LCC
PS3545.I5365
Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
New York : New American Library, [1972], c1947.
Description
Tennessee Williams' classic drama studies the emotional disintegration of a Southern woman whose last chance for happiness is destroyed by her vindictive brother-in-law.
User reviews
LibraryThing member AlCracka
I had some idea, from the hokey friendliness of the name "Tennessee Williams," and the cute titles of his plays - "Streetcar Named Desire"! "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof!" - they sound like musicals - I had an idea that these would be friendly. Pop culture. In the great telephone game of pop culture, what
So that was the wrong impression. This play is fucking dark.
I love the mix of realism and poetry here. Stanley is almost always realistic - in the style of other 20th-century playwrights, saying things that real people might say. But Blanche is all poetry, Shakespearean. (And she gets the best lines; most of the stuff I quoted below is by her. (The first one is Stella.)) Williams weaves those styles together wonderfully; that's one of his best achievements.
Here's me confused about the message:I'm not sure what to make of it. I sympathized with Stanley at his first appearance, because he seemed down-to-earth; then I sympathized with Stella, because Stanley was quickly uncovered as a violent man; then with Blanche, who just wants a fresh start; then with Stanley again, because he's really trying to tell the truth. In the end, Stella recedes into the background, an insignificant person - not Williams' fault; his decision - and Blanche emerges as the person you're most able to empathize with, out of a thin stable. So...the upper classes whore themselves out, are traumatized by homosexuals (which Williams was) and then raped by the emerging, grounded lower classes, who are furious at their shallow lies? To be led away in defeat and insanity? Hrmf, that doesn't feel like I've got it right. I'd like to read more of Williams' plays; I think there might be more to it than that. I mean, I think part of his point is clearly that people are too complicated for heroes and villains - but still, everyone has a point, and...I'm not sure I have a handle on his.
But I really liked this. I thought it was complicated and nasty and progressive. I got a lot out of this.
Here are some of the things I got:
Act I scene 4: "There are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark - that sort of make everything else seem - unimportant."
Scene 5: "When people are soft - soft people have got to court the favor of hard ones, Stella. Have got to be seductive - put on soft colors, the color of butterfly wings, and glow - make a little - temporary magic, just in order to pay for - one night's shelter! ... I've run for protection, Stella, from under one leaky roof to another - because it was storm - all storm."
"I want to deceive him enough to make him - want me...
Blanche, do you want him?
I want to rest! I want to breath quietly again! Yes - I want Mitch...very badly!"
Scene 6: "I made the discovery - love. All at once and much,much too completely. It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow...but I was unlucky." Holy shit! That next passage is unexpected.
Scene 9: "I'll tell you what I want. Magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don't tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, the let me be damned for it! - Don't turn the light on!"
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I ended up hearing was Marlon Brando yelling "STELLA!", which sounded pretty goofy to me.So that was the wrong impression. This play is fucking dark.
I love the mix of realism and poetry here. Stanley is almost always realistic - in the style of other 20th-century playwrights, saying things that real people might say. But Blanche is all poetry, Shakespearean. (And she gets the best lines; most of the stuff I quoted below is by her. (The first one is Stella.)) Williams weaves those styles together wonderfully; that's one of his best achievements.
Here's me confused about the message:
But I really liked this. I thought it was complicated and nasty and progressive. I got a lot out of this.
Here are some of the things I got:
Act I scene 4: "There are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark - that sort of make everything else seem - unimportant."
Scene 5: "When people are soft - soft people have got to court the favor of hard ones, Stella. Have got to be seductive - put on soft colors, the color of butterfly wings, and glow - make a little - temporary magic, just in order to pay for - one night's shelter! ... I've run for protection, Stella, from under one leaky roof to another - because it was storm - all storm."
"I want to deceive him enough to make him - want me...
Blanche, do you want him?
I want to rest! I want to breath quietly again! Yes - I want Mitch...very badly!"
