a streetcar named desire thesis

Thesis Ideas for "A Streetcar Named Desire"

The Symbolism and Imagery in "London" by William Blake

Death, sexuality, delusion and societal expectations create a dynamic rife with tension and power transfers in "A Streetcar Named Desire." Tennessee Williams' play tells the story of Blanche DuBois, an intelligent, fragile woman who moves in with her sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski after being expelled from her own community. Due to Williams' literary expertise and the bulk of existing scholarship the play inspired, it would be an excellent subject for a thesis in English or theater.

Power and Mental Illness

Blanche becomes gradually more immersed in her fantasy world as the play progresses, eventually claiming that her millionaire lover will whisk her away from New Orleans. Her circumstances exacerbate the condition, as it peaks in the aftermath of her rape by Stanley. Her brother-in-law exerts his authority by institutionalizing her, though as a rapist and abuser he is hardly the picture of mental health. A thesis on this topic would explore the ways in which Williams depicts the interplay of authority and delusion, specifically with regard to Blanche and Stanley.

A Place of Her Own

Blanche and Stella come from a wealthy family, and Blanche is deteriorating in part because she has lost so much of her status along with her ancestral property. Her sense of being displaced and dependent haunt her throughout the play; she is even willing to settle for the somewhat foolish Mitch to secure a home of her own. Conversely, Stella ran away from their home and seems unaffected by its loss, whereas the blue-collar characters who populate the play were born with no expectation of property. A thesis regarding the senses of place and status would explore the economic and immigration history of the postbellum South, as well as the psychology of ownership and belonging.

Diverting From the Norm

By Blanche's account, she found her husband Allan Grey in the embrace of another man, then later expressed disgust at a party. Grey committed suicide to spare himself further humiliation, whereas his young widow was left distraught with guilt, her innocence destroyed. Like Grey, Blanche would endure social stigma. In her case, she was turned away from an apartment for her numerous sexual liaisons and fired from a teaching post due to an affair with a student. "Streetcar" provides an abundance of material for a thesis regarding human sexuality, including Blanche's history as well as the somewhat primitive carnality expressed by Stanley and Stella.

The Pervasiveness of Death

Blanche arrives at Stella and Stanley's home in the Elysian Fields by riding two streetcars, one named "Desire" and one named "Cemeteries." Other references to death include a woman selling flowers for the Day of the Dead, the death of Allan Grey and Blanche's discussion of funerals. Some scholars believe these serve as harbingers of Blanche's death, but they may also indicate her spiritual death, as she is alive at the play's close. A thesis on this topic would explore these symbols and any relevant scholarship associated with them.

Related Articles

What Is the Problem in "Frankenstein"?

Character Synopsis of Celeste in the Book "Mystic River"

Summary of "Devices & Desires" by P.D. James

Research Paper Topics About Queen Elizabeth l

Narrative Techniques of Virginia Woolf

Differences Between "The Aeneid" and "The Iliad" in Epic Poems

Study Guide & Summary of "All My Sons" by Arthur Miller

Serenity & Endymion of Greek Mythology

• Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire; Philip K. Kolin
• Theater Journal: Authorizing History -- Victimization in a Streetcar Named Desire

Since 2003, Momi Awana's writing has been featured in "The Hawaii Independent," "Tradewinds" and "Eternal Portraits." She served as a communications specialist at the Hawaii State Legislature and currently teaches writing classes at her library. Awana holds a Master of Arts in English from University of Hawaii, Mānoa.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Plays — A Streetcar Named Desire

Essays on A Streetcar Named Desire

Choosing the right essay topic is crucial for your success in college. Your creativity and personal interests play a significant role in the selection process. This webpage aims to provide you with a variety of A Streetcar Named Desire essay topics to inspire your writing and help you excel in your academic pursuits.

Essay Types and Topics

Argumentative.

• The role of gender in A Streetcar Named Desire
• The impact of societal norms on the characters' behaviors

Paragraph Example:

In Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, the portrayal of gender dynamics is a central theme that sheds light on the power struggles and societal expectations faced by the characters. This essay aims to explore the significance of gender in the play and its influence on the characters' decisions and relationships.

Through a close examination of the gender dynamics in A Streetcar Named Desire, this essay has highlighted the complexities of societal norms and their impact on individual lives. The characters' struggles serve as a reflection of the broader societal challenges, prompting us to reconsider our perceptions of gender roles and expectations.

Compare and Contrast

• The parallels between Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski
• The contrasting symbols of light and darkness in the play

Descriptive

• The vivid imagery of New Orleans in the play
• The sensory experiences portrayed in A Streetcar Named Desire
• An argument for Blanche's mental state and its impact on her actions
• The case for the significance of the play's setting in shaping the characters
• Reimagining a key scene from a different character's perspective
• A personal reflection on the themes of illusion and reality in the play

Engagement and Creativity

As you explore these essay topics, remember to engage your critical thinking skills and bring your unique perspective to your writing. A Streetcar Named Desire offers a rich tapestry of themes and characters, providing ample opportunities for creative exploration in your essays.

