Destruction and Desire

Desire is extremely important in Tennessee William's play—so important that it made its way into the title. Every character in the play has desire, but these desires are of a different nature from each other and consequently lead to different outcomes. Blanche's desires in the play are self-destructive and lead to her downfall. Stella's character tries to please everyone. Most of her desires are not for herself, but instead split between Blanche and Stanley. In the end, this conflict forces her to make a choice between the two of them.

Blanche's main desire is to be accepted. To her, this means being a youthful, elegant southern belle, and nothing less. She wants this so badly that she is willing to lie endlessly and shamelessly in order to be perceived this way. Stella's desires are divided. She desires Stanley, physically and emotionally, but she desires for Blanche to be happy. These desires conflict not only at the end, but throughout the entire play. Stella is constantly trying to please Blanche and make her comfortable in her new surroundings, bringing her cokes and liqueur, and taking her out for entertainment. She tries to do this without offending Stanley, who childishly vies for Stella's attention.

Both desires, though very different, lead to the same end. When Mitch hears about all of the scandal Blanche was involved in, her confronts her. He angrily says to Blanche, “lies, lies, inside and out, all lies.” Rather than apologizing when he comes over, she continues to play her part, shrieking when he pulls the light cover off the bulb and refusing to believe in her heart that she lied. Because of this, Mitch leaves. Blanche's overwhelming desire to be perceived as a young debutante ultimately destroys her relationship with Mitch. Once he leaves (or once he refuses to marry her), Blanche seems to lose some of her sanity, yelling “Fire! Fire! Fire!”

Though Stella's desires are benign, they work hand in hand with Blanche's destructive desires. Stella obviously has physical desire for Stanley, but their relationship is deeper than this. She wants to please him. After Stanley rapes Blanche, Stella is forced to choose between her husband and her sister. She tells Eunice “I couldn't believe her story and go on living with Stanley.” Eunice in return tells her never to believe it. The rape was Stella's breaking point. Even though she loves Blanche, she is forced to believe that she is insane. Stella still desires happiness for her sister, which is why she is unsure of herself and questions whether she made the right choice. Blanche has always been slightly insane, making up ridiculous lies, so she set herself up to be discredited in the end. Blanche tried to deceive the world by creating a “magic” image of herself, but because people could see through her lies, she ended up creating the image of a crazy person instead. Blanche was like the little boy who cried wolf. Everything she said was a lie, so the one time she needed people to believe her, they didn't.

Blanche's persistent desires lead to her ruin. Stella's desires for Stanley ultimately lead to Blanche's ruin because she is inclined to believe Stanley over Stella. This final decision is exacerbated because Blanche sets herself up for ruin. If Blanche had admitted, anywhere in the play, that she was wrong and apologized, the outcome would have likely been better for her. But instead, she held tight to her fantasies. She replaced realism with “what ought to be the truth.” Even if she was not truly insane in the end, this was the ironic reality that she had created.

A Softer Side

A Streetcar Named Desire has strong, memorable characters, which is why the play and its movie remake have gone down in history. The play develops the multiple dimensions of its characters, specifically Stanley, by subtly showing his inward motives. In both the movie and the play, Stanley Kowalski is foremost depicted as a callous brute. However, a close look at the text reveals a softer interior that possibly motivates his need to be powerful and controlling. The multiple dimensions of Stanley's character are seen mainly in his relationship with Stella.

Stanley is characteristically dominant and orders Stella around as if she is his property. At his worst, slobbering drunk, Stanley even physically abuses Stella. It seems difficult to overlook the brutality of such an event or blame it on the situation, but there is evidence in the text to suggest that Stanley exercises his power because he desperately loves Stella and fears losing her. Stanley's need to control his wife can be interpreted as a way of protection. When he is with his friends, he needs to show his strength and prove to them that his wife is his alone. There are instances in both the text and the movie that show Stanley's deep affection for his wife. The scene that follows this, made famous by the movie, is where Stanley shouts “Stella!” from the ground, hoping his baby will come back to him. This scene exposes Stanley's vulnerability. He is subject to his wife. He is at her mercy. We see how much he loves her because he is willing to break character and put his pride aside. Stella is the only person who can expose this side of Stanley. Obviously men don't usually abuse their wives out of protection, but we do see that under Stanley's tough exterior lies a deep, susceptible love for Stella. Stella is the only one who truly understands Stanley and is willing to overlook his offenses. She takes him back, and then later defends him to Blanche, saying “It wasn't anything serious as you seem to take it. In the first place, when men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen...he didn't know what he was doing. He was as good as a lamb when I came back to him and he's really very, very ashamed of himself.” She understands Stanley's true dynamic and recognizes the impact of the situation on his actions.

We also see Stanley's character developed by the way he repeatedly takes Stella in his arms. A specific instance where this occurs is when Stanley is defending himself for treating Blanche coldly at her birthday celebration. In the play, “Stanley turns slowly back toward his wife and takes her clumsily in his arms.” Stanley is somewhat beastly, acting on animal instincts. This is shown and referred to throughout the play and we see a glimpse of it now because he is awkward in embracing Stella. However, the embrace ultimately represents his love for her. Other times where Stanley draws her in, Stella is more resistant and pulls away. This sort of juxtaposition shows both his controlling aspect and his softer side. He loves Stella, but at the same time he feels the need to dominate over her.

Another case where is personality is developed is in his overall treatment of Blanche. He is rude to Blanche, tries to expose her true character, and even buys her a ticket to leave and gives it to her as a present. Even though he is rude to Blanche, she really brings it on with her incessant, ignorant facade. Under it all, Stanley's just wants the house back to himself and Stella. When Stanley is defending the way he treated Blanche, he says “Stell, it's gonna be all right after she goes and after you've had the baby. It's gonna be all right again between you and me the way that it was.” Stanley realizes that the tension between himself and Blanche has brought out the worst in him, but he wants her to leave so they he and Stella can go back to their old way of life. While his treatment of Blanche is harsh, he does have justified reasons for doing so.

It seems that Stanley is mean and brutish, but that his love for Stella overpowers this. The many aspects of their relationship, from Stanley's need to exert power over Stella to his tenderness and desire for her, all point towards Stanley's underlying softness and vulnerability. He shows his love for her in the little things like calling her “Stell,” and even his forcefulness and violence can be interpreted as a selfishness to have Stella all for himself.