There are a few main characters in A Streetcar Named Desire they include:
Blanche Dubois, Stella Kowalski, Stanley Kowalski, Mitch, Allan Grey
Blanche Dubois-
Blanche is the protagonist of the play who finds her self in Eylsian Fields after taking a street car named "Desire". Blanche has had many sexual urges and lovers in the past thus referring to the symbolic meaning of a street car named "Desire" as her desire, her sexual urges. She finds her self in Eylsian fields a symbolic association of the Greek after life, meaning her desires are leading her to death. Therefore Blanche's fate in the story is inevitable. She leaves from her former home of Laurel to reunite with her sister Stella as she was cast out from Laurel due to her relationship with a young student of hers. Moreover she loses her former home of Belle Reve, a very wealthy and luxurious home. Therefore Blanche has moved from a high social economic class to a much less than average one with her move to Eylsian Fields. In the play Blanche presents her self as a very aristocratic and stylish character at first. Later on in the play Blanche is reminded of her tragic and promiscuous past that eventually drives her mad as she is reminded of her late young husband whom she drove to death. Finally as her scandals are reviled she becomes a very mentally ill and fake character that also presents herself as "moth-like".
Stella Kowalski-
Blanche's younger sister who also happens to come from the same aristocratic past as Blanche. Unlike Blanche Stella left her home of Belle Reve in Mississippi to find the love of her life in New Orleans. She is the wife of Stanley Kowalski and with her marriage she moved from a high social economic class to a more lower social economic class. Stella's relationship with Stanley is sexual as can be seen in the play, but it is also very violent and animal like as they often fight throughout the play mainly because of Blanche's influence on Stella about Stanley not being the ideal husband for her. Therefore Blanche's presence tends to tear both Stanley and Stella apart; although in the end of the play Stella finds her self to favor her husband's side as she is giving birth to his child. She chooses his love over her own sister's thus leading to Blanche's inevitable fate to which Stella utterly regrets.
Stanley Kowalski-
The husband of Blanche's younger sister; Stanley is a very man-like character as he often presents his dominance and power throughout the play. He despises Blanche and looks to cast her out of his household as she tears him and his wife apart. Moreover, he has a very strong interest in Blanche's former home Belle Reve. Within the play Stanley feels very threatened by Blanche due to the fact that she has a strong influence on her sister Stella by portraying Stanley as a the non-ideal husband. Such words that help portray Stanley's image in the play as seen by Blanche include: "pig", "animalistic", "Polack". With this Stanley aims to get rid of Blanche in his house hold by relieving her past and performing certain actions. For example as Stanley has a great interest in the loss of Belle Reve Stanley aims to retrieve the papers on Belle Reve but Blanche doesn't budge. Therefore Stanley forces the papers from Blanche thus relieving papers that she describes as "poems from a dead boy". Therefore bringing up her once forgotten past with her young dead husband in laurel. Moreover by presenting her bus tickets back to Laurel was also a devastating blow to her mental stability.
Mitch-
One of Stanley's closest friends and co-worker. Mitch takes a very romantic interest in Blanche and sees her as the woman he wants to marry. Later on in the play he states he "needs someone" Blanche goes on by saying the same. They share a few intimate moments but this is later on crushed by Stanley's revilement of Blanche's past which Stanley makes sure to tell Mitch.
Allen Grey-
Blanche's poetic young dead husband who was also Blanche's fellow student. Allen was presented in the story as a homosexual as he was found in bed by Blanche. Though Allen is not presented in the play physically, spiritually he is which is just as important. Blanche is often reminded by his death which was partially her own fault After being discovered with another man in bed Blanche left to a ball with Allen and used such diction as "you're weak" and "I despise you". After such harsh diction Allen was driven to run out of the ball and shoot himself. Blanche is often reminded of his death by the Varsouviana Polka that faintly plays in her bind and stops after the "BOOM" of a gunshot, the same gunshot that caused her husband's death. This slowly drives Blanche insane and draws her nearer to her inevitable fate.