Scene 6: "I made the discovery - love. All at once and much,much too completely. It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow...but I was unlucky." Holy shit! That next passage is unexpected.
Scene 9: "I'll tell you what I want. Magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don't tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, the let me be damned for it! - Don't turn the light on!"
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LibraryThing member EmScape
I'm not generally impressed with plays and movies of this era, as they portray a time when it was considered acceptable for men to treat women as property. Women endured physical as well as emotional and psychological violence, without a inkling that something may be wrong about that. When Blanche
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encourages Stella to leave Stanley after he hits her after the poker game, I agreed very firmly with her. I was amazed that Stella returns, and that she still stays with him after what he does to Blanche near the end of the play. Blanche is written as flighty and slutty and her final fate is galling because I believe she's the only character in the play with a lick of sense. I found myself reading this quite quickly because I just wanted it over with. The whole thing repulsed me. Show Less
LibraryThing member varwenea
“Stell-lahhhhh!”
“…I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”
The signature gut-wrenching holler of Stanley Kowalski and the delusional, helpless yet not, murmur of Blanche DuBois is entirely unforgettable in this 1947 play, 1951 movie.
Blanche DuBois arrives at the home of her
Tennessee Williams created some incredibly memorable characters in this play. I have to admit that it’s pretty easy to dislike Blanche. She talked endlessly, took advantage of Stella’s kindness, and lied. But she’s also very strong, having lived through the suicide of her young husband, the death of family members, and made (futile) attempts in keeping Bella Reve. Stanley’s description (see quote below) alone displays a bestiality that spells conflict. It’s not surprising that this play easily withstands the test of time.
BTW, there really was a streetcar named Desire in New Orleans.
Some quotes:
On Stanley:
“…he is of medium height, about five feet eight or nine, and strongly, compactly built. Animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes. Since earliest manhood the center of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it, not with weak indulgence, dependently, with the power and pride of a richly feather male bird among hens…… everything this is his, that bears his emblem of the gaudy seed-bearer. He sizes women up at a glance, with sexual classifications, crude images flashing into his mind and determining the way he smiles at them.”
On desire:
Stella: But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark – that sort of make everything else seem – unimportant. [Pause.]
Blanche: What you are talking about is brutal desire – just – Desire! – the name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another...
Stella: Haven't you ever ridden on that street-car?
Blanche: It brought me here. – Where I’m not wanted and I’m ashamed to be…
On affairs – I thought this was quite a double standard of men vs. women:
Mitch to Blanche: “You’re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother.”
“…I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”
The signature gut-wrenching holler of Stanley Kowalski and the delusional, helpless yet not, murmur of Blanche DuBois is entirely unforgettable in this 1947 play, 1951 movie.
Blanche DuBois arrives at the home of her
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sister, Stella Kowalski, full of pride even though she is full of hidden secrets including having lost the last of their proud family’s property – the Bella Reve mansion. She lied about her situation at every turn – her alcoholism, her job, her affairs, and definitely her age and her fading/faded beauty. Her holier-than-thou style and her prolonged stay at the Kowalski home infuriates Stanley who is a speaks-his-mind-freely, all primal type of man. The inevitable collision of ideals, both with their sides of rights and wrongs, culminates into an act of violence and the nervous breakdown of Blanche. Tennessee Williams created some incredibly memorable characters in this play. I have to admit that it’s pretty easy to dislike Blanche. She talked endlessly, took advantage of Stella’s kindness, and lied. But she’s also very strong, having lived through the suicide of her young husband, the death of family members, and made (futile) attempts in keeping Bella Reve. Stanley’s description (see quote below) alone displays a bestiality that spells conflict. It’s not surprising that this play easily withstands the test of time.
BTW, there really was a streetcar named Desire in New Orleans.
