A Streetcar Named Desire: Themes (CIE IGCSE English Literature)

Exam responses that are led by themes, or the ideas that a writer is exploring in their text, are more likely to reach the highest levels of the mark scheme. Exploring the text thematically, specifically in relation to the question being asked, will help to increase your fluency and assurance in writing about Williams’s play.

Below are some of the key themes that could be explored in A Streetcar Named Desire. This list is not exhaustive and you are encouraged to identify other ideas within the play. Below you will find sections on:

• Sex and desire
• Fantasy versus reality
• Gender roles

Desire is a central theme of the play, as demonstrated with the metaphor of the streetcar bearing the same name being the one that carries Blanche to Elysium Fields, representing one of her driving emotions, and the means of her undoing. Physical desire is also at the heart of Stella and Stanley’s relationship.

Knowledge and evidence:

• All of the characters are driven by “that rattle-trap street-car” in various ways:
  • Blanche and Stella talk in metaphors about “riding” on that particular streetcar, and Blanche bitterly replies that it brought her here
• Blanche initially seeks to deny her desire, but we later learn that acting on her desires caused her to be driven out of her hometown:
  • Much of Blanche’s character and behaviour rely on her perception of herself as an object of male desire
  • She flirts in a chaste and  pretentious way with Mitch, but approaches the Young Collector with determination almost akin to aggression
  • She dresses provocatively and constantly calls her appearance and body to attention
  • She clings to her sexuality and desirability more and more as the play progresses and she unravels:
    • The discovery of her first husband being a homosexual leads to a feeling of loss of desirability which, to Blanche, is like losing her identity and reason for being
    • She therefore links sexuality and death, and seems to believe that, by continuously asserting her sexuality, she will be able to avoid ageing and death
• Stella’s desire for Stanley pulls her away from her past:
  
  • She symbolises traditional, domestic femininity:
    • Her pregnancy reflects this
  • It is physical desire that is at the heart of Stella and Stanley’s relationship
  • She forgives Stanley for his violence as their sexual dynamic keeps them together
• Stanley represents a brutal, primitive sexuality, which attracts Stella:
  • His sexuality and masculinity are interconnected
  • He asserts himself sexually over both Stella and Blanche, and his carnal desires result in his eventual rape of Blanche
  • Blanche often describes Stanley using ape-like and primitive language
  • He therefore represents unrefined manhood:
    • But this also includes a blatant disregard for morality
    • Servicing his desires is a central part of who he is, so he has no problem driving his sister-in-law further into madness or raping her
    • It could be argued that Blanche is also attracted to Stanley on some level because she sees something of herself in him
• Throughout the play, sexual desire is therefore linked to violence and destruction

What is Williams's intention? 

• For Williams, desire symbolised a particularly destructive force:
• Like Blanche, Williams had many sexual encounters, and suffered from loneliness and depression
• He therefore could be suggesting that being driven by desire is self-destructive
• The message could be that indulging in one’s desires leads to loneliness, ostracisation or untimely ends
• Blanche’s fall into madness can be read as the ending brought about by her flaw – her inability to act appropriately on her desires:
• Her fate seems to be predetermined, as symbolised by the image of the streetcar rattling onwards towards its inevitable final destination

One of the basic tensions in this play is the one between the romantic and the realistic, or between fantasy and reality. This is most obviously symbolised through Blanche as the romantic fantasist and Stanley as the realist, and Blanche’s dependence on fantasy and illusion is contrasted with Stanley’s down-to-earth view of the world, which eventually “wins”.