Educational Value

Each essay type presents a valuable opportunity for you to develop different skills. Argumentative essays can refine your analytical thinking, while descriptive essays can enhance your ability to paint vivid pictures with words. Persuasive essays help you hone your persuasive writing skills, and narrative essays allow you to practice storytelling and narrative techniques.

Reality Versus Illusion in The Streetcar Named Desire

The theme of abandonment and brutality in a streetcar named desire, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

How Blanche and Stella Rely on Self-delusion in a Streetcar Named Desire

The character of blanche in the play a streetcar named desire, the truth of blanche in a streetcar named desire, a marxist criticism of a streetcar named desire, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

An Examination of The Character of Blanche in a Streetcar Named Desire

The flaws of blanche and why she ultimately failed, analysis of stanley kowalski’s role in tennessee williams’ book, a streetcar named desire, analysis of blanche and stella relationship in a streetcar named desire, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

The Concealed Homosexuality in a Streetcar Named Desire

Oppression, its brutality and its inescapability, is a dominant theme in literature, similar themes in a streetcar named desire by tennessee williams and water by robery lowell, first impression lies: the power and masculinity exuded by stanley kolawski, determining the tragedy potential in a streetcar named desire, how tennessee williams is influenced by the work of chekhov, the use of suspense in a streetcar named desire, a streetcar named desire by tennessee williams: personal identity of blanche, the portrayals of sexuality in cat on a hot tin roof and a streetcar named desire, evaluation of the social class ranking as illustrated in the book, a streetcar named desire, blanche and mitch relationship in a streetcar named desire, female powerlessness in the duchess of malfi and a streetcar named desire, a comparison between the plastic theatre and expressionism in a streetcar named desire, morality and immorality in a streetcar named desire and the picture of dorian gray, oppositions and their purpose in "a streetcar named desire" and "the birthday party", how femininity and masculinity are presented in ariel and a streetcar named desire, tennessee williams’ depiction of blanche as a casualty as illustrated in his play, a streetcar named desire, history defined the themes of a streetcar named desire, comparing social and ethnic tensions in a streetcar named desire and blues for mister charlie, the use of contrast as a literary device at the beginning of a streetcar named desire.

December 3, 1947, Tennessee Williams

Play; Southern Gothic

The French Quarter and Downtown New Orleans

Blanche DuBois, Stella Kowalski, Stanley Kowalski, Harold "Mitch" Mitchell

1. Vlasopolos, A. (1986). Authorizing History: Victimization in" A Streetcar Named Desire". Theatre Journal, 38(3), 322-338. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3208047) 2. Corrigan, M. A. (1976). Realism and Theatricalism in A Streetcar Named Desire. Modern Drama, 19(4), 385-396. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/497088/summary) 3. Quirino, L. (1983). The Cards Indicate a Voyage on'A Streetcar Named Desire'. Contemporary Literary Criticism, 30. (https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1100001571&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00913421&p=LitRC&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E8abc495e) 4. Corrigan, M. A. (2019). Realism and Theatricalism in A Streetcar Named Desire. In Essays on Modern American Drama (pp. 27-38). University of Toronto Press. (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.3138/9781487577803-004/html?lang=de) 5. Van Duyvenbode, R. (2001). Darkness Made Visible: Miscegenation, Masquerade and the Signified Racial Other in Tennessee Williams' Baby Doll and A Streetcar Named Desire. Journal of American Studies, 35(2), 203-215. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/abs/darkness-made-visible-miscegenation-masquerade-and-the-signified-racial-other-in-tennessee-williams-baby-doll-and-a-streetcar-named-desire/B73C386D2422793FB8DC00E0B79B7331) 6. Cahir, L. C. (1994). The Artful Rerouting of A Streetcar Named Desire. Literature/Film Quarterly, 22(2), 72. (https://www.proquest.com/openview/7040761d75f7fd8f9bf37a2f719a28a4/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=5938) 7. Silvio, J. R. (2002). A Streetcar Named Desire—Psychoanalytic Perspectives. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, 30(1), 135-144. (https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/jaap.30.1.135.21985) 8. Griffies, W. S. (2007). A streetcar named desire and tennessee Williams' object‐relational conflicts. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 4(2), 110-127. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/aps.127) 9. Shackelford, D. (2000). Is There a Gay Man in This Text?: Subverting the Closet in A Streetcar Named Desire. In Literature and Homosexuality (pp. 135-159). Brill. (https://brill.com/display/book/9789004483460/B9789004483460_s010.xml)

Relevant topics

• Macbeth Ambition
• Romeo and Juliet
• Hamlet Madness
• Death of a Salesman
• The Importance of Being Earnest
• Antigone Tragic Hero

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Bibliography

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

'A Streetcar Named Desire' Themes

• M.A., Classics, Catholic University of Milan
• M.A., Journalism, New York University.
• B.A., Classics, Catholic University of Milan

A Streetcar Named Desire deals with themes commonly found in Tennessee Williams ’ work: madness, homosexuality, and the contrast between the Old and the New South.