Some quotes:
On Stanley:
“…he is of medium height, about five feet eight or nine, and strongly, compactly built. Animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes. Since earliest manhood the center of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it, not with weak indulgence, dependently, with the power and pride of a richly feather male bird among hens…… everything this is his, that bears his emblem of the gaudy seed-bearer. He sizes women up at a glance, with sexual classifications, crude images flashing into his mind and determining the way he smiles at them.”
On desire:
Stella: But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark – that sort of make everything else seem – unimportant. [Pause.]
Blanche: What you are talking about is brutal desire – just – Desire! – the name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another...
Stella: Haven't you ever ridden on that street-car?
Blanche: It brought me here. – Where I’m not wanted and I’m ashamed to be…
On affairs – I thought this was quite a double standard of men vs. women:
Mitch to Blanche: “You’re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother.”
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LibraryThing member gbill
Blanche DuBois, a woman whose fortunes have changed for the worse, comes to live with her sister Stella and her brother-in-law Stanley in New Orleans. In Blanche and Stanley, Tennessee Williams created two of the stage’s truly great characters. Blanche faces alcoholism, faded beauty, and lost
Just this quote, on desire:
Stella: But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark - that sort of make everything else seem - unimportant. [Pause.]
Blanche: What you are talking about is brutal desire - just - Desire! - the name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another...
Stella: Haven't you ever ridden on that street-car?
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status; she tries to cover up past scandals both as a teacher and in her marriage, all while desperately trying to keep up the appearance and her own delusion that she’s still attractive to men. Stanley, meanwhile, is a primal force, all emotion, passionate, and abusive. Conflict between Stanley and Stella is inevitable. Who can forget lines like “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” from Blanche, or Brando screaming “Stella” in the film adaptation? It must have been very special to see that first cast in 1947, with a 23-year-old Brando.Just this quote, on desire:
Stella: But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark - that sort of make everything else seem - unimportant. [Pause.]
Blanche: What you are talking about is brutal desire - just - Desire! - the name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another...
Stella: Haven't you ever ridden on that street-car?
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LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
“Physical beauty is passing - a transitory possession - but beauty of the mind, richness of the spirit, tenderness of the heart - I have all these things - aren't taken away but grow! Increase with the years!”
When Blanche DuBois comes to stay with her sister Stella and her working class
There is another statement on American society and women's dependence on men. Blanche and Mitch are alone which draws them together despite being different but whilst Mitch loves Blanche she is more pragmatic believing that a union will cement her future. Similarly in the very first scene Stanley throws some Stella some meat much to her and her neighbour Eunice's amusement it is suggestive of both sexual dominance and the old male hunter gatherer stereotype.
I can see why it is regarded by many as a modern classic and studied fairly widely in schools and colleges.Overall this was a very enjoyable especially as it is not something that I would normally pick up.
When Blanche DuBois comes to stay with her sister Stella and her working class
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husband Stanley Kowalski she seems just an aristocrat who has fallen on hard times but it soon becomes clear that it is more about the battle between imagination and reality. Blanche is clothed in fading pastel dresses bedecked with costume jewellery refusing to give her true age or be seen in full light, covering a lamp with a paper shade and declining to go outside in daylight. She has had a number of passing sexual flings including being run out of town for having an affair with a 17 year old boy as she tries to cling onto her fading youth. Stanley in contrast is rooted in the present,physically handsome with a sort of animal magnetism, preferring beer,bowling and poker with his friends. He doesn't believe in Blanche's tales and it is he who unravels her past. They constantly clash culminating in Stanley's rape of Blanche.(The rape is not actually stated but is more implied as he throws her to the bed while the background music reaches a crescendo).Stella who has always stood up for Blanche refuses to believe in the rape sending Blanche into the final spiral of madness. It is also interesting that Stanley is of Polish extraction suggesting there is a transition in America from a society based on whites supremacy to a more multi-cultural one. Blanche represents the past whilst Stanley and his friends are the future.There is another statement on American society and women's dependence on men. Blanche and Mitch are alone which draws them together despite being different but whilst Mitch loves Blanche she is more pragmatic believing that a union will cement her future. Similarly in the very first scene Stanley throws some Stella some meat much to her and her neighbour Eunice's amusement it is suggestive of both sexual dominance and the old male hunter gatherer stereotype.
