The Stock Market Cras In A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams was a post-modern dramatist following World War II who brought Southern Gothic style to popularity. He conveyed realistic, broken characters to his audience, drawing inspiration to his own family. In 1947 A Streetcar Named Desire first appeared on the Broadway stage. In 1948 it had brought fame to Marlon Brando and won Williams a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Within the drama, themes of beauty, desire, manipulation, and social class draw empathy for the manipulative Blanche.
Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26, 1911, one of three children for Cornelius and Edwina Williams. His salesman father was known for drinking, gambling, and adultery (Adler). Williams moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi with his maternal grandparents after having suffered a kidney injury that left him with partial paralysis for two years (Adler). In 1918, he moved to St. Louis with his family, and began writing stories and movie reviews. The Stock Market
We learn of Blanche’s marriage to a gay man who committed suicide, sexual relations with students, and an unending desire to be attractive. Stanley eventually rapes Blanche before she is committed to a mental institution when her sister Stella does not believe her story.
The drama is set in “rat trap” apartment of Stanley and Stella Kowalski. The apartment’s only two rooms and exterior are visible to the audience. Located near the downtown bars, music can often be overheard during scenes. Williams famously portrays Southern Gothic dramas that were characterized by grotesque or fantastic incidents of the eccentric south (Encyclopedia Britannica). A Streetcar Named Desire starts with an almost whimsical tone as the wordy Blanche goes on about her life. As the story darkens we begin for feel sorrow and compassion for the unlikely