Homosexuality

A gay man, Williams wrote the majority of his plays between the 1940s and the 1960s, and back then homosexuality was still rooted in shame, with homosexual people playing a continuous game of illusions. 

Part of Blanche’s downfall has to do with her husband’s homosexuality and being disgusted by it. “A degenerate,” who “wrote poetry,” was the way Stella described him. Blanche, in turn, referred to him as “the boy,” whom she describes as having “a nervousness, a softness, and tenderness which wasn’t like a man’s, although he wasn’t the least bit effeminate looking.” Even though he never appears on stage directly, she manages to evoke his presence quite effectively in describing him and his subsequent death.

Blanche may even be characterized as a gay, male too. Her last name, DuBois, if anglicized, is “DuBoys,” and her whole character hints at male homosexuality: she plays with illusion and false appearances, as symbolized by the lightbulb that she covers with a paper lantern. “A woman’s charm is fifty percent illusion,” she says. This ambiguity on Blanche’s part is further emphasized by Stanley, who, with his brutish demeanor, sees through her act. “Take a look at yourself in that worn-out Mardi Gras outfit, rented for fifty cents from some rag-picker! And with the crazy crown on! What queen do you think you are?” he tells her. The fact that he uses the word “queen” pointed critics such as John Clum (author of Acting Gay: Male Homosexuality in Modern Drama ) towards seeing Blanche as an alter ego of Williams himself, but in drag.

Journey Between Two Worlds

Blanche journeys between two opposite, but equally inhabitable worlds: Belle Reve, with its emphasis of manners and southern traditions but lost to creditors, and Elysian Fields, with its overt sexuality and “raffish charm”. Neither is ideal, but they are stops along a slow destructive trip for the fragile Blanche, who was undone by the death and mannered immorality of the beautiful dream of Belle Reve, and is heading toward complete destruction in the Quarter. 

She goes to her sister’s apartment looking for asylum, and, ironically, she ends up in an actual asylum upon completely unraveling after being raped by Stanley.

Light, Purity, and the Old South

When moving to the Quarter, Blanche tries to appropriate an imagery of purity, which, we soon learn is just a façade for her life of destitution. Her name, Blanche, means “white,” her astrological sign is Virgo, and she favors wearing white, which we see both in her first scene and in her climactic confrontation with Stanley. She adopts the affectation and mannerisms of a Southern belle, in the hopes of securing a man after her first husband committed suicide and she had resorted to seducing young men in a seedy hotel. 

In fact, when she starts dating Stanley’s friend Mitch, she feigns chastity. “He thinks I am prim and proper,” she tells her sister Stella. Stanley immediately sees through Blanche’s game of smoke and mirrors. “You should just know the line she’s been feeding to Mitch. He thought she had never been more than kissed by a fellow!” Stanley tells his wife. “But Sister Blanche is no lily! Ha-ha! Some lily she is!” 

Sexuality and Desire

The three main characters of A Streetcar Named Desire are sexual. Blanche’s sexuality is decaying and unstable, while Stella, on the other hand, responds to Stanley’s thrown meat of the first scene with a gasp and a giggle, which has clear sexual connotations. The sexual chemistry shared by the Kolwaskis is the foundation of their marriage. “But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark—that sort of make everything else seem—unimportant,” Stella tells 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,” her sister replies. 

And when Stella asks her whether she had ever ridden on that streetcar, Blanche answers with “It brought me here.—Where I’m not wanted and where I’m ashamed to be . . .” She is referring both to the streetcar that she boarded and to her promiscuity, which left her a pariah in Laurel, Mississippi.

Neither sister has a healthy approach towards sex. For Stella, the physical passion trumps the more daily concerns of domestic abuse; for Blanche, desire is “brutal” and has dire consequences for those who give into it. 

Tennessee Williams had a lifelong obsession with “madwomen,” possibly due to the fact that his beloved sister, Rose, was lobotomized in his absence and later institutionalized. The character of Blanche displays several symptoms of mental frailty and instability: she witnessed her late husband’s tragic death; she took to bedding “young men” in the aftermath, and we see her drink heavily throughout the entirety of the play. She also, quite vaguely, blames “nerves” for her having to take a leave of absence from her job as an English teacher.

Once in the Quarter, the web of deceptions Blanche spins in order to secure Mitch as a husband is yet another symptom of her insanity. Unable to accept her own reality, she openly says “I don’t want realism. I want magic!” However, what breaks her for good is the rape by Stanley, after which she is to be committed to a mental institution. 

