Blanche lied about her age, her past, her values, etc. None of this justifies Blanche’s impending fate, but it helps one comprehend Mitch and Stanley’s ire.

Stanley confronts Blanche concerning her distortions of the truth (p.127-8);

-He tells her he knows that there was no wire from the ‘oil millionaire’

-He tells her that he knows Mitch never returned with flowers asking for forgiveness

-He declares that everything she has said to everybody is “imagination…lies and conceit and tricks!”

-He’s known she was a liar from the start/ he saw through the illusions she tried to create

Blanche offers yet another of the play’s iconic lines, “…some things are not forgivable! Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable…it is the one thing of which I have never, never been guilty,” (p.126). In other words, it is unforgivable to be malicious. This is not to say that Blanche has never hurt others, simply that she never intentionally hurt others. Even Blanche’s lies/ deceptions have been formulated with the knowledge that people might endure some pain to learn about the tumultuousness of her past. Thus Blanche fabricated a past that would be more pleasing to all concerned. However, despite Blanche’s intention, the falsehoods were not ultimately viewed positively but were rather perceived by Mitch and Stanley as malicious fabrications.

Blanche, alone with Stanley, realizes that she is in an extremely dangerous scenario. Hence her call to the operator, “In desperate, desperate circumstances! Help me! Caught in a trap,” (p.128).

Cornered in a room with Stanley, Blanche begins to behave in a distraught manner and suggests to Stanley that he must keep his distance. The following ensues;

Stanley: You think I’ll interfere with you? …maybe you wouldn’t be so bad to--- interfere with… (p.129)

Despite her pleas, Stanley corners Blanche, who feeling threatened, “ (p.130). She then informs Stanley that she will stab him with the broken bottle if he persists in his pursuit.

Stanley: …you want some rough-house…let’s have some rough-house! (…) We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!

(…She sinks to her knees. He picks up her inert figure and carries her to the bed…)

Stanley’s final bit of dialogue at the close of this scene indicates that he has been planning to rape Blanche since he first met her. Thus, before Blanche had even wronged him, Stanley had been fantasizing about and planning the brutal deed. It’s almost as though Stanley dug into the salacious details of Blanche’s past in order to find something that might ultimately justify (in his own mind) his brute intentions.

Why does Stanley rape Blanche? In my view there are a variety of reasons that have factored into Stanley’s decision making. First, Blanche is a woman, she was there, Stanley was aroused, Stanley felt like it. Second, in scene 8 Stanley has a violent outburst because the ladies of the house have lost sight of the fact that he is the man of the house and is therefore in charge. Thus, the rape was an attack aimed at reminding Blanche who is in charge and furthermore, the full extent of a man’s power and authority—which is of course boundless. Third, this is the escalation of their on-going conflict; Blanche refused his symbolic olive branch, therefore Stanley intensified his attack.

The final point that must be made about the rape is one of context; on the eve that Stella is giving birth to their first son, Stanley is raping her sister. Stanley is incapable of joy or sentimentality—this all serves as potent and disturbing subtext to the already troubling occurrence. For Stanley it would seem that there is little distinction between sex, rape and procreation, they’re all one and the same.

Scene 11 (p.131-142)

The scene opens with a near repeat of scene 3 (“The atmosphere of the kitchen is now the same raw, lurid one of the disastrous poker night,” p.131); the men have been up all night immersed in a drunken poker game, by the end of which a woman will end up brutalized. The one initial distinction relates to Mitch’s emotional state; he is not happy-go-lucky any longer, he is now a weeping, broken mess.

The pervasive subtext from the outset of the scene is that everyone knows that Stanley has raped Blanche. Further, though they realize this fact, and though they are repulsed by it, they continue to play poker, socialize, and remain married to him.

Eunice: I always did say that men are callous things with no feelings… (p.131) Eunice is appalled by the fact that the men have gathered to drink and play as Blanche is about to be carted off to an asylum.

Something appallingly sinister is happening in this scene and it must be noted and acknowledged for what it is. Stanley, a few weeks after brutally raping Blanche, has gathered her only remaining family and acquaintances in order to witness her greatest humiliation. Stanley is hurting Blanche in a way that she thinks is the worst, he’s committing an (another) act of ‘deliberate cruelty’.

