Questions and Answers for A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire
In A Streetcar Named Desire, how is Belle Reve significant?
Belle Reve is the name of the former plantation where Stella and Blanche grew up in faded post-Civil War splendor (or decay, depending on your point of view). It is described as a southern mansion...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In A Streetcar Named Desire, what does Elysian Fields symbolize?
Elysian Fields is the name of the street on which Stanley Kowalski lives with Stella. The street runs between the train tracks and the river, and it is in a poor district with what Williams...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What is the significance of the two poker games in A Streetcar Named Desire?
The poker games in A Streetcar Named Desire serve dramatic as well as symbolic functions. The first game brings Stanley's male friends into the apartment, allowing Blanche to meet Mitch. The second...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What is the significance of the street vendor at the end of Scene 9 in A Streetcar Named Desire?
During Scene 9, Mitch confronts Blanche with her deceptions, and she finally tells him the truth about herself. As a backdrop to the scene, a blind Mexican woman selling "gaudy tin flowers that...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In Scene 5 of A Streetcar Named Desire, why does Blanche kiss the young man?
Scene 5 is pivotal towards the uncovering of the real Blanche Dubois. Having presented herself at her sister's house wearing her best garments and acting in her utmost polite ways, Blanche is...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What does the title of A Streetcar Named Desire refer to?
At first glance, the title A Streetcar Named Desire refers to the actual trolley that Blanche takes to get to the Kowalski home. It is first mentioned in the opening scene of the play when Blanche...
A Streetcar Named Desire
How would you describe the relationship between Stanley and Stella? I personally feel that it is a typical abusive...
It would be hard to make a case in today's world (or even at the time the play was written) that it is somehow not an abusive relationship between Stanley and Stella. I would not say that there are...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What does light symbolize in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Light represents reality, the very thing Blanche Dubois dreads most. She says to Mitch right up front, "I don't want realism. I want magic!" Blanche is a romantic who detests ugliness and...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In A Streetcar Named Desire, what does Blanche mean by "Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of...
This phrase is a gentile way of suggesting that the "stranger" she is addressing will take care of her, and the unsaid, ambiguous implication is that she will be "grateful" for such care. The...
A Streetcar Named Desire
Blanche says death is the opposite of desire. What does she mean?
In Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche arrives at her sister Stella's home via just such a streetcar, both literally and metaphorically. "Desire" refers to Blanche's previous...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, what is the meaning of Belle Reve to Blanche, Stanley, and Stella?
In playwright Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, the entrance of Blanche DuBois signifies the end of Stella and Stanley's relationship as they have known it, and Belle Reve, the...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What reasons does Stella have to stay with Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Stella is madly in love with Stanley. She wouldn't consider leaving him. In Scene One she tells Blanche, "I can hardly stand it when he is away for a night . . . " And then, "When he's away for a...
A Streetcar Named Desire
Are Stella and Blanche similar in A Streetcar Named Desire?
The play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams presents the diverse lives of sisters Blanche Dubois and Stella Kowalski. Blanche and Stella belonged to what was once a very rich and...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In A Streetcar Named Desire, what does Blanche mean by, "I don't want realism, I want magic"?
Blanche means in this utterance she has seen too much of the brutal realities of life: her husband's suicide over his homosexuality, her own poverty and prostitution, and behind that the fading of...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What is the role of old lady in the play A Streetcar Named Desire? She is dressed in black that Blanche...
The old woman in "A Streetcar Named Desire" is walking around selling flowers to mourn the dead. She is a seemingly minor character of little importance, but her presence here is figurative and...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In scene 4, Blanche lays out her objections to Stanley: There's something downright bestial about him! . . . He...
The ironic thing about this passage is that Blanche is, in some key ways, more like Stanley than she realizes. She complains that Stanley is motivated by brutal lust: being very blatant with his...
A Streetcar Named Desire
How is the theme of loneliness exemplified in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Many characters experience loneliness in this play, but the one who could be said to be the most lonely- and who acts upon that loneliness- is Blanche DuBois. Blanche spends all of her time in the...
