A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play by the American playwright Tennessee Williams. It is regarded as one of Williams’ best plays and has received several awards including the Pulitzer Prize. It was also later adapted into a film in the year 1951 starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, and is still considered to be a classic. Through its eleven scenes, the play delivers a raw reality of the middle class in conflict with the fallen bourgeoise of the American South. 

The story is set in motion when Blanche Dubois, a schoolteacher from Mississippi visits her younger sister Stella in New Orleans. Stella has been newly married to Stanley Kowalski, a Polish descent working class man. The Kowalskis live in a tiny apartment located in the shabbier side of New Orleans where jazz music constantly plays right around the corner. Blanche is sophisticated and looks down upon the living condition of Stella. She takes long baths, only wears fancy clothes and jewelleries and still lives a lifestyle that disagrees with her income. She informs her sister that she lost their ancestral plantation called Belle Reve and intends to stay with the Kowalskis for a while. During her stay, she gets close to one of Stanley’s friend Mitch.

Stella, despite having previously led the same luxurious life as Blanche has surprisingly adjusted quite well to her surroundings. She is head-over-heels for her husband and fears the thought of Blanche looking down on him. Stanley is the working-class hero who is unapologetic of his social status. He values his friends and is passionate about Stella. He lives in the practical world which is in stark contrast to the illusionary world of Blanche. He is strong and opinionated and has his way with everything whereas Blanche is soft spoken and is the embodiment of a chaste shy woman.

“I don’t want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, 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. And it that’s sinful, then let me be damned for it!”

-Tennessee Williams

As the play unravels, we see the true colours of the characters. Despite trying her best fit the southern ideals of a naïve young woman, Blanche is revealed to be the exact opposite. She is obsessed with her beauty, is promiscuous with young men and has a severe drinking problem. She has no money left but is too proud to accept that and pretends to be an aristocrat who still expects everyone to be at her command. When she meets Mitch, she tries desperately to hide her promiscuous past from him. She refuses to see him in the day or under a light because she’s afraid that he’ll find her old. Her drinking problem starts soon after the suicide of her previous young husband. Stanley sees right through her and is adamant is calling her out. Through her, he takes out all his pent-up anger against the bourgeoise. He despises Blanche for looking down on him and makes up his mind to bring her to reality. He isn’t swayed by her flirting and succeeds in showing her true colours that she desperately wanted to hide. He even goes as far as to assault her. Despite knowing his true nature, Stella chooses to defend him over her sister.        

A Streetcar Named Desire is thus a raw reminder of the fall of the Southern Aristocracy. Williams reminds his audience that inequality of power never prevails and that those who still cling onto the old ideals are bound to perish with it. He also shows that truth eventually finds its way and that its impossible to live in an imaginary world. The play thus brings us to reality and reminds us of its harshness.