Mary Dickson
A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams
Blanche DuBois
Play Analysis
I. THE PLAY
a. Production History:
A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, was produced by Irene
Mayer Selznick. It opened at the Shubert in New Haven. Selznick originally wanted
Margaret Sullavan and John Garfield, but settled on Marlon Brando and Jessica
Tandy. Brando was given carfare to Tennessee Williams' home, where he read for the
part of Stanley and was cast. Tandy was cast after Williams saw her performance in a
production of his one-act play Portrait of a Madonna. The opening night cast also
included Kim Hunter as Stella and Karl Malden as Mitch. The play opened on
Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City on Dec. 3, 1947. The
play closed on Dec. 17, 1949. Elia Kazan directed the Broadway production of the
show. Despite the hard content of the play, the audience applauded for half an hour
after the curtain call. The play seemed to be welcomed with open arms.
b. Critical Analysis
A Streetcar Named Desire seemed to get brilliant reviews the night after
opening. As was mentioned the audience even applauded for 30 minutes after the
curtain call. In the newspapers the next morning critics said things such as, “a
quietly woven study of intangibles” and Tennessee Williams “a genuinely poetic
playwright whose knowledge of people is honest and thorough.” The public
seemed to like that the play dealt with real issues that were being faced every day.
But when there is good, there is also bad. Critics also thought that the material
was too risky for an audience’s eyes, and that Williams was being pessimistic
about human existence. To this day this play is being studied in schools and
performed, so it has kept the good reviews and overcome the bad. Tennessee
Williams and this play are both highly respected.
II. THE PLAYWRIGHT
a. Biographical Information
Thomas Lanier Williams was born on March 26, 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi.
He was the second of three children. His parents often engaged in violent arguments. In
1929 Thomas was admitted to the University of Missouri, where he saw a production of
Ghosts, and decided to become a playwright. His father forced him to leave college and
work at the International Shoe Company. He worked there with a man named Stanley
Kowalski who inspired his character for A Streetcar Named Desire. Tom later returned to
school and graduated from the University of Iowa. Tom later met and fell in love with
Frank Merlo in 1947 while living in New Orleans. But in 1961, Merlo died of lung cancer
and the playwright went into a deep depression that lasted ten years. In fact, Williams
struggled with depression throughout most of his life and lived with the constant fear that
he would go insane, as did his sister Rose. For much of this period, he battled addictions
to prescription drugs and alcohol. On February 24, 1983, Williams choked to death on a
bottle cap at his New York City residence at the Hotel Elysee. He is buried in St. Louis,
Missouri. Everything that happened in his life is in his plays. His plays represent his life.
b. Career History
After Tom graduated from college he had a couple of plays produced by the
Mummers of St. Louis. When his plays weren’t accepted by the public in Chicago,
Tom moved to New Orleans and changed his name to Tennessee. In 1939, the
Williams received a $1,000 Rockefeller Grant, and a year later, Battle of Angels was
produced in Boston. In 1944 The Glass Menagerie had a very successful run in
Chicago and a year later made its way onto Broadway. The Glass Menagerie won the
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for best play of the season. Williams had
several other Broadway hits including A Streetcar Named Desire, Summer and
Smoke, A Rose Tattoo, and Camino Real. He received his first Pulitzer Prize in 1948
for A Streetcar Named Desire. Williams had many of his plays made into motion
pictures including A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof, Orpheus Descending, and Night of the Iguana. Tennessee Williams’ work is
cherished by many people, and he is thought to be one of the greatest playwrights.
His plays are full of real life happenings, most of which he took from his own life.
The audience can connect to the characters easily.
III. THE WORLD OF THE PLAY
c. Environmental Facts
i. Geographical Information- French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana. Elysian
Fields between the L&N tracks and the river. House with two flats. Old and
rickety.
ii. Spring, May 4th, 1946.
d. Economic Environment- WWII had just ended so women in the USA were holding
jobs, but as soon as the men started coming home they took the work they could find,
forcing women back into the homes. There were a lot of job openings because new
technology was being discovered, and African American men demanded jobs now.
The economy was rebounding from the Depression so business was thriving. In the
World of The Play the economy was different. Stella and Stanley live in poor town,
but they make do. Stanley works in a factory and Stella stays at home. They have
enough money to support themselves and the baby on the way, but when Blanche
comes they struggle to make ends meet. Stanley knows that Blanche is no good for
their money supply when he opens her trunk and says, “Where are your pearls and
gold bracelets?” (36).
e. Political Environment- The biggest event in 1940’s politics was WWII. The United
Nations Charter was established about a year before Scene 1 takes place. Harry S.
Truman was the President. The Democratic Party was in control of the country.
