● Amani Dilli. ● Ghazal Khayyat. ● Kholoud Afandi. ● Omaima Al-twaim. ● Shaza Sallam. Done by :

A Streetcar Named Desire is a play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams.

Introduction: A Streetcar Named Desire centres on a desolated woman named Blanche DuBois. Reared in Old South aristocratic traditions, she lived elegantly in the family homestead, married a man she adored, and pursued a career as an English teacher. But her life fell apart when she discovered that her husband, Allen Grey, was having a homosexual affair. Disgraced, he killed himself. Blanche sought comfort in the arms of other men, many men. After she had relations with one of her students, a 17-year-old, authorities learned of the encounter and fired her. Meanwhile, relatives died and she could not keep up the family home. Eventually, creditors seized it. The play begins when Blanche arrives in New Orleans to stay with her sister, Stella, and her crude, outspoken husband Stanley Kowalski. Though scarred by her past, Blanche still tries to lead the life of an elegant lady and does her best, even lying when necessary, to keep up appearances.

Structurethrough Contrast

Scene Structure : The most striking feature of Streetcar’s dramatic structure is its division into scenes rather than acts. Each of the eleven scenes that make up the play ends in a dramatic climax, and the tension of each individual scene builds up to the tension of the final climax. This structure allows the audience to focus on the emotions and actions of Blanche — the only character to appear in every scene. The audience is sympathetic to Blanche because they see more of her inner thoughts and motivations than the other characters on stage.

₪ Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire revolves around the male-female dynamic. ₪ The three main characters of the play are drafted to suit Williams' specific view of the relationship between women and men: Stanley is the brute-like male, Blanche the embodiment of the feminine delicate and over- imaginative spirit, and Stella, the submissive, weak type of woman, healthy and dedicated to her husband and family.

ContrastsContrasts

The major contrast is between Blanche and Stanley. It begins with how they grew up. Even their names and the way they sound are opposite. Blanche is aristocratic with a French name. She comes from a world of teas, cocktails and talks on a higher level. She searches for values and wants to keep the traditions of Belle Reve. Kowalski's are loud, aggressive. They come from a world, not of tea, but of cheap beer. They express their desires in crude, simple language and are concerned with physical things and money, not art and values.

₪ Colours are also contrasted between these two characters. Stanley is associated with vivid colours. Coarse, loud primary colours are his style. Blanche, however, selects pastels or white colours that are muted and muffled.

Truth vs. Reality: Stanley is simple, straightforward and honest. He embodies the unembellished truth. Blanche, obviously, typifies the opposite. A woman's charm she says is 50% illusion. Stanley hates the lantern for covering up the truth and deceiving others. ₪ Take note of the songs that Blanche sings in the bathroom.

Love : Another theme is Love. Stanley is satisfied by his animal desires. Love to him is a physical act to be enjoyed. To Blanche, love is not physical. What she needs is someone to protect her. Love is a concept that she places on a higher level, a spiritual level.

Light vs. Darkness: Stanley is into the reality of life. He is like a naked light bulb: harsh. He faces the way things are and doesn't delude himself. What Blanche calls "magic", he calls lies. On other hand, Blanche must soften the light with a flimsy paper lantern. When she saw what reality is like with her husband, it nearly broke her. "There has never been any light that's stronger that this -- kitchen -- candle" in her life since her husband's suicide. She uses the paper lantern to hide the strength of the light. This is the only way she can cope.

Loneliness: This theme looks at what loneliness can do to people. Bereft after her husband's suicide, she becomes a prostitute to fill her emptiness. She molests a young boy and deludes herself and others that she is charming and sociable. She invents tales about Shep Huntleigh (whether he is real or not, it doesn't matter). Loneliness is what brings Mitch and Blanche together. She is willing to put up with him rather than be a lonely spinster. He, in turn, needs someone to replace his mother.

Drunkenness: Both Stanley and Blanche drink excessively at various points during the play. Stanley’s drinking is social: he drinks with his friends at the bar, during their poker games, and to celebrate the birth of his child. Blanche’s drinking, on the other hand, is anti-social, and she tries to keep it a secret. She drinks on the sly in order to withdraw from harsh reality. For both characters, drinking leads to destructive behaviour: Stanley commits domestic violence, and Blanche deludes herself. Yet Stanley is able to rebound from his drunken escapades, whereas alcohol augments Blanche’s gradual departure from sanity.

Irony and contrast

Elysian Fields: The Street Elysian Fields is not what its name suggests, a paradise, but a shabby thoroughfare in a working-class district of New Orleans. By contrast, a street in Paris with the same name (but in French, Champs-élysées) is a magnificent boulevard. Blanche's attempt to see the world through the eyes of a Parisian is part of the reason for her descent into unreality and insanity.

Blanche is wearing white clothing and gloves, as well as pearl earrings, when she arrives in New Orleans to suggest that she has a pristine character. However, she prefers darkness and shadows to mask her physical perfections and, symbolically, her sinful behaviour. White and Black:

Speech: Blanche quotes poetry and speaks the elegant patois of aristocrats. Stanley speaks the sandpaper language of reality and brutality–coarse, crude, unvarnished.

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