RAJIV GANDHI NATINAL UNIVERSITY OF

LAW

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

ARUNJEET SINGH DR. NAVLEEN MULTANI,
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

ROLL NO. 18038

GROUP NO: 2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

On completion of this project it is my present privilege to acknowledge my

heartfelt gratitude and indebtedness towards my teachers for their valuable
suggestion and constructive criticism. Their precious guidance and
unrelenting support kept me on the right path throughout the whole project
and very much thankful to my teacher in-charge and project coordinators for
giving me this relevant and knowledgeable topic.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my teacher Assistant Professor Dr.

Navleen Multani for his guidance and encouragement in carrying out this
project work.

I also wish to express my thanks to my group members and my friends for their
ideas because of which this project became more captivating. I am also
thankful to my institution library for providing a broad range of books to learn
more.

2|Page
 RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF
LAW, PUNJAB

SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE

Dr. Navleen Multani Date:

(Assistant Professor of Law)

This is to certify that the project A Streetcar named Desire submitted to Rajiv
Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala in partial fulfilment of the
requirement of the B.A.LLB (Hons.) Course is an original and bona-fide
research work carried out by Mr. Arunjeet Singh under my supervision and
guidance. No part of this project has been submitted to any University for the
award of any Degree or Diploma, whatsoever.

3|Page
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CH-1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 6

CH-2: CHARACTERS ......................................................................................................... 7

2.1 Blanche Dubois ........................................................................................................... 7

2.2 Stanley Kowalski ......................................................................................................... 8

2.3 Stella Kowalski ........................................................................................................... 8

2.4 Mitch ........................................................................................................................... 9

CH-3: SETTING ................................................................................................................... 9

CH-4: THEMES.................................................................................................................. 10

4.1 Conflict between Reality and Imagination ................................................................. 10

4.2 Relationship between present and past ....................................................................... 11

4.3 Desire v. Cemetery .................................................................................................... 11

4.4 Manliness .................................................................................................................. 11

CH-5: SYMBOLS ............................................................................................................... 12

5.1 Varsouviana Polka ..................................................................................................... 12

5.2 Bottle top................................................................................................................... 12

5.3 Saccharine ballad ....................................................................................................... 12

5.4 Bundle of Meat .......................................................................................................... 12

CH-6: MOTIFS ................................................................................................................... 13

6.1 Light.......................................................................................................................... 13

6.2 Bath........................................................................................................................... 13

CH-7 EXPOSITION ........................................................................................................... 14

4|Page
CH-8: CRITICAL APPRAISAL ......................................................................................... 15

5|Page
CH-1: INTRODUCTION

“A Street Car Named Desire”, written by “Tennessee Williams” in the year 1947 is often
hailed as one of the most important plays in American history. The play won “Pulitzer Prize”
in the year 1948. The success of the play was such that it was later adapted into the film
which was released in year 1951. After the release of “The Glass Menagerie” which won
“New York Drama Critics award”, “Street Car Named Desire” affixed the place of Tennessee
Williams as Legend. As we know that that 20th century dramas were mostly influenced by
both world wars, following play is no different as it is affected by the resentment and
brutality of the protagonist brother-in-law which led “Blanche Dubois” to insane asylum. The
line, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”1 said by the protagonist is
considered as the 75th best line in the history of cinema. Characters in the plays of Tennessee
Williams are inspired from his personal real life incidents and experiences. The play is set in
street named Elysian Fields in New Orleans. The protagonist arrives at Elysian Fields by
taking a streetcar whose name is “Desire”. The protagonist and her sister belonged to
esteemed family but later we came to know that, Blanche lost their family’s tract “Belle
Reve” at the hands of creditors. Stanley, protagonist’s brother-in-law believes that there is
some mischief behind the conduct of Blanche as she is trying to cheat them by solely taking
away the money that came from selling the property. Blanche claims that she has taken
relieve from teaching because she was not well, but in reality she was asked to submit her
resignation as she had an affair with seventeen year old boy in the school. As the play
develops into later stages we came to know that Blanche was married at the age of sixteen but
died later by committing suicide. As a result, she fell sad while recalling him during various
stages of the play. Stella, Blanche’s sister is pregnant with the child of Stanley. Few hours
before Stella’s delivery Stanley rapped Blanche which initiated psychological crisis within
herself that land her in insane asylum. During her stay at Kowalski’s Blanche had brief affair
with Mitch, Stanley friend. Blanche and Mitch planned to marry with each other but latter
refused to do when he came to know about the former’s several sexual liaisons during her
stay at Laurel. According to Camille Paglia, “A Streetcar Named Desire was a total change

