Tennessee Williams' Narrative a Streetcar Named Desire

Tiernan Spencer

Intro to Lit

12/4/12

The Streetcar Who Brings Home Desire

Although lust is a common desire in Tennessee Williams' narrative A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), it is not the only dominant form at work. The reaction of violence in the drama unifies all of the main characters through Williams use of antagonism. Love through relationships such as Stella and Stanley's or Eunice and Steve's, Williams displays why Mitch's character is doomed with Blanche, the clear definition of desire. The craving for sex throughout the theater piece creates a strong personal connection between characters. Williams shows dramatic real-life situations throughout A Streetcar Named Desire by tearing apart characters by bringing in the one woman who defines what they're missing. Blanche: A character full of needs and wants; a clear definition of desire. Characteristics of desire ultimately divide and unite the drama's characters.

Lust, a form of sexual desire, is the first thing Williams wants to be noticed. After Stanley opens up the drama by heaving a package toward his wife, Stella, she laughs breathlessly before he exits the room, "Stanley! Where are you going?" Stanley replies "Bowling!" Williams writes "Can I come watch?" as Stella's instant reaction which implies the existence of lust Stella has for her husband Stanley (1540). Sex has a strong role in the intimate relationship between Blanche and her young husband Allan as well. Driven by sex and lust for Allan, Blanche didn't want to believe what she'd seen one night: the separate sexual desire Allan had for another man. Blanche explains to Mitch that she was dancing with Allan at the casino when suddenly, "...unable to stop myself - I'd suddenly said - 'I saw! I know! You disgust me...'" (1579). Allan bolted away from her when moments later Blanche heard a shot. Her husband took a revolver and shot himself. Blanche's heart died that night too. Sex is responsible for Allan's death, literally and figuratively. Mitch replies to Blanche's story with a hand to hold, "You need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be - you and me, Blanche?" (1579). Mitch and Blanche are turning to sex in their own time of loss and loneliness.

Turning to love for Blanche and Mitch is a way they are able to unite. They both clearly need each other: Blanche defeated by rejection and Mitch suffering from his mother's sickness. In a way, though, Mitch getting together with Blanche was an ultimate doom upon him. Blanche expects too much out of him when a relationship like Eunice and Steve's or Stanley and Stella's is what should be expected - based on where they live, New Orleans, and what time they are living within. However, sometimes love can divide characters, especially in A Streetcar Named Desire. As Stanley tries to convince Stella that her sister is a fraud, Stella's love for her sister won't let her believe it. "What - contemptible - lies!" Stella exclaims. Her disbelief in Stanley's accusations causes conflict between the couple. After dinner Stella tells Stanley to "go wash up," when moments after he goes into a rampage. "'Pig - Polack - disgusting - vulgar - greasy!' - them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister's too much around here!" (1585). Blanche and Stella's close relationship as sisters has taken over the sanity of Stanley. Clearly the influence of Blanche presence is inducing Stella to act out of the normal for Stanley to the point of affecting their marriage.

Blanche is full of wants and needs, unlike Stella and Stanley who were perfectly content with their lot in life until Blanche came into town. Stanley describes his view to Stella, "Wasn't it all okay? Till she showed here. Hoity-Toity, describing me as an ape" (1587). Obviously what Blanche thinks of Stanley is not the same as Stella's opinion. But what is normal? Eunice and Steve, the characters who live upstairs from Stella and Stanley, are Williams description of what "normal" is when it comes to the love of a typical married couple. Eunice speaks to Steve downstairs, "You never phoned me once." Steve says "I told you at breakfast - and phoned you at lunch..." Eunice replies, "Well, never mind about