Knowledge and evidence:

• Blanche lives in a fantasy of her own making:
  • This acts as her primary means of self-defence and survival:
    • She doesn’t want reality – she wants “magic”
  • Her lies and fantasies are based on her inability to confront and accept the truth
  • By living in her own version of reality, she tries to protect herself from the pain of the tragedies she has had to endure:
    • She makes her life appear as it should be, rather than as it is
  • But Blanche’s desire to escape causes her mental collapse, so that by the end of the play, she can no longer distinguish between fantasy and real life
  • Following her treatment by Stanley, she retreats from reality into her make-believe world
• In order to survive, Stella must also live in a kind of illusion:
  • She forces herself to believe that Blanche was lying when she told her that Stanley raped her, in order to survive
• In contrast, Stanley deals in practicalities, reality and what he sees to be the truth:
  • He tells Stella and Mitch what he has discovered about Blanche’s past
  • He disdains Blanche’s lies and does everything he can to expose them

What is Williams's intention? 

• The characters of Blanche and Stanley represent the struggle between appearance and reality, in which reality ultimately wins:
• Williams blurs the boundaries between the interiors of the apartments and the exterior of the street, so that the audience are able to see both at the same time
• Williams also uses light to represent the harsh reality of Stanley and the dimmed focus of Blanche:
• Stanley sees things as they are
• Whereas Blanche prefers shadow and illusion
• The play is structured on the presentation of two conflicting worlds:
• The two worlds are incompatible, resulting in a series of direct confrontations until one is destroyed
• However, even though reality wins, Williams establishes fantasy as a useful tool for self-preservation:
• Fear of madness was another driving force for Williams, along with guilt over what happened to his sister, Rose, who was institutionalised and subjected to a prefrontal lobotomy

One of the other key themes Williams addresses in the play is gender stereotyping, following the emerging post-war American ideals that championed masculinity and patriarchal values. Williams also uses Blanche and Stella’s dependence on men to critique the treatment of women and their position in society.

Knowledge and evidence:

• Stella and Stanley represent traditional, patriarchal gender roles
• Stanley’s masculinity is emphasised by his strength, aggression and lust:
• A lot of emphasis in the play is placed on his physical form and his role as the alpha male
• He also shows moments of tenderness in response to the feminine, in his remorse when Stella temporarily leaves him and his caring for Stella when she goes into labour
• Stanley represents the male, but not the gentleman:
• In contrast, Mitch, who is still a masculine force, does not assert the same kind of dominance, and displays more sensitive, and arguably more feminine, qualities
• Both Blanche and Stella depend on men for happiness, sustenance and their own self-image:
• When faced with the choice of believing Blanche or believing Stanley, Stella chooses Stanley as he represents a more secure future than Blanche does
• Blanche sees marriage to Mitch as her means of escaping poverty and shame
• Men’s exploitation of Blanche’s sexuality has left her with a poor reputation:
• This results in Mitch rejecting her as “damaged goods”
• In response, Blanche immediately thinks of another man, Shep Huntleigh, to rescue her
• She cannot see beyond her dependence on men, so she has no idea how to rescue herself
• However, by relying on men, Blanche puts her fate in the hands of others

What is Williams's intention? 

• In the aftermath of World War II, there was increased emphasis placed on the idea of American heroism, as the nation embraced traditional, patriarchal family values:
• Williams may have been using Blanche and Stella’s dependence on men to critique the treatment of and restrictions placed on women, especially during the transition from the old to the new South
• It could also be argued that the character of Blanche subverts conventional gender stereotypes:
• She demonstrates more masculine traits through her promiscuity, sexuality and arrogance
• However, the fact that these traits ultimately lead to her downfall suggests that stepping outside of societal norms can lead to destruction
• Societal gender norms and expectations have a negative impact on all of the main characters, driving them towards mental or moral destruction, or even death in the case of Blanche’s husband:

• • Blanche is seen to be struggling with the moral standards placed on her by society, and she is negatively labelled and judged by her actions
  • These, however, are seen to be double standards, as Stanley, as a man, gets away with domestic abuse and rape
  • The rape is a scene in which Stanley asserts his masculine power and authority over Blanche:
    • This portrays women as victims of the oppressive patriarchy, especially as Blanche also felt she needed to find a husband in order to be accepted by society