1
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, Fingerprint Classics, New Delhi, 2018, pp. 137.

6|Page
from The Glass Menagerie where the former had a tightly wound gentility and the latter
boasted boisterous energy and eruptions of violence” 2.

CH-2: CHARACTERS

2.1 Blanche Dubois

Blanche Dubois is the protagonist of the play “A Street Car Named Desire”. She is the elder
sister of Stella. Miller described her arrival in Elysian Fields as, “daintily dressed in a white
suit with a fluffy bodice, looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in
the garden district”3. In the first act we came to know that protagonist and her sister both
belonged to affluent family but due to untimely death of their family members, former lost
the control over “Belle Reve”. Blanche got married at very age of 16 with Allan Grey, who
later turned out as gay and thus committed suicide. She always present herself as dignified
women but in the later parts of the play we came to know that she had numerous affairs with
several individuals during her stay in Laurel, Mississippi. Not only this, she was even asked
to resign from school when it found that she had an affair with seventeen year old student.
But at the same time she can be portrayed as an epitome for the freedom of women equality
as she was quite disenchanted with Stanley when he the latter bashed the protagonist sister on
the Poker night in the Act three. She asked her sister, “How could you come back in this
place last night? Why, you have must slept with him!” 4. She always imagines that Shep
Hunteleigh, some millionaire in Texas would take care of her. She even dates Mitch,
Stanley’s friend and wanted to marry him but it didn’t work out because the former refused to
marry her when he found out about her past through some supply men who regularly visits
Laurel. She can be described as pathological liar but she justifies her lying by saying,
I’ll tell you what I want. Magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to
people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth, I tell what
ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it! 5

She went through psychological trauma when raped by Stanley just few hours before the birth
of latter’s child. At the end of the play she is sent to insane asylum shows the miserable
summit of Blanche's vanity and complete reliance upon men for satisfaction.

2
Kristy Puchko, “15 Facts About Tennessee William’s A Street Car Named Desire” (2017), Mentalfloss,
available at http://mentalfloss.com/article/513351/15-facts-about-tennessee-williamss-streetcar-named-desire
(last accessed 5 March 2019).
3
Id., at pp. 12.
4
Id., at pp. 57.
5
Id., at pp. 111.

7|Page
2.2 Stanley Kowalski
Stanley, twenty eight year old with compactly build physique served as an engineer in Army
during World War two. He has bad temper and often fights with Stella and his animalistic
behavior sometimes leads to domestic violence. At present he is employed in a factory as a
salesman. Miller describes his attitude towards women as, “He sizes up women at a glance,
with sexual classifications, crude image flashing into his mind and determines the way he is
smiling at them”6. He loves to play baseball and poker. He doesn’t like being called “Polack”
and even declares that he is born and brought up American. Stanley represents new diverse
America in which Blanche doesn't have a place, since she is a relic from an old social pecking
order. She is suspicious of Blanche from the beginning and thinks that she is trying to deceive
him by not showing the sale deed of “Belle Reve”. His enmity towards Blanche led him to
dig in her past and he uses her past to sabotage latter’s relationship with Mitch. At the same
time he is quite fond of Stella as he realizes his mistake and asked for forgiveness from her
when he beat her on poker night. Another example of his sadist behavior is that when he gifts
Blanche her return ticket on her birthday as he knew that she has not any other place to go.
The character of Stanley as represented by Miller is quite volatile as it takes no time to turn
him from egalitarian hero to antagonist when he beats his own wife. Another example of
degraded behavior is when he rapes his sister-in-law while his wife was in labor. The play
closes with a picture of Stanley as the perfect family man, consoling his better half as she
holds their infant kid while Blanche was taken to insane asylum by doctor and matron.