Stanley appears to be quite perceptive, despite Blanche’s insisting that he’s a monkey. He tells his wife that back in Laurel, Blanche had come to be regarded “as not just different but down right loco—nuts.” 

Symbols: The Naked Lightbulb and the Paper Lantern

Blanche can’t stand to be looked at in harsh, direct light. When she first meets Mitch, she has him cover the bedroom light bulb with a colored paper lantern. “I can’t stand a naked lightbulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action,” she tells him, comparing her hatred for the naked lightbulb to her hatred towards rudeness, indecency, and profanity. By contrast, the shade softens the light and creates an atmosphere that is more comforting and calm, thus removing any harshness. For Blanche, putting the paper lantern over the light is not only a way of softening the mood and altering the appearance of the room of a place that she deems squalid, but also a way of altering her appearance and the way others view her.

Hence, the lightbulb symbolizes the naked truth, and the lantern symbolizes Blanche’s manipulation of the truth and its impact on the way others perceive her. 

• The Setting of 'A Streetcar Named Desire'
• 'A Streetcar Named Desire' — Scene 11
• "A Streetcar Named Desire": The Rape Scene
• A Streetcar Named Desire - Scene Three
• 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Characters
• 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Overview
• 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Quotes
• 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Summary
• A Streetcar Named Desire: Act One, Scene One
• 5 of the Best Plays Written by Tennessee Williams
• Definition and Examples of Negative Contractions
• Was Shakespeare Gay?
• Biography of Tennessee Williams, American Playwright
• Banned Plays Through History
• 'Check Please:' a 1-Act Play by Jonathan Rand
• Richard III Themes: Power

• Bibliography
• More Referencing guides Blog Automated transliteration Relevant bibliographies by topics
• Automated transliteration
• Relevant bibliographies by topics
• Referencing guides

Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'A streetcar named desire'

Create a spot-on reference in apa, mla, chicago, harvard, and other styles.

Consult the top 37 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'A streetcar named desire.'

Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.

You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.

Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.

Davis, Jordan. "Gender-Based Behavior in "A Streetcar Named Desire"." W&M ScholarWorks, 1994. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539625893.

Bauer, Christian. "Stereotypical Gender Roles and their Patriarchal Effects in A Streetcar Named Desire." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Sektionen för humaniora (HUM), 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-17170.

Maiman, Nichole Marie. ""Who wants real? I want magic!" musical madness in A streetcar named desire /." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/1425.

Zúñiga, Hertz María del Pilar. "The glass menagerie and A streetcar named desire : Tennessee Williams and the confluence of experiences." Tesis, Universidad de Chile, 2013. http://www.repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/115664.

Cline, Gretchen Sarah. ""Madness, sexuality, and the dialectics of desire: Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire and William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying"." The Ohio State University, 1985. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1302706789.

Homan, Elizabeth A. "Cultural contexts and the American classical canon : contemporary approaches to performing Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 1997. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p9842537.

Borges, Guilherme Pereira Rodrigues. "Tradução e teatro : A Streetcar Named Desire, de Tennessee Williams, em múltiplas traduções para o português do Brasil." reponame:Repositório Institucional da UnB, 2017. http://repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/24095.

Lee, Kenneth Oneal. "Plays of Tennessee Williams as opera: An analysis of the elements of Williams's dramatic style in Lee Hoiby's Summer and Smoke and André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2003. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5536/.

Silveira, Gustavo Cardoso. "De A streetcar named desire a Um bonde chamado desejo: uma análise sob o enfoque da linguística sistêmico-funcional." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 2018. https://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/21270.

Silva, Luciany Margarida da. "Character, language and translation : a linguistic study of character construction in a cinematic version of Williams' A Streetcar named Desire /." Florianópolis, SC, 1999. http://repositorio.ufsc.br/xmlui/handle/123456789/81105.

Goldstein, Emily R. "Reasons to be Desired." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/686.

Jarekvist, Anja. "The social construction of gender : A comparison of Tennessee Wiliam´s A Streetcar Named Desire and Eugene O´Neill´s Long Day´s Journey into Night." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Sektionen för lärarutbildning (LUT), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-21784.

Weiss, Katherine, Stephen Bottoms, Philip Kolin, and Michael S. D. Hooper. "A Student Handbook to the Plays of Tennessee Williams: The Glass Menagerie; A Streetcar Named Desire; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Sweet Bird of Youth." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2014. https://www.amzn.com/1472521862.

Lee, Kenneth Oneal. "Plays of Tennessee Williams as opera an analysis of the elements of Williams's dramatic style in Lee Hoiby's Summer and smoke and André Previn's A streetcar named Desire /." connect to online resource. Access restricted to the University of North Texas campus, 2003. http://www.library.unt.edu/theses/open/20033/lee%5Fkenneth%5Foneal/index.htm.

