A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams is known forhis powerfully written psychological dramas. Most of hisworks are set in the southern United States and they usuallyportray neurotic people who are victims of their ownpassions, frustrations, and loneliness. The play represents theconflict between the sensitive, neurotic Blanche DuBois andthe crude, animalistic Stanley Kowalski. Blanche visits thehome of her sister, Stella, in New Orleans and that is whenStanley started picking at her, almost testing her. Before shehad met Stanley, she told her sister of how their plantationhad been lost due to the costs of paying for the funerals ofmany family members. There was not enough money for herto keep the plantation.
While Blanche bathed after herarrival, Stanley came home. Stella had told him what hadhappened and he immediately insisted that Blanche wasswindling them. He hinted that Blanche had sold theplantation in order to buy beautiful furs and jewelry. He wentthrough Blanches trunk while she bathed, Stella insisted hestop.
He was looking for sale papers from the plantation. After Blanche was finished bathing, Stella was outside, soStanley started questioning Blanche. She insisted that shehad nothing to hide from him and let him go through allhistorical papers from Belle Reve, the plantation. While livingwith Stella and Stanley, Blanche had met a man namedMitch, who she started dating. She liked him a lot but shehid many things from him. Firstly, she hid secrets of her firstlover, her husband Allan Grey.
Every time she thought ofhim, she thought of how he killed himself and she heard thepolka which played in the background. She did not want tospeak of this to Mitch. After Allans death, Blanche used togo to the Tarantula Arms hotel where she would haveintimacies with strangers. She did it because she felt it wouldfill her empty heart. She did not want to tell Mitch becauseshe wanted him to respect her.
Blanche was very careful tohide her looks too. She felt that she was old looking andtried to avoid bright lights from glaring down on her. Shecovered a light in Stellas house with a Chinese paper lampto keep it from being so bright she hid her looks from Mitch,he never saw her in the day. Finally, one day, Stanley triedto find out many of Blanches secrets and told them to Mitchso he would not fall for her, even though he was consideringmarrying her. He told Mitch of her intimacies, and told himof when she had a relationship with one of her students. Mitch felt deceived, she lied to him about many things, herage, her past.
Stanley taunted Blanche until he attacked herin violent passion. When Blanche tried to tell her sister whatStanley had done to her, she does not know what to think. Blanche retreats into a private dreamworld. She tells Stellaand Eunice, a friend, of how she is going to die.
She saysshe will die from eating an unwashed grape. Grapes are asymbol with sexual overtones. Stanley represents theunwashed grape that will kill her. Blanche says that she willdie with her hand in the hand of a young ships doctor andshe will be buried at sea.
She will be dropped into an oceanas blue as her first lovers eyes. Blue is used in this play as asymbol of sadness. It represents her husbands death. Herhusband, to her, was different than other men, he hadbeautiful blue eyes and she compared him to a seahorse. The male seahorse is different because it id him that givesbirth unlike other creatures, as her husband was unlike othermen.
Stella does not believe her sister after she tells her whatStanley has done, instead, she has her sent to a mentalinstitution. She cries as Blanche is taken away, perhaps sheknows she has made a mistake but Stanley soothes her,telling her everything will be back to normal, as he is openingher blouse. Stanley has won, Blanche was gone, thingswould be like before, he thought. In this play, there weretwo streetcars mentioned.
One was a streetcar named desirewhich symbolized Blanches desire to be loved. The otherwas a streetcar names Cemeteries which symbolizedBlanches fear of death. Both the desire to be loved and thefear of death were quiet apparent in the way Blanchethought. She wished to be loved like she was with herhusband, and she feared