Setting-
A Streetcar Named Desire takes place in the French Quarter of New Orleans during post World War 2; although the recuperation from the war plays no part in the play.
New Orleans!
Stinking, rotten, vomiting, vile!
New Orleans!
Putrid, brackish, maggoty, foul!
New Orleans!
Crummy, lousy, rancid, and rank!
These are lyrics presented in a episode of the Simpson's referring to New Orleans. These are very harsh and unfavorable adjectives towards New Orleans. These exact words would definitely have the approval of Blanche. Coming from a very high social economic class in Mississippi from her original home Belle Reve it is evident why Blanche would describe New Orleans as such. The story more specifically takes place in a small 2 floor apartment flat. One the second floor of the building is the home to Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Their apartment is the main base of the play in fact there really aren't any other locations that hold a strong influence on the setting. The apartment most definitely contrasts from Blanche's former home of Belle Reve as the Kowalski is a small apartment with a small dining room mainly used for poker and dining; as well as a bathroom 2 separate rooms. The apartment is very rickety and old. Moreover, it doesn't have the luxurious presentation expected by Stella (Blanche's Sister) who also comes from wealth. This is because Stella relies on her husband a very low social economic class man working his hardest to provide for his wife and on coming baby.
Theme, Motifs, Symbols-
Themes-
Fantasy's Inability to Overcome Reality
This is a theme presented in the play that mainly relates to Blanche as she lies to herself and other to allow her to make life appear as it should be in her eyes rather than what it really is. The play is a great example of social realism. Moreover the relationship between Blanche and Stanley is very antagonistic as it is a struggle of appearances and reality. This allows the play to more forward and allow tension. Fantasy's inability to overcome reality is shown through the exterior and interior of the play's setting, meaning the outside of the Kowalski apartment and the inside. The characters often return from a day's work or a day out on the town only to portray their problems or daily events, much like regular people in the world of today. Moreover, the setting is very flexible as the surrounding environment of the apartment can be seen thus proving that the apartment is not of the safest means. As discussed before the character often bring their real world problems to the Kowalski home but Blanche begs to differ as she claims to leave her prejudices against the working class behind her at the door. From this most effective event that can be seen is the rape of Blanche by Stanley as when the back wall of the apartment becomes transparent we can see the struggles occuring in the surrounding environment of the apartment thus foreshadowing Blanche's rape.
Fantasy often comes to the aid of Blanche even though it reality overcomes it ever so often. Fantasy is used a tool by Blanche as she often uses it to escape reality, to escape and protect her from reality's harsh blows such as the her past events in Laurel. Blanche portrays they world as she wants it to be, the exterior world she sees is often 'shaped shifted' into her own private world. She uses fantasy to changes things in her mind both physically and psychologically. Although towards the end of the play we learn that fantasy can be proven useful up to a certain extent as reality's triumph is inevitable.
The Relationship Between Sex and Death
In the play Blanche fears death and this is evident as she fears aging and losing her beauty and physical characteristics. Moreover she refuses to tell others her ages and often hides from the light so other may not see her. In addition she is very sexual towards young men as she feels that having relationships with those who are young then her will return her to her once teenage years. However we as the readers come to see the relationship between sex and death through the opening scene of the play. Blanche found herself taking a streetcar named desire to Elysian Fields. What is the symbolic reasoning behind this? Well the streetcar "Desire" can be noted as Blanches desires, her urge for sexual interactions with younger men. In contrast this streetcar resembling her desires leads her to Elysian Fields, the Greek afterlife. Therefore reveling that Blanche's desires will lead to her death and her fate is inevitable. Moreover sex leads to the death of many other people mentioned in the play. For example the death of Blanche's ancestors is presented by their "epic fortifications". Additionally, the death of her late husband was due to his homosexuality as it was disapproved by Blanche and society at the time thus causing for his suicide as being a homosexual caused other to consider you an outcast.
