Nathan

            The play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” written by Tennessee Williams, is an accurate depiction of American life during the 1940s in which it was written. While the plot remained uneventful until the climax, the stars of this play, Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski, help add color to the monotone atmosphere.

            Created in a modernistic style, Williams presents his full attention on his characters and their actions, which symbolize the stereotypes of the epoch. The side characters, Eunice and Steve, represent the American couple during this era. Their names could’ve been anything else and nothing would’ve changed. Their roles were unimportant but they provided the general mold of society. Mitchell’s character was flat but helped define Blanche’s character through their interactions, and Stella represents the idealist, passive housewife.

            The main catalysts, Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski, are defined not only by their actions, but by the way Williams uses stage directions to further describe and enhance the play in a fashion that seems to provide a mental image for anyone who reads it, as if they’re watching the play while reading it. Blanches desperate attempt for a moment of happiness is brutally destroyed by Stanley’s brute, crude, and sensual personality.
             The mass of symbols littered throughout the play and the use of stage directions to accurately portray William’s intentions will provide any analytical reader with a provocative and entertaining read.