Lane, Michelle I. ""Why do hurt people hurt people?" A SERIES OF CASE STUDIES EXPLORING ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS IN DRAMATIC TEXTS AND ONSTAGE WITH TONI KOCHENSPARGER'S MILKWHITE." Ohio University Honors Tutorial College / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ouhonors1492704228702652.

Joseph, Robert Gordon. "Playing the Big Easy: A History of New Orleans in Film and Television." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1522601211962016.

Quant, Brenda D. "From the Back of a Bus Named Desire." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2015. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2118.

Chritaro, Gustavo Rocha 1978. "A Streetmusic Named Desire : Jazz e Cinema no exemplo de Alex North." [s.n.], 2015. http://repositorio.unicamp.br/jspui/handle/REPOSIP/285320.

GONCALVES, LUCIANA AFFONSO. "A CRY NAMED DESIRE: THE VOICE IN THE POLYPHONIC CREATION OF MARIO DE ANDRADE." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2006. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=9067@1.

Kotynski, Anne Elizabeth. "A Study Named Desire: How Global Versus Local Attentional Focus Priming Alter Approach Motivation for Desserts." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1467979803.

Özer-Chulliat, Sibel. ""Se mettre en scène" dans les adaptations contemporaines de textes classiques : un point tournant dans l'art de la mise en scène ?" Thesis, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016USPCA133.

Wang, Pei-Wen, and 王佩雯. "Desire and Death in Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire." Thesis, 2010. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/44889972383540849109.

Chang, Yu-chi, and 張渝琪. "A Contextualized interpretation of A Streetcar Named Desire." Thesis, 1997. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/92423740606890858846.

Chen, Chun-Yu, and 陳俊佑. "“Crash of Streetcar Named Desire”,Scriptwriting and Performance." Thesis, 2012. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/84565161669590579906.

Chen, Szu-chia, and 陳思嘉. "Normalization in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire." Thesis, 2000. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/07716302864137677139.

呂季青. "A Translation and Introduction of A Streetcar Named Desire." Thesis, 2004. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/33892955411328494662.

Chou, Mei-huei, and 周美慧. "Blanche's Attachment in A Streetcar Named Desire: A Zen Approach." Thesis, 1998. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/35275056495651806887.

Wang, Huiting, and 王惠亭. "An Analysis of the Use of Symbols in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire." Thesis, 2011. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/50121873008821372763.

賴榆樺. "Elia Kazans A Streetcar Named Desire and Woody Allens Blue Jasmine: a Comparative Analysis." Thesis, 2016. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/49970190534611369133.

Yu-ling, Hung. "Multiple Masquerades and Contradictory Female Images in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Summer and Smoke." 2005. http://www.cetd.com.tw/ec/thesisdetail.aspx?etdun=U0001-1407200510551300.

Hung, Yu-ling, and 洪毓羚. "Multiple Masquerades and Contradictory Female Images in Tennessee Williams'' The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Summer and Smoke." Thesis, 2005. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/45039599020817382707.

Luz, Svea Sophie Pahlke. "Reality and illusion in theatre - Blanche DuBois and her individual perception of life in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams." Master's thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/20280.

Rodrigues, Elisabeth Porto. "De A Streetcar Named Desire a Um Bonde Chamado Desejo : o percurso discursivo de apresentação da personagem Stanley Kowalski em duas traduções brasileiras." Master's thesis, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10316/18165.

CHEN, LI-HUI, and 陳孋輝. "An Analysis of Tennessee William's "a Streetcar Named Desire", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", and "Rose Tattoo" from the Perspective of Symbolism and Actantial Model." Thesis, 2018. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/tac4ua.

林建輝. "Dream on: The Desire Named Thriller." Thesis, 2009. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/39048221369086790091.

"A streetcar named death: Public mourning, funeral directors, and the modernization of the New Orleanian funeral." Tulane University, 2021.

"A cry named desire: the voice in the polyphonic creation of mario de andrade." Tese, MAXWELL, 2006. http://www.maxwell.lambda.ele.puc-rio.br/cgi-bin/db2www/PRG_0991.D2W/SHOW?Cont=9067:pt&Mat=&Sys=&Nr=&Fun=&CdLinPrg=pt.

These 10 historic pieces tell the story behind "A Streetcar Named Desire"

For the last two decades The Historic New Orleans Collection has methodically built one of the most extensive Tennessee Williams collections in the world, and thanks to a generous endowment from the late Fred W. Todd, the holdings continue to increase. Hundreds of items chart the development and influence of Williams’s classic play A Streetcar Named Desire . The wide range of materials features objects such as the typewriter Williams used to write the play, early manuscript drafts, original playscripts, playbills, and photographs (including Vivien Leigh’s photograph collection from the shooting of the 1951 film version), as well as posters, lobby cards, first editions of published volumes, and foreign translations. Ten Streetcar items from vaults of The Historic New Orleans Collection follow.