The Dependence of Men
The play's two main female characters present themselves as very dependent on men. Both Blanche and Stella are dependent on men as it is their way of achieving happiness. This can be seen in a number of ways. For example Stella chooses to pick Stanley of Blanche this shows her dependence of love and her husband. In addition Stella chooses Stanley as he can provide a much secure future for Stella and her baby than Blanche. In terms of Blanche, Blanche sees marriage with Mitch as her way of escaping reality. However, Blanche has a very poor reputation and this is made clear by Stanley's gossip about Blanche in Laurel, thus turning Mitch against Blanche and having him fall out of love with her. Immediately Blanche congers up another male partner to rely on, Shep Huntleigh. Blanche doesn't realize that her dependence on men has no way of rescuing her from reality and that in the end her dependence leads to her downfall.
Motifs-
Light
Throughout the play Blanche often avoids light. This is to hide her current state of aging and change in physical beauty. Blanche wants to stay young and therefore hides her true face and doesn't relive her age. Moreover she buys a Chinese paper lantern to cover the light in the Kowalski's apartment. In addition this relates towards the theme of the relationship between sex and death as she aims to sleep with younger mean to hide her aging figure and to relive her once glorious teenage years.
Bathing
Throughout the play Blanche baths a numerous amount of times, she claims that it "calms her nerves". However, Blanche has a very poor and promiscuous reputation. In relevance these baths truly resemble the fact that Blanche is trying to cleanse her true identity keep it hidden from those living in New Orleans with her.
Drunkenness
Both Stanley and Blanche drink throughout the play, Stanley's drinking is social, however Blanche's is antisocial. Through drinking Blanche aims to avoid harsh reality. Her drunkenness helps her create imaginative figures in her mind to see life the way it should be rather than what it really is.
Symbols-
The Varsouviana Polka
The varosiviana Polka tune is the tune that Blanche and her former husband were dancing to in their final moments together. Earlier on Blanche had caught her husband in bed with another man. They continued on by going to a ball as nothing had happened but during their dance Blanche portrayed words toward Allen, her husband that drove him to kill himself. She told him that he "disgusted" her.
The polka tune is played within the play various times whenever Allen is brought up or Blanche feels remorse for him. The tune signifies a loss for innocence and often distracts Blanche and has her mind wander, thus leading to her mental insatiability.
"It's Only a Paper Moon"
These are lyrics to a song that Blanche happens to sing during scene 7 while bathing. During her shower Stanley is gossiping the truth about Blanche in Laurel to Stella. At the same time we can here Blanche singing this song. What this signifies is that Blanche sees her future or her fantasy from what the song is portraying in its lyrics. Moreover the song resembles Blanche's future with Mitch. However the song is also a way of showing dramatic irony. This is because Stanley is telling Stella about her sister's actions in Laurel, during that time he had also told Mitch about who Blanche really is. This allows Mitch to turn against Blanche and to fall out of love with her. Here the readers know the truth about Blanche and so do the other characters. Here Blanche is preparing herself for Mitch and has high hopes for him and her yet she will soon find out her situation with him in the next up coming scenarios.
Quotes
They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!
The streetcar resembles Blanche's desires, that are indeed sexual. So she takes her "Desire" to Elysian Fields which happens to be the resting place for people in Greek Mythology. What this means is that Blanche's desires will eventually lead her to death and that her fate is inevitable.
Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers
Blanche speaks to the doctor with these words in Scene Eleven. Blanche’s quote is ironic. First, the doctor is not the the Shep Huntleigh type of gentleman Blanche thinks he is. Second, Blanche’s dependence “on the kindness of strangers” rather than on herself is the reason why she has such bad reputation in her life. Strangers have been kind to Blanche only for sex. Blanche’s final remark indicates her total detachment from reality and her decision to see life only as she wishes to perceive it.
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