I can see why it is regarded by many as a modern classic and studied fairly widely in schools and colleges.Overall this was a very enjoyable especially as it is not something that I would normally pick up.
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LibraryThing member janemarieprice
This beautiful play is as wonderful to see as to read. It is interesting to have the staging descriptions as they are very detailed and sometimes abstract which is unusual for drama.
LibraryThing member Katie_H
I don't normally enjoy reading plays, but Tennessee Williams is an exception, and this one did not disappoint; it was excellent, a true masterpiece. The plot takes place in early 20th century New Orleans and tells the painful story of aging Southern belle, Blanche DuBois, her sister Stella, and
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Stella's dominant husband Stanley. Williams examines socioeconomic differences, prejudices, and sexuality, while drawing the reader in to Blanche's world of desperation. This was heartbreaking and unforgettable, full of desire, shame, and disturbing revelations. "Streetcar" should be essential reading for anyone interested in drama as well as those interested in classic literature in general. Now off to rent the movie... Show Less
LibraryThing member lymandrama
This is my all time favorite play. The devistation of the tragedy that unfolds is painful, yet Williams manages to create sympathy for each character, including Stanley, who, just before Stella goes into labor, pleads with his abused wife for her affections to remain with him, to stick it out until
Each time I read this with my students, they break into spontaneous applause at the end. Not for the circumstances of the play, but for Williams' ability to care about the outcome of this sad story.
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Blanche leaves, as his dominance is wavering and we see his weakness and desperation brought on by a simple mind in brutal circumstances.Each time I read this with my students, they break into spontaneous applause at the end. Not for the circumstances of the play, but for Williams' ability to care about the outcome of this sad story.
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LibraryThing member cmckee
In Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning drama A Streetcar Named Desire, a triangular relationship between Blanche Dubois, her sister Stella, and Stella's husband Stanley takes center stage. Blanche and Stella came from a refined breeding on a southern plantation, Belle Reve, in Mississippi;
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Stanley and his friends, however, come from a lower class upbringing. Throughout the story Blanche and Stanley are posed as competing opposites: the educated vs. street smarts; refinement vs. vulgarity; charm vs. rudeness; civility vs. brutality. The strengths of the play are the well drawn characters, a riveting plot, and compelling symbols (a lantern representing "magic") and ironies (a birthday "gift"--a bus ticket out of town!). Some critics claim Williams' main weakness as an author was his constant reference to his own household with an alcoholic father, abused sister, and weak mother. Students can be drawn in to many interesting discussions about the nature of the truth, for example, and the ever increasing harshness in society. Show Less
LibraryThing member KendraRenee
another disappointing classic. I like the WAY this is written--so much, in fact, that by the middle of the book, I was ready to list it as one of my favorites. But then Blanche got dragged to the crazy house, and the story officially got me depressed. I don't generally love depressing books, and
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this one's no exception. Show Less
LibraryThing member debnance
Whew! What a ride. What a terrible ride into the lives of three sad, miserable lives. Blanche comes to stay with her sister, Stella, after Blanche's life deteriorates. Stella has married and is expecting a baby, but her life is anything but cozy and warm. Stella's husband, Stanley, beats his wife
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and drinks heavily. Everything in this story echoes, No Way Out, and You are Doomed to Misery. Show Less
LibraryThing member laydonstorm
This american play was by far one of my favorite that I have ever read! Tennessee Williams uses this book to describe the events in the past that were taboo, such as domestic violence, alcholism, and insantiy. This play is shown through the lives of the two dynamic/round characters of Blanche
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DuBois and Stanley Kowalski. Both of these two opposing forces drive the story to its dramatic finish, where Williams leaves the reader thinking, "Why the Hell would Stella stay with Stanley after all he did to Blanche!?" Show Less
LibraryThing member Sean191
It's been a long time since I read the Glass Menagerie, but I believe Williams' female characters may be very similar. I don't think that's a good thing, but I thought it worked for this play. It's gritty, it's groundbreaking and in my mind, it's obvious as to why it's such an enduring classic.