1. The typewriter     Tennessee Williams used this typewriter to write A Streetcar Named Desire , according to its later owner Maria Britneva. ( THNOC, 2018.0393 )

Tennessee Williams gave this typewriter to his close friend Maria Britneva (later Lady St. Just) in 1951. According to St. Just, this is the typewriter on which he wrote A Streetcar Named Desire . Like most of Williams’s works, Streetcar took years to complete, and some of this work was done in New Orleans in 1946–47, while he lived in an apartment at 632½ Saint Peter Street. Following Williams’s death, in 1983, St. Just assumed the role of Williams’s literary executor.

2.  The Poker Night   A 1947 draft typescript is titled The Poker Night , the original title for A Streetcar Named Desire . ( THNOC, The Fred W. Todd Tennessee Williams Collection, 2001-10-L.588 )

As early as January 1947 Williams was referring to a manuscript that he was working on as The Poker Night . He had completed the work almost a year prior, on March 16, 1946. When his literary agent Audrey Wood saw the manuscript she knew she had a hit, but she did not like the title. In her memoir she notes that she thought The Poker Night sounded too much like a Western novel. Before Wood sent the manuscript to be typed by her staff, she crossed out the title The Poker Night and wrote in the more poetic A Streetcar Named Desire .

3. The playwright

Williams’s lover and companion during this period was New Orleanian Pancho Rodriguez y Gonzales, who lived with Williams at 632 ½ Saint Peter Street during the writing of Streetcar . His relationship with Williams was troubled and often erupted into violent verbal confrontations. Pancho later accused Williams of purposely pushing his buttons to see how he would react, as if he was studying Pancho’s behavior for inspiration. The intense, passionate tone of Streetcar likely reflects their tumultuous relationship. Some scholars suspect the character of Pablo Gonzales (one of Stanley Kowalski’s poker buddies) is patterned after Pancho, while others see shades of Pancho in Stanley himself.

4. The playbill

After testing the water in New Haven, Boston, and Philadelphia, A Streetcar Named Desire premiered on Broadway on December 3, 1947, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The response was all that Williams could have hoped for. The show was a hit from opening night on. The production ran for 855 performances and featured a theatrical production dream team that included director Elia Kazan, set designer Jo Mielziner, costumes by Lucinda Ballard, and a jazz score by Alex North.   

5. The Brando portrait

Marlon Brando is shown in A Streetcar Named Desire . ( THNOC, 2006.0110 )

Marlon Brando’s performance as Stanley Kowalski is one of the most iconic in the history of American theater, but at age 23, he was considered by some to be too young for the role. Brando himself had some reservations, but after being pressed by Kazan he took on the challenge. Kazan gave Brando $20 to travel to Provincetown, Massachusetts, to do a reading for the playwright and get the final OK. Apparently, when Brando arrived, Williams was in the midst of some plumbing issues. Brando fixed the problem, then gave his reading. Williams was enamored. Brando’s presence on stage was overpowering to the point that some of his fellow cast members complained, including Jessica Tandy, the first Blanche. Thankfully, Kazan ignored these complaints and let Brando do his thing.  

6. The original Blanche

The character of Blanche is one of the most nuanced and challenging roles to play in the American literary canon. Many scholars believe that the best portrayal came from the first person to perform the role: Jessica Tandy. Tandy impressed Williams, Kazan, and Irene Selznick with her performance in Williams’s one-act play Portrait of a Madonna. Her interpretation of the complicated Blanche brought a fragility and dignity to the role that engendered pity for the manipulative, self-interested aspects of the character. Her performance, which went on for over a year and half, was critically acclaimed and influenced future interpreters from Vivien Leigh to Ann-Margret to Jessica Lange. Tandy was sadly overlooked when three of her fellow cast members were included in the cast of the 1951 film version.  

7. The director

Williams considered Kazan the best director to interpret his work on stage and film. In a 1947 interview for Cue magazine, Williams said that Kazan was the “one-man theatre that brought Streetcar before the widest audience possible.” Kazan’s realism and his ability to draw emotion from actors fulfilled Williams’s expectations for Streetcar . In a letter from New Orleans to Kazan dated April 19, 1947, Williams writes of Streetcar : “There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ people. Some are a little better or a little worse, but all are activated more by misunderstanding than malice. A blindness to what is going on in each other’s hearts.”  

This rare image comes from a collection of photographs owned by Vivien Leigh, taken during filming. The photographs may have been given to Leigh for her to choose acceptable promotional images for the film, or they may have been given to her as a memento of her experience.  

