A Streetcar Named Desire - Quotes

"They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!"

Blanche DuBois to Eunice and Negro woman upon arriving at Kowalski apartment, Scene 1

Desire and death are two aspects that became important in the latter part of Blanche's life. The literal death of her husband along with the metaphorical death of her social life were both caused by her strong carnal desires which have caused her to be in the position she is in the play. This eventually leads to her downfall in Elysian Fields where she gets off the street-car.

"I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can't be alone!"

Blanche to her sister Stella Kowalski, Scene 1.

This is the first hint we get of Blanche's madness. Oddly enough, it isn't solitude but rather the negative influence of other people that ultimately destroys her.

"But you are the one that abandoned Belle Reve, not I! I stayed and fought for it, bled for it, almost died for it!"

Blanche to Stella, telling she has lost their childhood home, Scene 1.

The extent of Blanche's social and economic descent have not yet become known to Stella, but Blanche is clearly resentful of Stella's life with Stanley, as condescending as she is towards the latter and as much as pretends to a level of class well beyond that which Stanley can ever provide for Stella. Blanche's promiscuous past and series of love affairs have resulted in her exile from the town in which she and her late-husband had lived and prospered. Stanley's animal magnetism and virility are more than a little attractive to Blanche, as they are to Stella, and Blanche's resentment towards her sister are manifested in the only way she knows: repeated references to Stella's departure from Belle Reve.

BLANCHE: "No, I — rarely touch it."

STANLEY KOWALSKI: "Some people rarely touch it, but it touched them often."

On Alcohol, Scene 1.

Throughout the beginning of the play, Blanche makes very obvious remarks that hide her true self. She even says that women are 50% illusion and the other half truth. This quote builds on Blanche's facade of purity because, in reality, she's had numerous drinks from before Stella arrived at Stanley's question. Her lie to Stanley eludes to the audience that Blanche is not as pure as she seems to appear and, in reality, she has a drinking problem. She appears to be in denial and continues to portray herself as innocent.

"In the state of Louisiana we have the Napoleonic code according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa."

Stanley, upset over loss of Belle Reve property and possibility of Stella being swindled by Blanche, explains Napoleonic Code to Stella, Scene 2.

Stanley fears of Blanche's use of deception and persuasion skills to lure her sister into her world. Stanley tries to protect his wife by stating that a Napoleonic Code applies to him meaning whatever Stella owns, he owns. This is clearly a way of protecting his wife as Blanche sold her property in the past and tries to persuade her sister to get away from this society. By stating that men own everything, it relates to the theme of men overpowering women and the theme of unequal rights for women as it was at that time of the play.

"I don't go in for that stuff ... compliments to women about their looks. I never met a dame yet didn't know she was good looking or not without being told. And I've met some of them who give themselves credit for more than they've got."

Stanley to Blanche, Scene 2.

This reflects Stanley's views of women in general. Stanley can easily size up a woman at a glance. He is able to tell if he is able to manipulate them and if he even cares to try.

"I know I fib a good deal. After all, a woman's charm is fifty percent illusion, but when a thing is important I tell the truth, and this is the truth: I haven't cheated my sister or you or anyone else as long as I have lived."

Blanche to Stanley, who asked her bluntly about the loss of Belle Reve, Scene 2.

People who have to justify the fact that they are not liars are generally the biggest liars. Which is interesting because she does admit to "fibbing" she probably does this to prove a point, that yes, humans do "fib" but she does not tell larger more important "lies."

"There are thousands of papers, stretching back over hundreds of years, affecting Belle Reve as, piece by piece, our improvident grandfathers and father and uncles and brothers exchanged the land for their epic fornications — to put it plainly! ... The four-letter word deprived us of our plantation, till finally all that was left — and Stella can verify that! — was the house itself and about twenty acres of ground, including a graveyard, to which now all but Stella and I have retreated."

Blanche to Stanley, after he accuses her of having swindled Stella out of her inheritance, Scene 2.

Blanche gives this long speech after Stanley talks about the Napoleonic code and accuses her of keeping money or an inheritance from Stella and him as a result of possibly selling Belle Reve. She talks about how Belle Reve was ruined by all the men. She also blames Stella and she also resents her because it was her and Stella on Belle Reve, but then Stella left and left her all alone to take care of Belle Reve and unfortunately and cannot. While giving this long speech Blanche is giving this illusion that everything she had and lost and all that she went through was because of all the men and because Stella left her. She's giving this illusion that she's the victim and that nothing was her fault.

"These are love-letters, yellowing with antiquity, all from one boy.....Poems a dead boy wrote. I hurt him the way that you would like to hurt me, but you can't! I'm not young and vulnerable anymore. But my young husband was."

Blanche to Stanley, Scene 2.