LibraryThing member booksandwine
Read this in high school, Poor, poor Blanche. It was very well-written though, I do enjoy Tennessee Williams.
LibraryThing member ScottSummers
A Streetcar Named Desire is a powerful play that pits two foils against each other: Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche is a Southern belle whose star is fading, yet she still attempts to hold on to her pride after her husband's suicide and her dismissal from her profession. Stanley on the
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other hand is a working man's man, and symbolizes the growing industrial lifestyle of the 20th century. In the middle of all this conflict is Stella who must either decide to aid her sister or remain under the dominant force of her husband, Stanley. The climax of the play is disturbing and leaves the reader feeling an array of emotions that take sincere reflection to sort out. This play is good for high school students because of the culture clash that is described, the dominance of males figures, and the symbolic value of the streetcar named Desire and the town in which the play takes place. There are many options for teachers to consider when assigning this play, all of which foster a greater understanding of American literature in the 20th century. Show Less
LibraryThing member dbrotman
Read this in a safe place, and give yourself time to rest between scenes! It's wound so tight, and springs so hard, it can take the wind out of you. The main characters - Blanche and Stanley - will be imprinted in my memory for a long time. Blanche reminds me a lot of Laura in the Glass Managerie,
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but Williams develops the character type more in this play. She's just so broken and disconnected with reality that you can't help feeling deep sympathy and understanding, even when she's at her most fake and disgusting. On the other hand, Stanley is mainly just a one-dimensional brute. I guess you can justify his anger and vindictiveness a little if you consider the class context; Blanche really sets him off by acting so superior and denigrating him as a "Polack" when she is the one that's in desperate need. The fallen southern aristocrat who can't come to terms with her new position vs. the virile son of an immigrant who has married "class" but can't seem to live up to it. The other chartacters are mostly just spineless - Blanche's sister Stella and Stanley's friend Mitch. What a wonderful bunch Tennessee Williams comes up with! I've got to see the film version with Marlon Brando. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
Blanche is a southern belle whose youth is beginning to fade. She goes to visit her younger sister Stella in New Orleans and quickly finds herself out of her element in the city. Stella is married to a Polish brute named Stanley who is none too pleased to have his waifish sister-in-law in his home.
Blanche’s life fell apart when her young, sweet husband committed suicide. Since then she’s slowly lost control of things, but chooses to pretend that everything is going swimmingly; ignoring her problems in the hopes that they’ll disappear. She clings to her long absent aurora of virginal innocence in the hopes that ignorance really will provide bliss.
Williams had such a brilliant way of painting the most vivid, broken characters. He creates stories built around life’s disappointments and heart-breaks and pulls you into the characters’ dysfunctions.
Here’s the thing about reading plays, they’re not meant to be consumed that way so you really need to judge them by a different scale. Obviously you aren’t going to have three paragraphs describing the characters’ relationships and struggles; it’s all about the dialogue. You have to think about the way they would be staged and the emotions that would be conveyed when you saw it live. I’m especially reminded of this whenever I read Shakespeare. His work is brilliant, but so many innuendos or intense moments are missed when we skim a line of dialogue on the page.
That being said, I really enjoyed Streetcar. I watched the movie years ago, but I really wish I could see it performed. There’s something so visceral about that infamous scene when a drunk Stanley (Marlon Brando in the film), stands in the street screaming for his wife, “Stel-lahhhhh!”
BOTTOM LINE: I really liked it, but as it is with any play, I have no doubt that it’s better on stage than the page.
“Oh you can’t describe someone you’re in love with.”
