Streetcar critical quotes

Williams in a letter to Elia Kazan

Nobody sees anybody truly but all through the flaws of their own egos

Murphy

the old South where a woman’s survival was dependent on her ability to attract and hold

a male protector

Williams ravishment

the ravishment of the tender, the sensitive, the delicate by the savage and brutal forces in modern society

Williams power of society

destructive power of society on the sensitive non-conformist individual

Smithers

the change from one set of values to another is enacted through the transfer of power from Blanche…to Stanley

Tischer

Each scene is constructed like a one-act play

Kramer

his use of sound and light is symbolic and evocative

Freeman

Blanche does not take the opportunity to embrace the modern New Orleans

Bubb

Mitch’s softer version of masculinity is ultimately revealed to be weak and ineffectual

Parnaby

She is already at the end of her ‘journey’ by the time the play begins

Rowan

Blanche symbolises the fading Southern aristocracy

Cardullo

They are less victim and villain...than mutual victims of Desire