8. The lobby card

The film rights to A Streetcar Named Desire were purchased by Charles K. Feldman Productions; filming took place in the summer and fall of 1950. Most of the Broadway cast was secured for the film, as well as director Elia Kazan. Tennessee Williams was invited to help screenwriter Oscar Saul adapt the playscript to a workable screenplay. The most problematic part of the adaptation was getting around the script changes demanded by Hollywood’s Production Code Administration. Some of the more significant changes demanded by the Code centered on the play’s controversial rape scene. Masterful direction by Kazan and some wordcraft by Williams and Saul made the film a success despite these changes.   

9. The leading lady

Vivien Leigh was not Kazan’s choice for Blanche: her casting was a decision forced on him by the studio. Leigh was a box office draw after the success of Gone With the Wind  (1939) and was familiar with the role, having starred as Blanche in the British stage production directed by her husband, Laurence Olivier. Kazan was worried that she would not be able to adapt to his complex vision of Blanche, who engages in a difficult balancing act with Stanley. In a letter to Kazan written from New Orleans on April 19, 1947, Williams described Streetcar   as “a tragedy with the classic aim of producing a katharsis of pity and terror, and in order to do that Blanche must finally have the understanding and compassion of the audience. This without creating a black-dyed villain in Stanley. It is a thing (misunderstanding) not a person (Stanley) that destroys her in the end. In the end you should feel—‘If only they all had known about each other!’”  

10. The global reach

Streetcar was quickly translated and adapted for non-US audiences, and its universal themes immediately resonated with readers and viewers throughout the world. Within two years of the Broadway premiere, major productions were staged in Havana; Mexico City; Rome (by noted stage and film director Luchino Visconti); Gothenburg, Sweden (by Ingmar Bergman); London (by Laurence Olivier); and Paris (by poet, visual artist, and director Jean Cocteau). The 1951 film version was released worldwide, reaching audiences of all social classes. The film defined and continues to shape popular perceptions of New Orleans around the world.

A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee williams, everything you need for every book you read..

The play is set in the shabby but rakishly charming New Orleans of the 1940s. Stanley and Stella Kowalski live in the downstairs flat of a faded corner building. Williams uses a flexible set so that the audience simultaneously sees the interior and the exterior of the apartment.

Blanche DuBois , Stella’s sister, arrives: “They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then to transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at––Elysian Fields!” Blanche is a fading Southern belle from Laurel, Mississippi. An English teacher (though hardly a schoolmarm), dressed in all white, she is delicate and moth-like. Blanche tells Stella that Belle Reve, the family plantation, has been lost, and that she has been given a leave of absence from her teaching position due to her nerves. Blanche criticizes Stella’s surroundings and laments Stella’s fall from their elite upbringing.

In contrast to Stella’s self-effacing, deferential nature and Blanche’s pretentious, refined airs, Stella’s husband Stanley Kowalski exudes raw, animal, violent sexuality. While Blanche flutters in semi-darkness, soaks in the bath, and surrounds herself in silky clothes and costume jewels, Stanley rips off his sweaty shirts under the bare kitchen light bulb. Though Stella still cares for her sister, her life has become defined by her role as Stanley’s wife: their relationship is primarily based on sexual chemistry. Stella’s ties to New Orleans rather than the lost Belle Reve are further emphasized through her pregnancy: she is bringing a new Kowalski, not a DuBois, life into the world.

While Blanche is bathing, Stanley rummages through her trunk, suspecting Blanche of having sold Belle Reve and cheated Stella – and thereby himself – out of the inheritance. Blanche reveals that the estate was lost due to a foreclosed mortgage, showing Stanley the bank papers to prove it”

Later that night, in the “lurid nocturnal brilliance, the raw colors of childhood’s spectrum” of the kitchen, Stanley and his friends are still in the thick of their drunken poker night when Blanche and Stella return from an evening out. Stanley’s friend Mitch catches Blanche’s eye, and as she asks Stella about him, she maneuvers herself skillfully in the light to be caught half-dressed in silhouette.

Blanche and Mitch flirt. Blanche hangs a paper lantern over a bare bulb. Stanley seethes that Blanche is interrupting the poker game. Eventually, Blanche turns on the radio, and Stanley erupts: he storms into the bedroom and tosses the radio out of the window. When Stella intervenes to try and make peace, Stanley hits her. Blanche and Stella escape upstairs to Eunice’s apartment. The other men douse Stanley in the shower, which sobers him up, and he is remorseful. Stanley stumbles outside, bellowing upstairs: “STELL-LAHHHHH!” Stella slips back downstairs into Stanley’s arms, and Mitch comforts Blanche in her distress.

The next morning, Stella is calm and radiant, while Blanche is still hysterical. Stella admits that she is “thrilled” by Stanley’s aggression, and that even though Blanche wants her to leave, she’s “not in anything that [she has] a desire to get out of.” Blanche suggests that they contact Shep Huntleigh, a Dallas millionaire, to help them escape. The only thing holding Stella and Stanley together, Blanche says, is the “rattle-trap street-car named Desire.” Stanley, unbeknownst to Stella and Blanche, overhears Blanche criticize Stanley as being coarse and sub-human. Blanche tells Stella, “In this dark march toward whatever it is we’re approaching . . . Don’t––don’t hang back with the brutes!”

