Critical Views: A Streetcar Named Desire

Constance Drake

Williams is ‘presenting the pessimistic view of modern man destroying the tender aspects of love \[…\] and Blanche’s refusal to submit, she is being portrayed as the last representative of a sensitive, gentle love whose defeat is lamented.’

Louise Blackwell

Williams is ‘making a commentary on Western Cultures by dramatising his belief that men and women find \[…\] meaning

John Mason Brown

Viewed Blanche as ‘Pathetically Pretentious’: ‘her love of the refined even when her life is devoted to coarseness’

Metheun Guide

‘\[Blanche’s\] only means of survival in the modern world is to batten onto someone else and live off their emotional, physical and material resources like a decorative fungus.’

Felicia Hardison Londre

‘Williams intended a balance of power between Blanche and Stanley, to show that both are complex figures whose wants and behaviours must be understood in the context of what is at stake for them.’

Felicia Hardison Londre

Scene IV ‘strongly invites demise criticism’ since Blanche’s only solution to helping her sister escape Stanley is her beau Shep Huntleigh.

Ronald Hayman

‘Stella represents young America torn between its loyalty and antiquated idealism and the brutal realism of the present.’

Smith-Howard

‘\[Belle Reve\] is Blanche’s lost and beautiful dream rich with family heritage and pride; Stanley is only interested in property’s material or monetary retail value. He is happy in the harsh and dirty world of New Orleans, whereas Blanche prefers finer accommodations.’

Charles Isherwood

Blanche ‘Emotionally frayed almost to the breaking point by her desire to protect her beloved sister whose desperate plight she understands all too dearly. ‘

Charles Isherwood

‘Stella is a continually anxious, suffering presence in the play \[…\] Stella’s last cries of remorse are as painful to hear as any of Blanche’s anguished arias.’

Daiva Kuncaite

‘Mitch is representing the real word because he talks with her about domestic things \[…\] whereas Blanche creates the world of illusion in order to compensate.’

Henry Schvey

‘Williams clearly suggests an identification between the tragic fall of one and the birth of the other \[…\] Blanche’s symbolic death has resulted in new life.’

Judith Thompson

Blanche’s fall is the result of ‘mythically elevated expectations followed by inevitable disillusionment.’