A Streetcar Named Desire Essay – A* essay (22/25)
‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams, is a tragic play, first
written and published in the 1940’s. The play is set in the boisterous
booze-soaked and cosmopolitan atmosphere of New Orleans and delves
into the opposing views of the “delicate beauty Blanche”, who represents
the crumbling deterioration of the Old South, and her brutish brother-in-
law Stanley, who represents the idyllic New South. Twisted with tainted
lies and a façade of integrity, the play latches onto the picturesque view
of the old South which Blanche desperately holds onto. In it’s attempt at
doing so however, Williams perhaps fails to acknowledge the perturbing
and macabre themes of slavery that the ante-belle Blanche desires.
Towards the beginning of the play, Williams orchestrates an idyllic
portrayal and exploration of the current New South which “invests the
scene with a kind of lyricism and gracefully attenuates the atmosphere of
decay.” Already through this vivid imagery, Williams connotes a sense of
serenity and tranquility that the New South brings; clearly the contextual
progression and “intermingling of society” corroborating the advanced
social cohesion in a society that is no longer crucially bound by the
constraints of segregation. Perhaps Williams may have done this to
showcase the vast improvement of the New South, yet this notion can be
questioned and critiqued through the juxtaposition of the scenery having
an “atmosphere of decay” that alludes to a form of corruption. This is
exacerbated by the plastic theatre used in Williams’s play, with the setting
of Stanley and Stella’s home being in “cramped quarters”, thus already
alluding to the compromises that the New South brings for people of
aristocratic past lifestyles such as Stella and Blanche.
Although Stella ostensibly conforms to the changes by marrying into a
working-class family; Blanche does not accept this but rather desperately
clings onto her anachronistic Southern Belle persona. This is clearly
established through her appearance being “incongruous to this setting” as
she is “daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice.” ; the stark
contrast of Blanche being represented in a different genteel mannerism
and the alliterative phrasing and connotation of “daintily dressed”,
symbolising not only a sense of elegance and pompous prestige, but also
heightening her pure innocent imagery of fragility and class, is due to her
affluent background of owning plantations. Although on a surface layer,
her patronising demeanour may seem something people would like to
‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams, is a tragic play, first
written and published in the 1940’s. The play is set in the boisterous
booze-soaked and cosmopolitan atmosphere of New Orleans and delves
into the opposing views of the “delicate beauty Blanche”, who represents
the crumbling deterioration of the Old South, and her brutish brother-in-
law Stanley, who represents the idyllic New South. Twisted with tainted
lies and a façade of integrity, the play latches onto the picturesque view
of the old South which Blanche desperately holds onto. In it’s attempt at
doing so however, Williams perhaps fails to acknowledge the perturbing
and macabre themes of slavery that the ante-belle Blanche desires.
Towards the beginning of the play, Williams orchestrates an idyllic
portrayal and exploration of the current New South which “invests the
scene with a kind of lyricism and gracefully attenuates the atmosphere of
decay.” Already through this vivid imagery, Williams connotes a sense of
serenity and tranquility that the New South brings; clearly the contextual
progression and “intermingling of society” corroborating the advanced
social cohesion in a society that is no longer crucially bound by the
constraints of segregation. Perhaps Williams may have done this to
showcase the vast improvement of the New South, yet this notion can be
questioned and critiqued through the juxtaposition of the scenery having
an “atmosphere of decay” that alludes to a form of corruption. This is
exacerbated by the plastic theatre used in Williams’s play, with the setting
of Stanley and Stella’s home being in “cramped quarters”, thus already
alluding to the compromises that the New South brings for people of
aristocratic past lifestyles such as Stella and Blanche.
Although Stella ostensibly conforms to the changes by marrying into a
working-class family; Blanche does not accept this but rather desperately
clings onto her anachronistic Southern Belle persona. This is clearly
established through her appearance being “incongruous to this setting” as
she is “daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice.” ; the stark
contrast of Blanche being represented in a different genteel mannerism
and the alliterative phrasing and connotation of “daintily dressed”,
symbolising not only a sense of elegance and pompous prestige, but also
heightening her pure innocent imagery of fragility and class, is due to her
affluent background of owning plantations. Although on a surface layer,
her patronising demeanour may seem something people would like to
