Stanley Kowalski

Throughout the play A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams develops Stanley Kowalski as what some would call a brute. He uses many different methods of characterization including indirectly through his actions, and his treatment of other characters, and directly from his description of him and other characters descriptions of him. Stanley is mainly characterized as a very hot-headed and animalistic person. There are many times in which this is shown through his actions. This is clearly seen when he gets angry at Stella and hits her. Not only does he hit his wife, but his pregnant wife. This is not a decision he would have made rationally though Stanley doesn’t have much of a rational side. Even when his friends try to calm him down he…

Despite their polar opposite upbringings, Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire share similar qualities that cause them to frequently bump heads with each other. They dislike the same qualities in the other that they have in themselves. For both characters, their passions and desires dictate their actions throughout the play. Both Blanche and Stanley express their feelings passionately, causing a blurred line of reality. These qualities and…

ordinary, fairly normal, and maybe even a little common. Stanley Kowalski, from Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire, certainly considers himself common, a fact he is both proud and ashamed of. He lives in a rougher city, where love is not always well understood. When his wife’s sister, Blanche, lives in his house for a while, Stanley is outraged and wants her gone, as she is everything he is not. Throughout the play, Stanley seems to dominate the scene with his loud presence. There are…

The play A Streetcar Named Desire explores brutality vs. tenderness displayed through the personalities of Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois. Marlon Brando's charismatic portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in Elia Kazan's film version of A Streetcar Named Desire undermines the validity of Blanche's struggle. The contrast between Vivien Leigh's Blanche and Brando's Stanley emphasizes the most negative aspects of Blanche's character while supporting and validating the most positive of Stanley's,…

of living. Stella can “hardly stand it when [Stanley] is away for a night”, implying a form of sexual dependence on Stella’s part on her husband, who represents the typically masculine, if so masculine it treads into the animalistic. This dependence of Stella on the aggressive sexuality of her husband exemplifies her refusal to acknowledge her status in the relationship, as the marriage being “something [she] wants to get out of”, to be married to an implied rapist – one who rapes even her own…

Whether the horrible acts are spoken, physically expressed or the result of death from gunshots, the overarching theme that these three all display fit collectively under the category that is violence. Verbal abuse leaves lasting emotional scars that often cause more damage than any other form of violence. Stanley Kowalski, the antagonist in the play A Streetcar Named Desire, is an absolute vulgar working class brute who because of his strength and ferocity feels he can do and say anything he…

Besides the fact that Blanche and Stella are sisters, from the DuBois family. Their family was once part of the wealthy Southern aristocracy. When Blanche arrives at her sister, Stella’s apartment she looks down upon the small apartment and her working-class husband. Stella is content with her and Stanley’s life. Stella and Stanley have had a relationship strongly based in animalistic, emotional, and sexual chemistry. When Blanche moves in Stella begins to attending to Blanche’s needs more…

Progressive Perspective on A Streetcar Named Desire As it relates to the meanings of plays time, place and atmosphere are critical to conveying the playwright’s perspective on a particular topic. The particular topic that is focused on in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is modern progressivism. This was a particularly edgy topic to speak on especially for the time period coming out of World War II. Tennessee Williams utilizes three key elements of time, place, and atmosphere to…

goal for example, in the play Act one starts with the inciting incident of Blanche arriving in New Orleans, she reunites with her sister, and meets Stanley. Conflict seems inevitable as we get a glimpse of Stanley’s violent nature and Blanche falling in love with Mitch. In Act two, protagonist works to achieve his/her goal and major part of story takes place, for example, in the play Act two, Stella reveals her pregnancy and Tension rise as Stanley grows more and more frustrated with…

Blanche arrives in New Orleans after having lost her family's tobacco plantation, with nothing but a trunk of clothes and her sexual desire to call her own. When first arriving in New Orleans, her sister's husband Stanley attempts to treat Blanche as any gentleman would, however Blanche refuses to ablige by his rules, and as the plot of the play continues Stanley starts to take any power that Blanche has left, until she is empty of any and has become completely marginalized. Stanley contributes…