Streetcar Named Desire Character Analysis Essay

In Tennessee Williams, "Streetcar Named Desire" the character of Stella Kowalski could be described as a passive, empathetic, and docile. Stella exhibits these traits when she is constantly being abused by her husband, yet always seems to come back, she claims its love and always finds excuses for his behavior. For example, in scene four, Stella tells Blanche “Yes, you are Blanche. I know how it must have seemed to you and I’m awful sorry it had to happen, but it wasn’t anything as serious as you seem to take it. In the first place, when men are drinking and playing anything can happen. It’s always a power-keg. He didn’t know what he was doing …. He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he’s really very, very ashamed of himself.” (Williams 1803). Stanley Kowalski is described as abusive, cruel, and the "typical macho man". For example, when he hits his wife “You lay your hands on me and I’ll- (She backs out of sight, He advances and disappears. There is the second of a blow. Blanche screams and runs into the kitchen. The men rush forward and there is grappling and cursing. Something is overturned with a crash.)” (1800) this indicates that Stanley’s relationship with Stella is physically abusive, because he still manages to beat her knowing
He is afraid that Blanche will take away Stella, he sees Blanche as a dangerous intruder that has come in between Stella and his life. In scene four, Blanche persuades Stella to leave Stanley, she points out the difference between the old Southern values and the ugly world, which Stanley inhabits. Blanche was raised in a rich plantation and Stanley was born in a rural city, because of his Blanche sees him as an animal with poor values. This play allows for several conflicts between Stanley and Blanche the clash between new and old, brutality and society, and those who resist or embrace change, of fantasy and reality, of gender roles, of lies and