Streetcar :: essays research papers

The play centers around Blanche DuBois, who has been fired from her teaching job, and arrives unannounced at the small two-room apartment of her pregnant sister, Stella Kowalski. Stella, who lives with Stanley, her rough and domineering husband in a poor section of the French Quarter in New Orleans, welcomes her older sister. Although Blanche portrays the part of an aristocratic young woman, in actuality she is nothing more than an aging Southern belle who has come to tell her sister that she has lost everything, including their childhood home, Belle Reve. Stanley’s suspicious nature causes him to assume that Blanche is keeping money from Stella and immediately puts him at odds with her. Stanley’s nature is violent and Blanche sees him as "common" in every way, so advises her sister to strike out against him. Stanley overhears this and cannot forgive Blanche, realizing her as a threat to his marriage. The two argue about everything, causing Stella to choose be tween them. The main problem comes when Stanley unearths Blanche’s sordid past. Mitch, Stanley’s gentle friend, has gradually been seeing Blanche from the time of her arrival. As a last resort to save herself from Stanley and poverty, Blanche expresses her hopes to marry him. Blanche’s past however, is tainted due to her promiscuity and her affection for young boys. She blames this on her ex-husband, whom she found lying with another man and soon afterward killed himself. On her birthday, Stanley informs Mitch of her many affairs, causing the deterioration of their relationship and killing Blanche’s hopes for the future. This causes a scene between Stanley and Stella, and as a result, she goes into early labor. The final conflict comes when Stanley and Blanche are alone in the apartment waiting for Stella to come home from the hospital. Stanley decides to take advantage of the situation and when he expresses his intentions, Blanche tries in vain to defend herself. The scene ends with her brutal rape by Stanley.