Theme Of Class In A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, is a book about two sisters, Blanche and Stella, and Stella’s husband, Stanley. The book opens with Blanche coming to live with Stella and dragging all her problems in with her. The time period it was written and set in, 1940’s to 1950’s, is reflected in some of the major issues it tackles like class. Blanche and Stella come from what was a well-off family while Stanley was the polar opposite. By the beginning of the book, Stella has given up her high class lifestyle to become working class with Stanley while Blanche hangs on to what she can. The reason that many relationships are strained in the play is because of class, with Blanche representing the rich and Stanley and Stella representing the poor, as they both resent the other side.
Looking further into the issue of class in the play it becomes apparent that class has created very different viewpoints for the characters and that when these contrasting viewpoints clash, relationships are damaged and hurt. This dynamic is initially shown to the reader very early on in the play when Blanche first comes to live with Stella. As they are …show more content…
Blanche expected people to cater to her southern belle status as other higher class men would, and stand up when she entered the room. Stanley on the other hand expected, rightly so, for no one to stand up like a high class gentlemen. Blanche does not realize that she is now living as working class and is still retaining her high class mindset. This demonstrates how out of touch she is with the world she is residing in, and how problems could result from these expectations. This extrapolated to the rest of the play where Blanche is constantly coming into contact with working class people who have wildly different viewpoints. These encounters generally cause problems for all involved and further damaging and straining