Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire

This play deals with many themes that we have seen before in other works of Southern literature. A few of them that I’d like to discuss are presentations of masculinity, female sexuality, interactions between the genders, and class conflict. Stanley is the epitome of what a male is supposed to be according to the prescribed gender roles we’ve discussed, “strongly, compactly built” (639), skilled at sexually pleasing women, and often described as having animal-like behaviors and intentions. His character reminded me of Faulkner’s character McLendon from Dry September. Both are described as strong and sweating and are supposed to be examples of masculinity, yet both achieve much of their power by keeping their wives submissive through force. By each of these characters being wife-beaters, the seemingly inherent nature of their male dominance is undermined. Since the hypocrisy of their power is revealed by the authors, it seems for Streetcar that Williams does not approve of the domestic violence that was occurring.

Yet Tennessee Williams’ depictions of women make me uncertain of his intentions with this work. His depiction of Blanche relates and intrigued me the most. She is clearly a flawed character, lying about her age and drinking. Blanche is also needy, constantly desiring male attention. For example, during the poker game in scene three she steps into the light between the two rooms in Stella and Stanley’s house so the men can see her shape as she undresses. Also, there is some uncertainty surrounding how Blanche lost Belle Reve, her presence at Hotel Flamingo, where she stayed the night of Stella and Stanley’s fight, and why she is no longer teaching. I think that her comment to the paper boy, whom she also inappropriately kisses, “I’ve got to be good—and keep my hands off children,” (663) may indicate that she has had some inappropriate relations with her high school students. Blanche also is very snobby, criticizing her sister’s living arrangements because they grew up on a plantation and are of a higher class of the dying Old South than Stanley and the others in this section of New Orleans. Each of these incidents and uncertainties add up to Blanche being a very troubled character. Yet she is the one expressing disapproval of the violent way Stanley treats his pregnant wife, Stella.

Stella, who is presented as the more level-headed woman who becomes disturbed by Blanche’s dramatic shrieking, is content with Stanley. She is a very sexual character who is “thrilled by” Stanley’s throwing things about (654). Her comments romanticize violence, and thus Williams’ portrayal of domestic violence is seemingly conflicting. As I explained before, a deeper look into Stanley’s presentation could indicate that Williams is criticizing his violence. Yet William’s choosing Blanche, who is erratic and unmarried, to be the one who disapproves of the rough treatment and Stella, who is nurturing and married, to be the one who does not mind it indicates a diverging perspective, in my opinion. This choice makes it seem like women who have a healthy sexual appetite will not mind being physically abused by their husbands because “things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark…make everything else seem—unimportant” (657), according to Stella. I hope that as the rest of the play unfolds, Williams portrayal of gender roles will more definitively show that domestic violence is something that needs to stop and that the way this town proceeds, with men hitting their wives and the wives easily forgiving them, is unacceptable.