A Streetcar Named Desire Animal Imagery Essay

In Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire animal imagery is displayed throughout the play within many characters. As many different factors and symbols Animal imagery pertaining to Stanley can be seen in the play when Blanche describes Stanley expressing “He acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one! There’s something – sub-human – something not quite the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something – ape-like about him, like one of those pictures…” (Williams 163) Stanley’s personality is shown in comparison to an ape which describes his wild, rambunctious and rowdy traits. Animal imagery is also shown while Blanche is compared to an animal. It is stated that “There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth” (Williams 117). The butterfly and cocoon symbol reflects Blanche’s attempts to re-create herself and, so to speak, spring forth a new, beautiful person from her cocoon of lies. These descriptions using animal …show more content…
It helped the reader better portray and understand the characters’ personalities. Stanley’s impulsive actions is one of the main reasons why he is viewed and associated as an animal. In scene eight, as Blanche was discussing a story, she compared a parrot to Stanley. In the story, the parrot is described as, “... a parrot that cursed a blue streak and knew more vulgar expressions…” (Williams 107). Blanche declares that Stanley is a bad-mouthed, annoying man. William’s use of animal imagery also showed the soft side of Stanley. The night after Stanley beat Stella, Stella claimed Stanley was “...good as a lamb…” (Williams 63). This shows the contrast from before when Stanley was described as an ape. William’s successful use of animal imagery allows the reader to be able to compare the characters to creatures such as apes so the readers can get a better understanding of all sides of the