A Streetcar Named Desire
How is deception presented in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Blanche DuBois is an iconic character because she has created such an engrossing deception about herself, her past, and her present and because of her struggle to continue to maintain this...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In A Streetcar Named Desire, what does Blanche tell Stanley about illusion and truth and what truth does she reveal?
In scene two, Stanley is under the impression that Blanche has sold Belle Reve and kept the money to herself, which prompts him to approach her and bring up the "Napoleonic code." In typical...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What is the significance of light in A Streetcar Named Desire?
In A Streetcar Named Desire, light is truth—something that Blanche repeatedly runs from. She is unable to face the truth about herself and her life, so she cloaks herself in shade and darkness....
A Streetcar Named Desire
What is the function of Stella's pregnancy and the newborn baby?
This is a very good question. Stella's pregnancy may have several functions, such as being a very conspicuous symbol of the exceptionally powerful sexual relationship between her and Stanley and...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In A Streetcar Named Desire, what does the repetition and contradiction in the arrangement of the polka music that...
The polka music, the Varsouviana, is one of the most important of the play’s many symbols. It represents Blanche’s worsening state of mind in the play. We learn from Scene Six, when Blanche relates...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What is the significance of the title of A Streetcar Named Desire?
A Streetcar Named Desire's title operates on many levels. Firstly, it references the name of the streetcar Blanche mentions taking before the play begins. However, the title also works on a...
A Streetcar Named Desire
Why does Stella stay in the abusive marriage with Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire?
In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams portrays Stella as a woman who loves her husband despite his abusive nature. There are times that the audience hopes that Stella is ready to leave...
A Streetcar Named Desire
Scene 5: How does Blanche present herself in a way to deceive Mitch?
It's not so much that Blanche deceives Mitch; it's more that Mitch gets the wrong idea about Blanche. He puts her on a pedestal, believing her to be a fine, upstanding southern lady. He projects...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, why does Blanche say that she has left her teaching job to visit...
Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire focuses on an aging Southern belle’s attempt to find a place for herself in her sister’s life. Her encounters with her aggressive brother-in-law...
A Streetcar Named Desire
Scene - 1, A Street Car Named Desire What is the opening stage direction indicate about the playwright's style and...
In the opening scene also shows a poor, blue collar neighborhood and is infused with jazz and blues piano notes that consistently put the audience in the mood of a New Orleans 1940's urban poor...
A Streetcar Named Desire
We've Had This Date With Each Other From The Beginning
I will take a bit of a different take on the statement. When Stanley says this to Blanche, it might signify that it was only a matter of time before the former would overtake and subsume the...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What are some quotes that suggest the rape in A Streetcar Named Desire?
There are a couple of quotes by Stanley in scene 10 that suggest that he is going to rape Blanche. He reaches a peak of exasperation with her in this scene over her continual lying and drinking....
A Streetcar Named Desire
In scene 2, Stanley mentions the “Napoleonic Code” repeatedly, in reference to his “rights” to his wife’s property;...
Stanley Kowalski's a domestic tyrant, a thuggish autocrat whose word is law in his household. It's not surprising, then, that he should look to the likes of Napoleon and Huey Long as political...
A Streetcar Named Desire
At the end of Scene 5 in A Streetcar Named Desire, why does Blanche say, "Sometimes-there's God- so quickly?"
This one is a bit complex. On some level, it is at this point in the drama where the tension between Blanche and Stanley is reaching its zenith. Stanley has been able to assemble what he needs to...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What is the symbol of the searchlight in A Streetcar Named Desire? Blanche: "I’d suddenly said--“I saw! I know! You...
Blanche's fear of the searchlight, as well as any powerful light in general that is stronger than the gentle light of a candle, relates to her fear of being seen as she truly is, which means that...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What types of imagery are used in A Streetcar Named Desire, and what do they mean?
One of the most important images of the play is the paper lantern that Blanche buys. Blanche "can't stand a naked light bulb" because she is so self-conscious about her aging beauty. She needs the...