Blanche continues to be mentally unwell, evidenced by the fact that she is under the impression that Shep Huntleigh is on his way to pick her up (p.132).

Stella is aware of Blanche’s claim that Stanley raped her;

Stella: I don’t know if I did the right thing.

Eunice: What else could you do?

Stella:I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley.

Eunice: Don’t ever believe it. Life has got to go on. No matter what happens, you’ve got to keep on going. (p.133)

In this exchange Stella explains that she has chosen not to believe Blanche’s allegation in order to stay with Stanley. However, it is evident that she knows Stanley did indeed rape her sister. George Orwell called this ‘doublethink’; “simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct.” Eunice advises that Stella must choose not to believe Blanche simply for the sake of survival and self-preservation. Blanche is thus worth sacrificing if it enables Stanley and Stella to continue their lust based relationship without interruption.

When Blanche determines that neither of the people that have arrived to fetch her are Shep Huntleigh she goes into a panic. A humiliating/ shocking scene ensues as Blanche is pursued about the house until she is pinned to the floor in preparation for a straight jacket (p.139).

A passage highly symbolic of what Stanley has done to Blanche, he “seizes the paper lantern, tearing it off the light bulb, and extends it toward her. She cries out as if the lantern was herself…” (p.140). Stanley destroyed Blanche’s illusions, helped destroy her fleeting sanity, and physically destroyed her. Stanley tearing the lantern off the bulb symbolizes the way he tore away Blanche’s falsehoods and exposed her truths to the light of day, so to speak.

Blanche’s final iconic quote from the play arises when she turns to the doctor and says, “Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” (p.142). Thus we have a final piercing insight into the psyche of Blanche; Blanche depends upon and thus assumes that strangers are in fact kind. This puts Blanche in a permanent position of vulnerability because it opens her to being exploited.

Stella begins to have an outburst as Blanche is taken away by the doctor. As Stanley ‘consoles her’ in a moment of massive emotional distress, he is described as using his fingers to “find the opening of her blouse,” (p.142). Even in the most dramatic moment Stanley is aroused and engaged in foreplay. This scene offers the reader yet another glance at Stanley’s bestial nature—again he proves himself to be a man of no sentimentality, empathy or emotion.

The play closes with Steve declaring “This game is seven-card stud,” (p.142). In and of itself this dialogue is banal, however, one must keep in mind that it is delivered just after the moment Blanche is taken away in order to be committed to an asylum. This quote should be understood to symbolize that nothing will ever change, the cycle will continue forever more and nothing will change it—not even the most dramatic and horrific outcomes.

* * *

Analysis of Key Themes and Ideas

The end of the play seems to suggest that Williams’ intended the play to serve as a piercing critique of human nature and gender relations;

-Only certain types of people have power, success and authority in this world; those who dominate, those who crush, destroy. It has nothing to do with superior intellect, integrity, skill, etc.

-Men, and particularly men like Stanley, rule the world. Further, such men will be able to get away with anything; they will benefit from double standards, and so forth.

-Conversely, women are condemned in a patriarchal world to be dominated, trampled upon, submissive to men, etc.

-There is a double standard for men versus women in the world, particularly in the realm/ sphere of human sexuality. While Blanche is condemned for her past promiscuities, Stanley gets away with actually breaking the law vis-a-vis spousal abuse and rape.

Blanche as a character is meant to be understood as a cautionary tale/ symbol. Blanche is a woman who was unwilling to control her lustful desires, which led her down the path of promiscuity. The promiscuity ruined her reputation as a lady and ultimately played heavily into her choice to have an affair with one of her students. Thus, the lesson seems clear; if one chooses to be a passenger to their desires rather than a pilot of them, they will ultimately find themselves in a dark and unpleasant place. The same can be said of Stella; she will forever be Stanley’s punching bag, she will evidently sacrifice anything that tries to come between her and Stanley, etc.