2.3 Stella Kowalski

Stella, twenty five year old is a sister of protagonist Blanche Dubois and is married to Stanley
Kowalski. In the act one, we came to know that she is bearing child with Stanley. Miller
describes her, “a gentle young woman, and of a background obviously quite different from
that of her husband”7. Like her sister, she was “southern belle” and left her family at the time
of crisis to pursue her own dreams and after some time she met Stanley, a war time veteran
and they both got married. She returns to Stanley even when he beats her at poker night (Act
Three) shows that how much she is sexually attracted towards the latter. She is lacerated with
the arrival of her sister as both Blanche and Stanley holds grudge towards each other.
Initially, she doesn’t believe the accusations made by Stanley towards her sister character.
Finally, in scene eleven she picked Stanley’s side and refused to believe that her husband has

6
Id., at pp. 24.
7
Id., at pp. 11.

8|Page
raped Blanche. It was Stella who agreed with her husband to send Blanche to insane asylum.
Hence, it can be concluded that Stella is sincere and impenitent in regards to her association
with her Stanley, and despite the fact that she cherishes her sister; she is practical and won't
let anything divide her and Stanley.

2.4 Mitch
Mitch is a friend of Stanley and both works in the same factory. At the age of thirty, he is not
yet married and lives with his ailing mother who is on death bed. He is very cautious in
taking care of his mother and tends to leave early at poker night as his mother can’t sleep
alone. His friends often mock him due to his tender character. Apart from Stella, he is the
only person who understands and cares for Blanche. In Act three he often says, “Poker
shouldn’t be played in the house with women” 8. In most part of the play he is described as
gentlemen who wanted to get married before the death of his mother. Both Mitch and
Blanche want to marry with each other but the former refuses to do so when he found out
about the latter’s past. He was always physically attracted towards Blanche. Even after his
break-up with Blanche he had affection towards her as he is seen crying in seen eleven when
the doctor was taking Blanche to insane asylum.

CH-3: SETTING

The drama “A Street Car Named Desire” is set in two-storey building in Elysian Fields of
New Orleans. Miller describes the setting as:
The sky that shows around the dim white building is peculiarly tender
blue, almost a turquoise, which invests the scene with the kind of
lyricism and gracefully attenuates the atmosphere of decay. 9

All of this play took place in this two roomed flat. The both rooms of this flat are merely
separated by a curtain. The arrival of Blanche seems an act of “Invasion of Privacy” to
Stanley. It is due to this reason he emphasize on the departure Blanche from their house from
the beginning. Stanley is found saying that everything would become normal between him
and his wife after the departure of Blanche from their apartment. It was because of this reason
he gifted return tickets to Blanche on her birthday. We need to take into account the affluent
background of both Stella and Blanche due to which it latter was discontented with two room

8
Id., at pp. 51.
9
Id., at pp. 9.

9|Page
flat in the beginning. On the contrary, this two room apartment is kingdom for Stanley as he
says, “Remember what Huey Long said- Every Man is a King! And I am the king around
here, so don’t forget it!” 10. This dialogue shows the superior complex that lies among men
even today in our society.
Miller says in the beginning, “A corresponding air is evoked by the music of negro
entertainers”11. There are several instances in the play where both black and white are
together which shows non-existence of racial segregation in the society. At the same time,
Blanche referred Stanley as “Polack”, an assertion based on ethnicity.
In this part of the New Orleans you are practically always just around
the corner, from a tiny piano being played. This “Blue Piano”
expresses the spirit of life that goes on here. 12

It is evident that Blanche is admires nature and her surroundings a lot but she never mentions
about the Blue Piano in the background which showed several alterations at the different
stages of the play. As the play is set in post world war era due to which “The setting of A
Streetcar Named Desire betrays the post-war tension between the sexes”13. Stanley acts as a
dictator at the home to establish his superiority over women as it happened in pre-world war
era and at the same time Blanche and Stella doesn’t want themselves to be subjugated at the
will of men which is the result of rise in feminist moments in 1950s.