Later, Stanley lets drop a few hints that he knows some repugnant details about Blanche’s past, and Blanche is nervous, but the tension does not crack just yet. While Blanche is in the apartment for Mitch to pick her up for a date, a Young Man comes to collect money for the paper. Blanche fervently flirts with him and kisses him on the mouth before Mitch arrives.

When Blanche and Mitch return from their date, she is exhausted with “the utter exhaustion which only a neurasthenic personality can know” and still nervous from Stanley’s hints. Blanche is still playing at being a naïve Southern belle who still blushes at a kiss. Mitch boasts of his strapping manliness, but by speaking quantitatively about his athleticism rather than stripping his sweaty shirt and baring his torso.

Blanche melodramatically tells Mitch about her tragic love life: when she was sixteen, she married an effeminate young man who turned out to be homosexual. Blanche reproached her husband while they were dancing the Varsouviana Polka , and her husband committed suicide. Blanche is still haunted by his death (and the play will become increasingly haunted with the background music of the polka).

About a month later, Blanche is offstage soaking in the bath while Stella prepares Blanche’s birthday dinner. Stanley tells Stella all about Blanche’s sordid history in Laurel, as Blanche sings “Paper Moon” from the bathroom (“It’s a Barnum and Bailey world / Just as phony as it can be / But it wouldn’t be make-believe / If you believed in me!”). After losing Belle Reve, Blanche moved to the dubious Hotel Flamingo until getting kicked out for her promiscuous ways. Blanche is not taking a leave from her school due to her nerves: she has been fired for having an affair with a seventeen-year-old student. Stella, rushing to defend Blanche, is horrified, and she is equally horrified when Stanley tells her that he has also told these stories to Mitch . Stanley informs Stella that he’s bought Blanche a one-way bus ticket back to Mississippi.

Mitch does not show up for Blanche ’s birthday dinner. Blanche senses that something is wrong. Stanley and Stella are tense. Blanche tries to telephone Mitch but doesn’t get through; Stanley, Stella, and the audience know what Mitch knows, though Blanche does not. Stanley presents Blanche with the bus ticket. As we hear the faint strains of the polka, Blanche rushes out of the room. Stanley and Stella nearly begin a huge fight, but Stella goes into labor.

Later that evening, Blanche is alone in the apartment and drunk ; the Varsouviana is playing in her mind. Mitch , also drunk, arrives and confronts Blanche. She admits that Stanley’s stories are true – that after her husband’s suicide, she had sought solace in the comfort of strangers. A Mexican Woman comes to the door and offers “Flores para los muertos.” Mitch tries to have sex with Blanche but without agreeing to marry her, though he then stops himself. She cries “Fire! Fire!” and he stumbles away.

It’s several hours later the same night, and Blanche has been drinking steadily since Mitch left. Stanley comes home from the hospital to get some rest before the baby comes. Blanche has put on an absurd white evening gown and a rhinestone tiara. Blanche makes up a story about Shep Huntleigh sending her a telegram from Dallas, and then tells Stanley that Mitch came back on his knees with roses to beg for forgiveness. Stanley shatters her stories, saying, “You come in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light bulb with a paper lantern , and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile! Sitting on your throne and swilling down my liquor! I say––Ha!––Ha!” He bursts out of the bathroom in his brilliant silk pajamas, and advances on Blanche. She attempts to resist him, but Stanley overpowers her with physical force: “Tiger­––tiger! Drop the bottle top! Drop it! We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!” She sinks down, and he carries her limp body to the bed; the swelling music indicates that he rapes her (offstage).

Weeks later, Stella and Eunice are packing Blanche’s bags while the men play poker in the kitchen and Blanche takes a bath . They have made arrangements for Blanche to go to a mental asylum, but Blanche believes Shep Huntleigh is coming at last to take her away. Blanche has apparently told Stella about the rape, but Stella refuses to believe her. When Blanche emerges from the bath, she is delusional, worrying about the cleanness of the grapes and speaking of drowning in the sea. A Doctor and Matron from the asylum arrive, and Blanche sweeps through the poker players to the door. When she realizes that this is not Shep Huntleigh come to take her away, she initially resists, darting back into the house like a frightened animal, but she cannot hide from the Matron’s advances. Stanley yanks the paper lantern off the light bulb. The Matron catches Blanche and drags her out. The Doctor treats her more calmly, calling her by name, and Blanche is mollified, grasping at her final shreds of dignity: “Whoever you are––I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” The Doctor leads her offstage. Stella, holding her baby in her arms, breaks down in “luxurious sobbing,” and Stanley comforts her with loving caresses.