A Streetcar Named Desire Reflection
The play opens in the New Orleans in the 1940’s at the ground floor flat of a young couple, Stanley and Stella Kowalski. Upstairs lives another couple, Eunice and Steve. It is dynamics between these characters that makes the play very interesting. The character also helps bring out many themes such as gender roles.
I feel it is interesting to look see the sheer animal force of antagonist Stanley Kowalski is partly responsible for the fame of A Streetcar Named Desire. In this play, masculinity means aggression, control, and physical dominance. Accompanying these traits is a general lack of manners and sensitivity. The themes of brute masculinity are primitive and sub- human; and another is that it is attractive and sexually appealing.
It was fascinating to see the dynamics between characters. Blanche is a tragic character; she’s normally out of place geographically and temporarily. Blanche is lost, confused, living in her own fantasies. An important motif seen in relation to Blanche is Light; Blanche avoids appearing in direct, bright light. She also refuses to reveal her age, and it is clear that she avoids light in order to prevent him from the reality of her fading beauty. Important symbols are also seen throughout the play, for example in Scene Seven, Blanche sings “It’s only a Paper Moon” ballad while she bathes. The song’s lyrics describe the way love turns the world into a “phony” fantasy. She believes that her fibbing is only her means of enjoying a better way of life and is therefore essentially harmless.
Another theme, which I found important to discuss is the disconnect between the genders- the males and females in the play. The men and women do not communicate their feelings or desire with each other, and conversations often end violently. Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh’s performances as Stanley and Blanche illustrated the dynamics of disconnect very well.
The important theatrical elements in the play were the lighting and sound design. The lighting was extremely important to get right because it was a huge aspect of Blanche’s insecurities (the fact Blanche would avoid appearing in direct light). The sound design was so important because of the polka music tune cues explicit in the script. The polka music plays at various points in A Streetcar Names Desire, when Blanche is feeling remorse for Allen’s death. It is played in Scene One, when Stanley meets Blanche and asks her about her husband; the second appearance occurs when Blanche tells Mitch the story of Allen Grey. Polka plays increasingly often, which always drives Blanche to distraction.
Death is also a prominent feature in this play, and is very much connected to lust. Sex seems to be responsible for much of the death- literally- that we see in the play. Oddly, characters also turn to sex to comfort themselves in times of loss, which only leads to more destruction. I feel death metaphorically comes in all varieties in this play: the loss of reputation, well- being, relationships and youth.
Of all the plays we studied in this class, this play is the story I enjoyed the most. I was not strongly attached to the film, but the script and screenplay was a true work of art and theatre, and themes worthy of analysis and study.