CH-4: THEMES

4.1 Conflict between Reality and Imagination

Miller in his play “A Streetcar Named Desire” shows constant conflict between reality and
imagination from beginning to end. Blanche, on one hand tends to deny her fate whereas
Stanley on other hand represents harsh reality of life. As mentioned earlier Blanche herself
admitted that she ought to say what people wanted to believe instead of speaking out the
truth. At the same Stanley being a pragmatic person refuses to believe in the stories of
protagonist and dig out in her past. This conflict constantly grew throughout the play and
ends with Blanche being sent to insane asylum failing to kick-start new life. At the same
time, Miller shows that Blanche’s sister Stella fell in hands of phantasm when she refuses to

10
Id., at pp. 101.
11
Id., at pp. 9.
12
Id., at pp. 9.
13
Bradford, Wade,“Explore the Setting of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’”, ThoughtCo, Dec. 7, 2018,
thoughtco.com/the-setting-of-a-streetcar-named-desire-2713530 (Last assessed 9 March 2019).

10 | P a g e
believe that her husband had raped his own sister-in-law. Miller wants us to understand that
one should not abandon imagination as at the end it was the fantasies of Blanche that helped
her to escape from harsh reality of life.

4.2 Relationship between present and past

It was the Blanche’s past actions that led her demise in the present. In the first eight acts of
the play Blanche seems to be quite virtuous women with high moral character. She is about to
marry Mitch and start her own new life but revelation of her past conduct in Laurel quivered
her present life and initiated chain of events that land her in insane asylum at the end. Again,
answer behind Blanche’s behaviour in Laurel lies in the past. It was the untimely death of her
husband and other family members that filled her with loneliness. She believed that these
sexual relationships would fill void in her life but in contrast it tarnished her own existence.

4.3 Desire v. Cemetery

In the beginning of Act one, author suggests that Blanche’s sexual history would become a
reason for her ruin. When she initially reaches at Kowalski’s, Blanche says that she rode a
streetcar named Desire and then exchanged to a streetcar named Cemeteries, which led her to
a street named Elysian Fields. Actually, “Elysian Fields” means the “land of the dead” in
Greek mythology. Blanche's deep rooted quest for her sexual desires has prompted her
ousting from Belle Reve, her shunning from Laurel, and, toward the finish of the play, her
ejection from the society.

4.4 Manliness
Through the play, author wants to suggest that how man dominated the social life in post-
world war America. He suggests how social institutions of that time cause the exploitation of
women. Blanche, protagonist of the drama herself believes that she can only live a happy life
by marrying someone. The death of her husband has affected her in such a way that even
after all these years she become sad when remembers him. At one instance in the Act four
Blanche wants her sister Stella to leave her husband due to domestic violence and at the same
time relies on another man named Shep Huntleigh for help. Not only this, even Stella choose
her husband over Blanche by refusing to believe that former raped the latter as she feels that
Stanley represents more promising future.

11 | P a g e
CH-5: SYMBOLS

5.1 Varsouviana Polka

As we know that Blanche got married to Allan Grey at the age of sixteen. In the act six, she
tells Mitch that after some time of her marriage she caught his husband red-handed while
having sex with some older guy. After this episode, she impersonated that nothing has
happened and all three of them went to some casino. While dancing she said to Allan, “I saw!
I know! You disgust me”14. After this he suddenly ran away from the dance floor and
committed suicide by thrusting pistol into his mouth. Simultaneously, polka was disrupted for
few movements which show loss of innocence in young Blanche. It was the death of her
husband after which she started loose hold from the reality.