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He’s determined to expose Blanche’s true nature and the problems she seems to be hiding. Blanche’s life fell apart when her young, sweet husband committed suicide. Since then she’s slowly lost control of things, but chooses to pretend that everything is going swimmingly; ignoring her problems in the hopes that they’ll disappear. She clings to her long absent aurora of virginal innocence in the hopes that ignorance really will provide bliss.
Williams had such a brilliant way of painting the most vivid, broken characters. He creates stories built around life’s disappointments and heart-breaks and pulls you into the characters’ dysfunctions.
Here’s the thing about reading plays, they’re not meant to be consumed that way so you really need to judge them by a different scale. Obviously you aren’t going to have three paragraphs describing the characters’ relationships and struggles; it’s all about the dialogue. You have to think about the way they would be staged and the emotions that would be conveyed when you saw it live. I’m especially reminded of this whenever I read Shakespeare. His work is brilliant, but so many innuendos or intense moments are missed when we skim a line of dialogue on the page.
That being said, I really enjoyed Streetcar. I watched the movie years ago, but I really wish I could see it performed. There’s something so visceral about that infamous scene when a drunk Stanley (Marlon Brando in the film), stands in the street screaming for his wife, “Stel-lahhhhh!”
BOTTOM LINE: I really liked it, but as it is with any play, I have no doubt that it’s better on stage than the page.
“Oh you can’t describe someone you’re in love with.”
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LibraryThing member teresamcg
Williams gives such depth to each character. Characters are incredibly different and fit the time-appropriate archetype. Blanche and Stanley are a great juxtaposition, the primal nature of Stanley contrasting with Blanche's desire for beauty. Musical cues weaved into the scenes build tension and
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create an aura of dramatic intensity. The booming of trains in the distance makes the scene feel raw and completely exposed, it works well as a symbol for escape. Williams uses lots of these symbols and even settings like the bathroom moments to really keep the audience tense. A bit of a tragic story, though a good read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Devil_llama
The story of a Southern belle who finds herself down on her luck and forced to live with her sister and her sister's working class husband. Blanche is a classic character, a troubled woman with a secret past who tries to make a new life for herself, but finds that she can't leave her old self
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behind. There's no escaping a reputation, especially when those you must rely on are scoundrels. This script manages to capture the sense of futility in life, and also provides a grim picture of the cost of pride, lust, anger, and prudery, especially when they meet heat on. It's difficult to find a truly sympathetic character among this lot, and Williams paints a clear picture of people who continue to destroy each other and themselves, and jump back into self-destruction with a relish. This script retains its power even all these decades after the fact because the characters and the situations are recognizable, perhaps even universal. Show Less
LibraryThing member anushh
Disturbind and depressing. I think I need some time to process it before I can say more.
LibraryThing member karenamorg
How I graduated from college without ever reading A Streetcar Named Desire (or even watching a dramatization of the play) is beyond me. When I finally settled down and read it, I was struck by how contemporary some of the issues remain (domestic abuse, alcohol abuse—including denial—mental
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illness and homosexuality). As a play, the dialog is powerful and the staging is very easily imagined. The weirdness of some relationships between sisters is reflected in the way Blanche and Stella relate to each other and could easily reflect a present day situation. The “cut to the chase”/no BS attitude of many working class people who simply have no patience for a lot of verbal gymnastics is perfectly realized in Stanley’s best lines. The play is also an effective vehicle for examining late 1940s American culture and also contemporary values and complicated family histories. At first I thought that it would seem very dated to a 21st century young adult reader, but with the right introduction and context, it remains a perfect choice for the study of American drama. Target audience 11th grade to adult. Show Less
LibraryThing member AmberTheHuman
I read this in college and had totally forgotten that I did that until recently, when I saw the movie for the first time. This play made me sad and angry, and watching the film, I was able to really sympathize with a woman who had no where to go. I've definitely felt trapped in my life, and my
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parents have almost always been an option, but without them - who is really always there for you? Show Less
LibraryThing member Becky221
Somewhat depressing look at family relationships in the South. I would have liked it more if Stanley had not been so irredeemably awful!
