A Stre

etca

r Nam

ed D

esire

By Te

nnesse

e W

illiam

s

“I don

't te

ll wha

t's tr

ue, I

tell w

hat o

ught t

o be

true

.” -B

lanc

he

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

FAST FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR •Born Thomas Lanier Williams in Columbus, Mississippi on March 26, 1911.

•1937: completed English degree at the University of Iowa.

•Moved to New Orleans, LA at age 28 where he changed his name to Tennessee and came out as a gay man.

•Awarded his first Pulitzer Prize for Streetcar Named Desire in 1948.

•Awarded a Tony award for the screenplay, The Rose Tattoo, in 1951.

•Awarded second Pulitzer Prize for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1955.

•Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter.

•Died on February 25, 1983 at age 71 in New York City. 2

SWEET HOME MISSISSIPPI

Photo courtesy of www.preservationnation.org

The photograph above features Williams’

childhood home in Columbus, MS. Williams moved with his family to St. Louis, MO during his early teenage years where he spent the

majority of his young adult life. C

lipa

rt p

rovi

de

d b

y e

tc.u

sf.e

du

3

MOST SIGNIFICANT WORKS

The Glass Menagerie (1944)A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)The Rose Tattoo (1951)Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955)The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (1957)

Image courtesy of www.rankopedia.com

Ph

oto

co

urt

esy

of

stu

de

nts

.cis

.ua

b.e

du

Photo courtesy of www.flipkart.com

Photo courtesy of goodreads.com

Photo courtesy of students.cis.uab.edu

4

BACKGROUND ON THE PLAY: • Tennessee Williams (Thomas

Lanier Williams) first published “A Streetcar” in 1947

• Tragedy: Depicts the downfall of a hero or heroine. Tragic plots tend to stress order and process.

• Set in New Orleans in the French Quarter.

• Williams won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for this play.

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

Photo courtesy of moviepostershop.com

Photo courtesy of movies-wallpapers.net

Williams’ Pulitzer Prize winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire, shifted from the stage to the screen in 1951 in a Hollywood production, which stared Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh.

Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski and Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois

5

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Although Williams was working on the play during World War II, its setting in time (in the years after WWII) is of no real importance.

What is important, however, is its setting in terms of place…

America…

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Pre-Civil War (1861-65), the American South was to a great extent representative of its stereotypical image – think Gone With the Wind with cotton plantations, a landed elite who flaunted their inherited wealth and gentility and a slavery system based around the flourishing industries of tobacco and cotton.

THE STEREOTYPICAL SOUTH

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Slavery was regarded as evil by the Northern States, although the Southern States regarded it as essential for their tobacco and cotton industries.

• When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860 he promised (in a bid to keep the Union from breaking up) that slavery would continue to be legal in states where it already existed.

A DIVIDED COUNTRY

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• At first, the Northern half of the United States wanted only to stop slavery spreading to other states, but gradually as anti-slavery feeling grew stronger, the total abolition of slavery became the declared aim of the North.

• The Civil War occurred when the Southern States tried to separate from the Union in order to protect their “state rights” – amongst them the right to practice slavery.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• The American Civil War ended with the Confederate surrender in April 1865. As the Southern States had lost the war, many Southerners looked back wistfully to the plantation life that had characterized their region pre-Civil War.

• Yet as the traditional South declined, the Northern States prospered. Industry flourished and immigrants from all over the world arrived to make America their new home in a bid to achieve the American Dream.

THE AMERICAN DREAM

BLANCHE

• In the play, the character of Blanche symbolizes the crumbling grandeur of Southern plantations.

Blanchehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGttPdMEBOo

• Lost her fortune and her status in society

• She lost her young husband to suicide and has a bad drinking problem

• Panics about her fading beauty and is basically a dried up Southern belle

• Blanche depends on male sexual admiration for her sense of self-esteem

• Is trying to find a husband to fix her reputation

• Lies to cover up her unhappiness

• Bathes to erase her sexual encounters

STANLEY

• Stanley is the new American in the new America.

• He is an immigrant who believes that he too can achieve the American Dream.

STANLEY HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=LHWAD9NOA_0&FEATURE=RELATED

• He is from Poland and claims he is more American than Blanche because she represents old America.

• He hates Blanche because he sees immediately that she is lying to make it seem like she is better than everyone else.

• He also hates Blanche because she represents upper class while he has been lower class all his life.

• Appears to be a family man and seems to love Stella very much, until he beats her.

Famous Quotes from Blanche and Stanley…

• “They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!” –Blanche

• “Whoever you are- I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” –Blanche

• “I am not a Polack. People from Poland are Poles, not Polacks. But what I am is a one hundred percent American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth and proud as hell of it, so don’t ever call me a Polack.” – Stanley

EscapismEscapism is defined by Merriam-

Webster as the “habitual diversion of the mind…(or) an escape from reality or routine.”

Blanche finds escape through two resources: her male suitors or drunkenness. She is unable to deal with the death of her husband and the loss of her family’s estate, which ultimately leads to her instability.

http://youtu.be/DSTd1LuiVUs

Williams further explores escapism and the tragic results that are often yielded through the male-female dynamic, Stanley (reality) and Blanch (fantasy).

Photo courtesy of filmcement.org

6

Themes in A Streetcar Named Desire…

STELLA

• Acts as a foil to Blanche and Stanley and also tries to keep the balance between the two.

• Stanley and Blanche are almost battling for her love.

• Stella loves Stanley even though he beats her. Their relationship relies on violence to maintain the physical attraction.

• And Stella loves Blanche even though she causes her relationship with Stanley to waver and deals with all her ‘baggage’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1A0p0F_iH8

Because of Blanche’s instability she relies on men for her happiness as well as her sense of worth.

Stella, Blanche’s sister, is married to Stanley, who is abusive yet commands a domineering power over Stella.

“STELLLAAA!” http://youtu.be/S1A0p0F_iH8

Dependence on Men

Themes in A Streetcar Named Desire : II

Photo courtesy of moviespeechastreetcarnameddesire.html

Photo courtesy of art-burger.com

7

SYMBOLS

• Light: Blanche hides from the light. She believes that the light will show her fading beauty.

• Being drunk: another way to hide from reality.

• Moth: William describes Blanche as fragile and dainty like a moth.

• Rhinestone Tiara: Blanche’s fake glamor.

• Meat: Stanley tosses Stella a package of meat at the beginning. Think brute, raw.

ART REFLECTING LIFE

• Williams grew up in a fairly dysfunctional family. His father was emotionally abusive toward him due to his lack physical ability and consistent bouts of illness during his childhood. Throughout his life his mother was overbearing and overprotective of Williams, perhaps as a result of his father’s rejection.

• Many of Williams’ plays reflect themes that occurred in his own life. For example Stanley’s (from A Streetcar Named Desire) overbearing masculinity corresponds to Williams’ father domineering personality. Another example is the character of Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which Williams claimed was a directly influenced by his own father.

• After moving to Missouri as an early teen, “He (Williams) and his siblings were often ridiculed by other students because of their Southern accent. He also skipped school regularly and did poorly in his studies, preferring instead to escape into the world of reading and writing.”

- Ronald Hayman, Tennessee Williams: Everyone Else Is an Audience

8

• Because of Williams’ struggle in his day-to-day life, his familiarity with escapism transcended into his work and is portrayed through various characters, including Blanche DuBois, who, like Williams, looked to alternative ways to escape reality.