5.2 Bottle top

In the Act ten, when Stanley is about to rape Blanche, she smashes the empty bottle and
threatens former to not to come near her. But he forcefully catches her wrist and the bottle top
falls out of her hand which shows vulnerability of the women in present society. Along with
that “inhuman jungle voices” rises. All of these effects became the cause of Blanche’s
nervous breakdown and her retreat from reality.

5.3 Saccharine ballad

In Act seven we see Stella singing popular saccharine ballad which totally suits her
personality. The lyrics of the song are:
Without your love,
It’s a honky-tonk parade!
Without your love,
It’s a melody played in a penny arcade 15
Hence, the lyrics sum up Blanche approaches towards her life. At the same time, Miller
represents juxtaposition when Stanley simultaneously tells Stella about corrupted sexual past
of her sister. It was after the discovery of truth; Mitch refuses to marry with Blanche as he
firmly believes that she possess dishonest character.

5.4 Bundle of Meat

In Act One, Stanley tosses a bundle of meat towards Stella for her to get. This action sends
“Eunice” and “Negro lady” into chimes of giggling. Apparently, they’ve grabbed on the
sexual insinuation behind Stanley’s signal. By throwing the meat at Stella, Stanley expresses

14
Id., at pp. 89.
15
Id., at pp. 93.

12 | P a g e
the sexual ownership he holds over her. Stella’s take pleasure in getting Stanley's meat
expresses her fondness towards him.

CH-6: MOTIFS

6.1 Light
There is no denying in the fact that Blanche Dubois is very concerned with her looks
throughout the play. It was due to this reason she always prevents herself from going outside
in natural light. She very well knows that she is in her thirties but still doesn’t want to accept
the reality of her dwindling beauty. This light also reminds her of tormented past in which her
husband and family members died. In the act six, Blanche described her time with his
husband Allan Grey as “bright as vivid light” and says that after his death, that light has been
missing from her life. Hence, it can be inferred that all of the sexual affairs that took place
after the death of her husband were experienced in dull light. Thus, Blanche’s youth has been
described as “bright light” whereas later years of her life has been described has dull and full
of darkness. She becomes so much fond of the “dim light” that she even covers light bulbs in
her sister’s house by some “Chinese paper lantern”. These paper lanterns represent her
delusional lifestyle and all of her illusions fade away at the end when Stanley tear apart all of
these paper lanterns.

6.2 Bath

In several societies of the world it is believed that an individual can pacify his guilt by taking
bath in holy water. Prime example of this in contemporary times is that of “Kumbh” that take
place in India. Millions of people around the world attend Kumbh as it is believed that one
can soothe from his guilty acts by taking bath in holy water of the Kumbh. Same parallel can
be drawn in this play as Blanche several times says that bath calm her nerves. What she really
wants is, to erase her erroneous past. It is not only the case with Blanche but same thing
happens with Stanley when realizes his mistake (beating Stella) after taking bath and asks for
forgiveness.

13 | P a g e
CH-7 EXPOSITION

While being interviewed after the success of “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Miller admitted
that there was harshness and violence in his recent works. He justifies this by giving the
reason, “I have followed the developing tension and the anger and the violence of the world
and time that I live in”16. By the phrase “violence of the world”, he meant to say that the
society at that time was still facing various problems arising out from recently concluded
Second World War. Stanley represents pre-world war era ideology where it was believed that
men were better than women. On the contrary, Blanche represents post-world war ideology
which is influenced by several feminist movements of that time. It is due this reason Blanche
opposes domestic violence and wants her sister to give divorce to Stanley. Miller through his
play focuses on the problem domestic violence prevailing in American society at that time.
An article in the issue of TIME dated 50 years ago highlights a
mind-boggling study that concludes couples stay in abusive
relationships because their fighting can balance out each other’s
mental quirks. 17
Not only this, even doctors emphasized that husband beating his wife is some kind of
“violent, short-term therapy”. These doctors observed:
The periods of violent behaviour by the husband, serves to release
him momentarily from his anxiety as a man, while giving his wife
apparent masochistic gratification and helping probably to deal
with the guilt arising from the intense hostility expressed in her
controlling, castrating behaviour. 18