A Streetcar Named Desire
Discuss the theme of appearance vs. reality in the play A Streetcar Named Desire.
I think that the previous post was very well spoken and strong in the analysis featured. I would only echo that the idea of appearance vs. reality is a driving element throughout the play....
A Streetcar Named Desire
What is the literary genre of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams? I am a drama student and need to...
Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named Desire falls under different categories, or genres, of drama: family drama, realism, and modern tragedy. "Family Drama" involves conflicts (without...
A Streetcar Named Desire
How do Blanche's costumes demonstrate a different persona that effects her own tragedy? A Streetcar Named Desire by...
Soon after the opening of Scene One of A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway in New York City in December 1947, Blanche du Bois enters the stage...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What is desire for Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire? My question is related to the movie A Streetcar...
Stanley’s desire is to keep the status quo in his home, which allows him the freedom to express his masculinity. He enjoys his life in his New Orleans tenement, where he lives with his pregnant...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In Scene 8, who is Huey Long and why would Stanley admire him?
The previous answer set up the historical context for why Stanley would admire the policies of Huey Long. Stanley agrees with the idea that a man should be the master of his own home. Like Long,...
A Streetcar Named Desire
How can Blanche's madness be shown using quotes?
Although we don't discover the true depths of Blanche's mental illness until later, the signs are certainly there early on in the play, as we see from the following words she speaks to Stella: I...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In A Streetcar Named Desire, what was Blanche's profession?
The answer to this question can be found in an early conversation that happens between Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski. Stanley actually states that Blanche is a teacher, and then he asks for...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What are the effects of all the conflicts in A Streetcar Named Desire?
There are multiple internal and external conflicts within "A Streetcar Named Desire". For purpose of ease, I will go through the characters and the conflicts that they face. Blanche DuBois:...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What causes Stanley to be angry in scene 8?
In scene 8 of A Streetcar Named Desire, all of Stanley's annoyances about Blanche and her attitude towards him, as well as, all of the insecurities this seems to bring up, comes to a head. He's...
A Streetcar Named Desire
Blanche declares, "I never was hard or self-sufficient enough. When people are soft—soft people have got to shimmer...
"Turn the trick" is a double entendre, meaning it has two meanings. The surface meaning is that Blanche realizes she is aging. This makes it more difficult for her to "turn the trick" of presenting...
A Streetcar Named Desire
Assess the significance of why Blanche would feel guilty regarding the story about Allan Grey's death.
When Blanche recounts the story of Allan Grey's death, in scene six, she describes him as "a boy, just a boy" who came to her "for help." She says that he was, metaphorically, "in the quicksands...
A Streetcar Named Desire
Describe Blanche, Stella and Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Blanche is the central character and appears in every scene. The action of the play revolves almost entirely around her. Blanche is a classic Southern Belle, to all appearances genteel and...
A Streetcar Named Desire
In Tennessee Williams' play "A Streetcar Named Desire," what sign does Blanche say she was born under, what what does...
In Tennessee Williams’ 1947 play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” the character Blanche comes to live with her sister, Stella, and Stella’s brutish, primitive husband Stanley. Stanley and Stella occupy...
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire American Dream
A Streetcar Named Desire does not present a favorable view of the American dream for any of the characters. One walks away from the play feeling as if the American dream is only for men. Even then,...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What are 3 reasons white is an important symbol in A Streetcar Named Desire?
Another meaning of the name "Blanche" suggests what post#4 discusses: the fading Southern Belle. For, the word blanch means to remove color. Also, it denotes sickness and fear--two symptoms of...
A Streetcar Named Desire
what is the relationship between the colors in ' A Streetcar Named Desire ' and major themes: death, love and pride?
Central to characterization and themes is the use of color by Tennessee Williams in his A Streetcar Named Desire. With intentional irony, Williams has named his main character Blanche DuBois, a...
A Streetcar Named Desire
What are some of the main moods in A Streetcar Named Desire?
The most dominant mood in this play is that of tension. There is conflict, whether underlying or overt, in every scene. The tension is created by the presence of Blanche in the Kowalski household....
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