Stanley as a character seems relatively simple to analyze; he’s a brute, a criminal, he’s bestial, etc. However, perhaps an interesting way to analyze Stanley is in relation to the impact he has on the audience. Despite all of his repulsive and repugnant deeds, Stanley is a scene stealer. The audience is magnetically drawn to him; he makes every scene more interesting due to his blunt, aggressive dialogue. Williams has therefore crafted this character in such a way that he caused the audience to be drawn to him much in the way Stella is.

Stella is a character that one either looks upon with pity or severe judgment, and those sentiments are not altogether misguided. However, Stella must also be viewed as being no less bestial or brutal than Stanley. Stella is governed by her lust for Stanley; Stella is even arguably turned on by the violent dynamic of her relationship with Stanley. You might recall, after Stanley beats her she goes back to their home for a night of impassioned love making—thus in their relationship violence might arguably serve as foreplay. Even at the end of the play as Stella is shedding tears over Blanche’s departure, Stanley is depicted as unbuttoning her blouse. Hopefully you noted that Williams offered no description of Stella swatting away his hand or otherwise reprimanding him. Stella allows Stanley to get away with rape because bluntly stated; he matters more than Blanche and she is therefore expendable.

Mitch is a decent man; he cares for his ailing mother, he is a sensitive sort, he is not a brute like Stanley, he seems to be rather loving and affectionate too. Despite all of this, however, one would be entirely off base to label him a hero. Keep in mind, hero does not mean absence of evil; it refers to tangible good, a righteous stance or deed, etc. When Mitch confronts Blanche about her secrets in scene 9, he is emotionally honest with her. However, Mitch also attacks Blanche and attempts to claim the lustful bounty that Blanche had granted so many others. Further, in the end rather than turning Stanley in to the authorities due to the sexual assault that he perpetrated upon Blanche, he sits at the poker table passively weeping. Passive is the best word to describe Mitch, and that has nothing to do with heroism.

Overall Streetcar plays into our most vile impulses as a species; we are so reflexively prepared to judge each character at the expense of not delving more deeply into ideas that deserve far more attention and depth.

To state the obvious, this play is a tragedy;

-Blanche’s past, present and future are tragic

-Stella’s present and future life with Stanley is tragic

-It’s tragic that Stanley is going to raise a boy to be just like him

-It’s tragic that Stanley is the only character in this play that escapes unscathed. In fact, you could easily argue that he emerges victorious since he accomplishes all of his goals and gets everything that he wants

-Etc

Despite the morbidity of the aforementioned, there is one extremely important and arguably positive outcome sought/ accomplished by this play. I believe in the metaphor that Theatre is meant to serve as a mirror to audiences. As such it is Williams’ goal that as you reflect upon the spectacle, you engage in a process of self-evaluation. If you detect any part of these characters within yourself, hopefully you become so distraught that you decide to change, particularly in light of the horrific outcomes that greet so many of them.

Elements of a Tragedy

In order for a play to be tragic, the playwright must first establish a bond between the reader and the characters. Without a bond the audience will not share in the sadness when bad things start to happen to the characters.

Think of the beginning of a play as a playwright setting up an elaborate pattern of dominos. This is when exposition is occurring. When the dominos begin to fall, this is when the play becomes tragic.

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams is a Modern Tragedy. Originally when defining tragedy Aristotle explained that “true tragedy can only depict those with power and high status,” (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?24902-What-is-ment-by-((modern-Tragedy)) ). Modern Tragedy, on the other hand, is not restricted to depicting the upper-class. German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel explained the distinction in as follows;

“The heroes of ancient classical tragedy encounter situations in which, if they firmly decide in favor of the one ethical pathos that alone suits their finished character, they must necessarily come into conflict with the equally [gleichberechtigt] justified ethical power that confronts them. Modern characters, on the other hand, stand in a wealth of more accidental circumstances, within which one could act this way or that, so that the conflict which is, though occasioned by external preconditions, still essentially grounded in the character. The new individuals, in their passions, obey their own nature... simply because they are what they are. Greek heroes also act in accordance with individuality, but in ancient tragedy such individuality is necessarily... a self-contained ethical pathos...In modern tragedy, however, the character in its peculiarity decides in accordance with subjective desires... such that congruity of character with outward ethical aim no longer constitutes an essential basis of tragic beauty...” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy#Modern_development)

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