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Stella Kowalski Essay

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Stella Kowalski Essay
The Significance of Stella Kowalski
In Tennessee Williams’s play: A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella Kowalski is torn between two important people in her life. On one hand, there is Stanley Kowalski; her aggressive husband who she is having her first born with. On the other hand, there is Blanche Dubois; her young, frail sister who is the only part of her past that she has left. Stella made the choice in the end of the play to put Blanche into psychiatric care, but stay with Stanley even though he betrayed her and Blanche. Throughout the play, Stella acts as a barrier between her husband and her sister, who both constantly put her in a position to choose one or the other.
Stella’s struggle with her sister is introduced right away in scene
…show more content…
When she heard that Blanche was taken with Mitch, she was ecstatic. A couple days later, Stanley came to her with this news that he heard from the supply-man, “…The trouble with Dame Blanche was that she couldn’t put on her act any more in Laurel! They got wised up after two or three dates with her and then they quit, and she goes on to another, the same old line, same old act, same old hooey! But the town was too small for this to go on forever! And as time went by she became a town character. Regarded as not just different, but loco---nuts” (Scene 7, pg.100). Stanley also had said that he had told Mitch all of it, and that there was no way Mitch would marry Blanche now. Stella was distraught and concerned for her sister’s future. Stella wanted so badly to believe her husband, yet she wanted to support Blanche as much as possible. How Stanley discovers Blanche’s past by going out of his way and asking around was neither for Stella’s benefit nor Mitch’s. It was because he felt like he must compete with Blanche to win Stella’s attention and love. Stella fully believed that the best thing for Blanche was for her to be with Mitch, and Stanley ruins this. Stanley is a strong opposing character for Stella to be with, not only because he is a fighter, but because he is quite selfish at

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