Politics aren’t a very big part of the World of the Play. The major issues being
debated were still racial issues and now sexual orientation and gender role issues
were being brought up. Gender roles play a big part in this play. Stanley assumes the
role of being in charge of all and even brings up the Napoleonic Code, “whatever
belongs to my wife is also mine” (40).
f. Social Environment- The baby boom was a big thing happening in the 1940’s. The
men came home from war and immediately started families. This relates to Stella
becoming pregnant. Men still held power over women, and could do pretty much
whatever they pleased and the women stuck by their sides. There was a high class and
there was a lower class. Blanche thinks she is high class, and Stanley and Stella are
low class. The high class expected proper etiquette from the lower classes, but were
disappointed. Blanche looks down on the fact that Stanley is Polish. She refers to him
as a “Polack”. Stanley doesn’t like this. Race and religion don’t play a huge
difference in the play’s world.
III. Previous ActionStella and Blanche grew up at Belle Reve. They never were extremely rich but
their family did well when they were growing up. Stella moves away and meets Stanley.
They get married and get pregnant. Blanche has to stay at Belle Reve and watch all of her
family members die. Blanche doesn’t know how to handle money well so she loses Belle
Reve. Blanche, a high school English teacher, has an inappropriate relationship with a
student of hers and is told to take a leave of absence. Blanche is run out of town for all of
the deceitful things she has done and takes a streetcar named Desire to Stella’s home. She
has prepared another story of her trip to New Orleans and the loss of Belle Reve to tell
Stella upon her arrival. The play begins.
IV. POLAR ATTITUDESStanley Kowalski- Stanley, although a rough man in the beginning, becomes even more
rough as the play goes on. Blanche starts a fire in him, and in the end he refuses to deal with
her anymore. When meeting her he tries to have a nice conversation with her asking Blanche
questions such as, “Where are you from?” and offers her a shot (29). He is trying to be
personable. But she ends up stepping on all of his toes until he breaks, first talking behind her
back to Stella but then snapping to Blanche’s face saying, “There isn’t a goddam thing but
imagination!” (127). Stanley knows his life will be happier if it consists of just Stella and the
baby and Blanche isn’t there to poison it.
Blanche DuBois- I don’t believe that Blanche grows as a person for the better in this play.
Sure Blanche has great qualities, she sees Stella being treated horribly and she acts like any
sister would to protect her. But Blanche is a liar in the beginning, and a liar in the end. I don’t
even think Blanche knows that she is lying. All of her lies have become truth to her. Blanche
learns at the very end of the play that it would have been better to tell the truth, but that is
after the fact, when she is being taken away. She has one of the greatest learning lines
though. When Blanche says, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” shows
that she doesn’t know how to depend on anyone because in the end everyone lets her down
(142). Even though she causes them to let her down, they always let her down and leave her
alone.
Stella Kowalski- All of her life Stella has been used to sticking up for Blanche and blending
into the background. Whenever anyone inquires about Blanche’s weird behavior Stella
makes up a cover story for her. In Scene 7 Stella says, “Stanley stop picking on Blanche” and
“Blanche is sensitive” (98.) Stella lets Blanche walk all over her, but in the end Stella learns
to do what is best for Blanche instead of babying her. Stella sends Blanche with a doctor to
work out Blanche’s issues. She does what any sister would and does the right thing. Stella
says Blanche is “Going on a vacation” (135). She panics because of her decision, but Stella is
able to let Blanche go.
Harold Mitchell (Mitch)- Mitch just wants to find a woman that he can bring home to
please his mother. His mother is the most important thing in his life and that becomes
apparent towards the end. Mitch finds Blanche to be a beautiful mysterious woman in the
beginning. He says things like, “You may teach school but you’re certainly not an old maid”
(56). He doesn’t question Blanche. He believes she is an honest person. After Mitch finds out
the truth about Blanche he doesn’t try to look good for her. He comes to Stella’s house to
find out the truth. When Blanche won’t turn on the light he forces her to so he can “take a
look at her good and plain” (117). Mitch realizes that she is phony and he can’t replace his
mother when she dies with Blanche. He leaves Blanche and goes back to caring for his
mother. Mitch has realized what is important for him in life.
V. IDEA OF THE PLAYa. Meaning of the Title- The title tells the audience or the reader that this play is going
to have something to do with desire, wanting something badly. Desire is bigger than
want. A person wants a lot of things; desire can be tasted and smelled. I think that
Williams chose the title A Streetcar Named Desire because in the end desire can
destroy a person. Desire can make a person forget about what is important. Desire is
greedy. Most of the characters in the show want, want, want, but never receive. They
are never satisfied. The streetcar takes us where we want to go, but we will never be
satisfied.
b. Meaning of the play- Williams wants the audience to understand the effects that
desire has on a person. There is violence, harsh words, and rape in the context of the
play. Desire is human and part of life and felt by everyone, but can damage anyone
who takes desire too far. Maybe Williams had a problem with desire, so he wanted to
teach a lesson. Williams wrote this play because he dealt with issues in the script in
his own life, and wanted to educate and entertain the public.
VI. RESEARCH TOPICS
Tennessee Williams. http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc9.html.
Goodwin, Sue. American History- Decade 1940-1949. Lone Star College-Kingwood Library.
July 2009. Web. 01/15/2011.
A Streetcar Named Desire- anything that can be found on the play.
Other works of Tennessee Williams.
Other works being produced and written at the time.