LibraryThing member br13wivan
Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is a very interesting play, specifically in terms of human morality (under certain circumstances). All of the characters show purity at one time, and then just how despicable they really are at another, which was honestly pretty clever, and it stops the reader
One of the two sides is Blanche, a woman who came from a rich and generally sheltered life, who herself hides some dark secrets, and whose life has been touched by tragedy a few times before. She has fallen on hard times and so she visits Stella, her sister, in New Orleans, where she meets the second side. Stella’s husband Stanley antagonizes Blanche, basically trying to get her to leave. One can see his point, given that Blanche showed up at a not-so-good time and completely disrupted their world with her own contrasting one, but one can also note his foul cruelty and ignorance displayed in his crusade. Blanche is a fragile woman whom their world is attacking. But yet again one could note Blanche’s confessed breakdown of morals and generally poor job of taking care of herself and her property (or lack thereof). Blanche eventually loses and is taken away, still without making it entirely clear who the pro- and antagonists really are.
The play is tragic. It is somewhat ambiguous at times, but primarily it’s tragic. It’s smart, though. Reading about a monster with a green silk bowling shirt and a dishonest woman with a rhinestone tiara is sad, and just... not fun to read about. But it’s really well done! That’s the problem with it, is that there’s nothing wrong with it, and yet it still is a drag to read because of the horrible things that happen to everyone. Which would imply that Streetcar’s style isn’t for everyone. Of course, whether I actually liked it or not shouldn’t factor into the rating, which is on how well it was written. Against my better will, I’ll give it 5 stars.
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from picking a side (though they ultimately do).One of the two sides is Blanche, a woman who came from a rich and generally sheltered life, who herself hides some dark secrets, and whose life has been touched by tragedy a few times before. She has fallen on hard times and so she visits Stella, her sister, in New Orleans, where she meets the second side. Stella’s husband Stanley antagonizes Blanche, basically trying to get her to leave. One can see his point, given that Blanche showed up at a not-so-good time and completely disrupted their world with her own contrasting one, but one can also note his foul cruelty and ignorance displayed in his crusade. Blanche is a fragile woman whom their world is attacking. But yet again one could note Blanche’s confessed breakdown of morals and generally poor job of taking care of herself and her property (or lack thereof). Blanche eventually loses and is taken away, still without making it entirely clear who the pro- and antagonists really are.
The play is tragic. It is somewhat ambiguous at times, but primarily it’s tragic. It’s smart, though. Reading about a monster with a green silk bowling shirt and a dishonest woman with a rhinestone tiara is sad, and just... not fun to read about. But it’s really well done! That’s the problem with it, is that there’s nothing wrong with it, and yet it still is a drag to read because of the horrible things that happen to everyone. Which would imply that Streetcar’s style isn’t for everyone. Of course, whether I actually liked it or not shouldn’t factor into the rating, which is on how well it was written. Against my better will, I’ll give it 5 stars.
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LibraryThing member xuebi
A Streetcar Named Desire is one of Tennessee Williams' best known plays and rightly so. Williams expertly creates the conflict arising from the mistrust Stanley has for Blanche and how Stanley figures into her mental collapse and eventual commitment. The rising conflict between these two characters
That scene, which gave literature of its most famous lines, is the crowning of an excellently realised drama and study in interpersonal relations.
A great work in American literature.
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is at the heart of this play, alongside Stella's concern for her sister; this makes the final scene all the more heart-breaking as Stella is complicit in the institutionalisation of her sister after Stanley attacked her. That scene, which gave literature of its most famous lines, is the crowning of an excellently realised drama and study in interpersonal relations.
A great work in American literature.
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Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1947-12-03
Physical description
142 p.; 18 inches
ISBN
0451121805 / 9780451121806