"Yes. [During the pause she looks up at the sky.] There’s so much – so much confusion in the world…" - Blanche, A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire is an American classic play by Tennessee Williams. It showcases three main characters: Stanley, Stella, and Blanche. Stanley and Stella are a married working class couple. Blanche is Stella’s older sister who comes to visit because her family estate was just repossessed and she lost everything. The play presents several different themes and issues that are present in everyday life. One main theme that I want to look at is the how each character represents their stereotypical gender roles and how it leads to how we as readers feel about each character.

            Stanley is the head of the household. He works hard to be where he is at and represents a man who most likely fought in WWII. He is depicted as a dirty, aggressive, selfish know-it-all. As soon as Blanche comes to his house he doesn’t trust her at all. She supposedly lost all of her families money but has no paperwork to prove it. He feels entitled to his wife’s families money, even though Blanche has told him that it is all gone. From there on it’s a constant battle between Stanley and Blanche. I think it’s mainly because Blanche is higher class then he is and that she doesn’t just sit down and take whatever Stanley says. She isn’t his wife so she doesn’t have to listen to him. To a controlling man like Stanley it must be aggravating to have this woman in his life and his house that won’t listen to him. We even see Stanley become violent with Stella which causes Blanche to try and get Stella to leave him. As the play goes on Stanley’s aggression increases and he ends up raping Blanche. Stanley wants control, however he can get it. I think the rape was a way to finally beat Blanche and to gain control over her. Stanley is definitely a man who is very one-sided and strives to be the one in charge. He deserves respect from those around him, being someone who fought in the war and who is working hard to support his growing family.

            Stella, Stanley’s husband is, in my opinion, a minor character. She has strong ties to each other main character, either a wife or a sister, but generally stays out of the bulk of the fighting. The true dynamic is between Stanley and Blanche. To me Stella just represents a brain washed (for lack of a better term) housewife. She always listens to Stanley, she comes back to him after he hits her, and she’s pregnant with his child. She even sends Blanche off to a mental institution because she believes anything Stanley tells her. She is persuaded easily. Honestly, she most likely sides with Stanley because she knows that it is better for her unborn child. She can’t raise this kid on her own and she can’t run away with Blanche and the kid because Blanche doesn’t have any money either. I think Stella is there to represent the 1950s wife who does what she’s told and stands by her husband’s side.

            Blanche is a very interesting character. She is supposed to represent the Southern Belle figure. She is upper class and flaunts that at Stanley. She is obsessed with her appearance and goes out of her way to never be seen in full light because she feels that she looks old at age 30. She constantly bathes and likes feeling like a new person. Apart from that she seems to drink a lot and tries to hide it. She also has an interesting past involving a husband who shot himself because of the things Blanche said to him. Blanche has a way of saying just the right things that irritate the person she is talking to. We see this repeatedly with Stanley. She refers to him as an animal, makes fun of his Polish heritage, and that he is working class. These are obviously things that Stanley can’t stand. But Blanche knows how to hurt his male pride. Blanche apart from being just generally mean is manipulative. She tries to control people around her. It’s interesting to compare the traits found in Stanley and Blanche because a lot of them are very similar. Both of them want money and power, they both want to control those around them to get what they want, and they both are just mean to each other. But somehow each one is different when represented in a man and in a woman. Stanley is just seen as the stereotypical man of the age. Those are traits that men have. But when a woman has them she is displayed as crazy. Granted there are other characteristics that makes Blanche seem delusional but the similarities between the two are still there. Blanche even seems a lot meaner then Stanley is in my opinion. She is just trying to get under his skin and have things the way she wants. Stanley deep down most likely just wants things back to the way things were between him and Stella. He just wants a family and to maintain order in his life. Blanche throws it off. So in the end he gets rid of her.

            The strong dynamics between the characters in this play offer an interesting look into gender roles of that era and how similar characters mean different things in men and women. We do still see that today as well. Women who are controlling or try to take charge are seen as bitches as opposed to men who are just being leaders. It is a very interesting commentary on the inequalities between men and women.