We have made lot of progress in these last 50-60 years but still there are several lacunae in
our present laws and most of these domestic violence cases are not even reported even today.
One of the reasons behind the unprecedented success of Miller’s “A Streetcar Named Desire”
is that it represented social problems prevalent in the society at that time. Through this play
he raises the voices of estranged victims of domestic violence and presents the idea of
“Equality among men and women” which was new for the American Society in 1950’s.

16
Id., at pp. 139.
17
Eliana Dokterman, “50 years ago, ‘Doctor Called Domestic Violence Theropy’ (2014), TIME, available at
http://time.com/3426225/domestic-violence-therapy/ (Last assessed 12 March 2019).
18
Ibid.

14 | P a g e
CH-8: CRITICAL APPRAISAL

“Tennessee Williams” family’s backdrop has influenced this play a lot. His father was
Alcoholic, his sister was admitted to insane asylum and he never denied the fact that he was
gay. These similarities were found in this play as protagonist was institutionalised, her
husband turned out to be gay and she was raped by her brother-in-law while he was drunk.
Jacqueline O Conner, in her article “Babbling Lunatics: Language and Madness” mentions
that, “Blanche as one of a number of protagonists whose voices are silenced by the accusation
of madness when they insist on speaking truths that the world is not prepared to hear”19. The
idea that brother-in-law raped his own sister-in-law is very harsh and not easy to digest.
People at those times don’t want to accept the social degradation of society and thus refuses
to accept it.
Louis Blackwell in his article says, “Williams is making a commentary on western culture by
dramatizing his belief that men and women finds reality and meaning in life through
satisfactory sexual relationships” 20. It is evident from the actions of Stella that how she is
sexually attracted towards her husband. Even Blanche wants to find right-mate for herself so
as she can live a happy life. Characters in the Tennessee Williams plays can be divided into
four groups:
I. Women have learned to be maladjusted through adjustments of abnormal family
relationships and who strive to break their bondage in order to find a mate 21;
II. Women who had subordinated themselves to a domineering and often inferior
person in an effort to attain reality and meaning through communication with other
person22;
III. Women who struggle to make relationship with men who are unwilling to make
lasting relationships23; and
IV. Women who have known happiness but have lost their mates and who try to
overcome the loss24.

19
O’Connor, Jacqueline, “Babbling Lunatics: Language and Madness”, in Bloom's Modern Critical Views.
Harold Bloom, New York, 2007, available at https://www.brighthubeducation.com/homework-help-
literature/119852-literary-responses-to-a-streetcar-named-desire/(last assessed 13 March 2019).
20
Blackwell, Louise. “Tennessee Williams and the Predicament of Women.” South Atlantic Bulletin, vol. 35,
no. 2, 1970, pp. 9–14. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3197002, available at
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3197002?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents(last assessed 13 March 2019).
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid.
23
Ibid.
24
Ibid.

15 | P a g e
Blanche Dubois falls in the first and the fourth category. In her past, Blanche suffered from
the untimely death of her family members. As a result, she lost her family’s wealth at the
hands of creditors. At present, she is broke and wants to find some male companion to start a
new life. Blanche also comes under fourth category as she lost her husband at very young
age. She was living happy life with her husband but with his sudden death, she went to Laurel
and had several affairs so that to fill void in her life. At the same time, her sister Stella falls in
second category. Stella belongs to wealthy family background but still marries middle class
fellow. Her sister Blanche can’t believe that how she is living in a two room apartment. Stella
refusing to believe that Stanley has raped Blanche and agreeing to send her in insane asylum
shows that at what level a person can go to defend his sexual partner.

16 | P a g e