Eileena

     “Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” the line that ended the play A Streetcar Named Desire. The line was spoken by Blanche Dubois, a central character. Blanche along with other characters is essential in making Streetcar so strong. Williams portrays Blanche’s demise with adept precision, making her comparable to a modern day Ophelia; her decline results from the tearing away of Blanche’s fantastical dream world. Williams creates a character so tragic as Blanche by having her lie to herself and others, to make her appear as a dainty southern belle rather than the fallen woman she truthfully is. She is constantly mentioned being in the bathroom, taking a bath, then usually exclaiming how she feels so refreshed. Blanche’s incessant need for cleansing demonstrates her need for purity and idealism, a symbol which Williams skillfully adds. Williams even stresses Blanche’s preference to appearance than reality in her clothing, which can be called ostentatious but cheap. Inevitably Blanche’s romantic fantasies crumble, the climax when Stanley tears apart her dream world, and the dramatic piano music heightening the tension. Stanley, too, is a major part of Streetcar’s success. Stanley symbolizes reality, actuality which is a foil to Blanche and her detachment from reality. He is a member of the working class “common man”, hard working, and very passionate, even animalistic towards wife Stella. Blanche considers him brutish and simple, which is part of why he disdains Blanche and her old aristocratic ways. Stanley is crucial to Streetcar because he is primarily responsible for Blanche’s breakdown. The characters are well-developed, and serve some purpose. Even Steve and Eunice parallel Stanley and Stella’s relationship, both working class, abusive, and animalistic.

     Honestly, the plot is quite simple, but not bad. It begins with Blanche going off a streetcar named Desire in New Orleans. She decided to leave the family plantation in Mississippi to live with her sister and her brother-in-law. Blanche being Blanche, she tells others tales of grandeur and opulence, when none of that at all is true. Stanley and Blanche find each other repulsive, and Stanley then digs up dirt on Blanche. Blanche’s lies catch up with her leaving her defenseless in a cold world, which Stanley seizes and rapes her.

     Streetcar is very modernist play. As mentioned in the prior paragraph, the plot is very simple, and it aids the development of the characters. The ending too has modernist characteristics; the ending is very open ended, last line being “seven-card stud” showing the future of the Kowalski’s is subject to change. Williams also maintains a strong use of stage directions, particularly the entrances and exits of music. His clever use of the polka music, Varsouviana, is used whenever Blanche is feeling remorse about her dead husband.