Stanley Kowalski In Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire

The character of Stanley Kowalski was first introduced as archetypal southern male of the 1940’s. Once his sister-in-law arrives at his doorstep, his flaws start coming out. His dominance is tested in what begins to bring out the flaws of the patriarch in society. What is not known is what the author’s motives for him are. Tennessee Williams’s play A Streetcar Named Desire leaves many readers with an ambivalence toward its main antagonist. There is no debate, though, that he is a just a normal man, living a normal life before Blanche came to ruin it. On one side, Williams himself forces Stanley to be the antagonist as a result of his questioning of a society such as that of the mid-1900’s. On the other side, Stanley is an illustration of William’s …show more content…
The way he does whatever he pleases and basically forces Stella to stand by his side no matter her feelings in the beginning of the play push many away from liking him. This aspect of the play is used to demonize him. Stanley’s hurtful behavior toward his wife and failure to give him the love he needed was what lead readers to be offended by him. He puts his time with his friends above all else. This is best shown in scene 3 when he hits and yells at Stella for having a radio on in the other room. “Stanley stalks fiercely through the portieres into the bedroom. He crosses to the small white radio and snatches it off the table. With a shouted oath, he tosses the instrument out the window." (56). These stage directions show how much of an animal Williams wants to portray him as. Instead of saying that he walked over to the radio, Williams chooses stalked, something associated with animals hunting prey. It can also be deduced that there wasn’t a good reason that caused him to do it other than to assert his dominance. Williams putting this scene in shows that he knows where he must go to prove that he does not agree with such a misogynistic