A Streetcar Named Desire // Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire is perhaps Tennessee Williams’ most acclaimed work, and for good reason: it’s a brilliantly written story of violence, class division and sexuality that has gone on to spout countless adaptations both on stage and onscreen – the most famous of which being the 1951 film starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando.
The play centres around Blanche DuBois, a fading southern beauty who goes to visit her younger sister Stella in a dilapidated part of New Orleans after losing her aristocratic family home. From the early pages it’s clear that something isn’t quite right inside Blanche’s head: she’s neurotic and obsessed with her looks, but also fragile and desperate for approval, obviously trying to hide from the demons of the past that haunt her mind. Stella seems to be aware of this and tries her best to make Blanche happy, much to the chagrin of her rugged but brutish husband Stanley. He and Blanche clash practically immediately, and from then on we see how his malicious actions slowly drive Blanche to the brink of insanity.
Not only did studying this allow me to finally appreciate that one episode of The Simpsons in full, but it also gave me one of the most captivating experiences I’ve ever had in any class. The play overflows with symbolism and motifs that can be interpreted in any number of ways, and it features some of the most memorable characters in all of literature, all of whom Williams refuses to reduce to strictly black or white portrayals. Stanley is a monster, but we are still allowed to feel moments of sympathy for him; likewise, Blanche is the character with whom we’re supposed to sympathise with the most yet she’s actually hard to root for at times and certainly not a character you’d typically find as the main protagonist. Above all, however, it gives a heartbreakingly accurate depiction of mental illness and the treatment of it in the mid-20th Century, as well as how if we’re not careful, one’s fantasies can end up overcoming their realities.
Words by Samantha King