This quotation reveals that Blanche feels guilty for the death of her husband. She feels that it was her final words to him that drove him to suicide. However, this quotation also shows that Blanche is once again not afraid to stand up to Stanley at this point in the play this shows the strength of her character that exists currently but will later decline as she descends into madness.

"Oh, I guess he's just not the type that goes for jasmine perfume, but maybe he's what we need to mix with our blood now that we've lost Belle Reve."

Blanche to Stella about Stanley, discovering that Stella is pregnant, Scene 2.

Blanche seems to acknowledge the fact that she and Stella do not belong to the Southern elite anymore and that maybe some of Stanley's raw vitality would be good to mix with the sophisticated upper class.

This relates back to William's final message which acknowledges the decline of the upper class but conveys the idea that some of Stanley's bourgeois class ideals mixed with others from Blanche's upper class are what we should strive for.

"No. Stanley's the only one of his crowd that's likely to get anywhere."

Stella to Blanche who asks about Mitch and whether his job is a good one, Scene 3.

Stella is the caring one, wishing to protect Blanche but Stanley can easily ignore her orders. From the play, we get the impression that Stanley is cruel, arrogant, and selfish with a dominating figure. If he's the only one that's 'likely to get anywhere' it shows that to come out on top of society you had to be all those bad things, in order to survive.

"And if God choose,

I shall but love thee better - after - death!"

Inscription from Browning sonnet on Mitch's silver cigarette case, Scene 3.

This quote portrays the underlying theme of illusion. With Blanche, Stanley, and Stella it seems to foreshadow something that will happen. With Blanche, it seems to do something with her dead husband and their marriage. Whenever her husband is mentioned or she brings it up, she loses her head in a world that doesn't exist. This quote pertains to what could happen to Stanley and Stella and what had happened with Blanche and her husband.

"Sorrow makes for sincerity, I think."

Blanche to Mitch, Scene 3.

"It's a French name. It means woods and Blanche means white, so the two together mean white woods. Like an orchard in spring!"

Blanche tells Mitch the origins of her name, Scene 3.

Blanche's name establishes the theme of reality vs.fantasy. As Blanche stated her name means white woods. White seems to suggest fairness and innocence, while woods indicates hardness. It suggests that while Blanche may appear to be nice and pleasant on the outside. In reality, she is tough, cold, and calculating.

"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action."

Blanche asks Mitch to cover bulb with colored paper lantern, Scene 3.

Blanche mentions her hatred of naked light bulbs and this is because she wants to keep the illusion for Mitch that she is actually Stella's younger sister and doesn't want Mitch to see the age in her face, afraid that she might not be interested in her anymore after noticing that she looks older than Stella. Naked light bulbs and bright lights highlight her older features. Throughout the play so far, she has been very reluctant to be in the light on the account of her insecurity of her appearance.

"Poker shouldn't be played in a house with women."

Mitch leaves stage following Stanley's outburst of violence, Scene 3.

Mitch is adamant in his conviction that the conflict that erupts in the Kowalski household is due to the flammable combination of poker and women. It's not the card playing per se, however, that makes the situation volatile. Stanley sees himself as a man's man, with all the whiskey and cursing and misogyny he feels that implies. Poker night is a testosterone-fueled occasion, and spirits are running high and flowing fast. When the women come home, Stanley has been losing money and needs to save face with his buddies. The combination of liquor, the late hour, the bad poker hands, and Stanley's increasing annoyance at his sister-in-law's presence all lead to him finally striking his wife.

"Stella! My baby doll's left me!...I want my baby!...Stella!...Stella!"

A tearful Stanley screams up the stairs to Eunice's where his pregnant wife has fled after his brutality, Scene 3.

"Thank you for being so kind! I need kindness now."

Blanche to Mitch who offers her a cigarette, after Stanley's violent outburst, Scene 3.

"He didn't know what he was doing....He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he's really very, very ashamed of himself."

Stella defends husband Stanley to Blanche after what happened that night, Scene 4.

"You take it for granted that I am in something that I want to get out of."

Stella to Blanche, Scene 4.

"He acts like an animal, has an animal's habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one! There's even something sub-human — something not quite to the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something — ape-like about him, like one of those pictures I've seen in — anthropological studies. Thousands and thousands of years have passed him right by, and there he is — Stanley Kowalksi — survivor of the stone age, bearing the raw meat home from the kill in the jungle. And you — you here — waiting for him! Maybe he'll strike you or maybe grunt and kiss you! That is, if kisses have been discovered yet!"

Blanche to Stella, on Stanley, Scene 4.

"In some kinds of people some tenderer feelings have had some little beginning! That we have to make grow! And cling to, and hold as our flag."

Blanche to Stella, Scene 4.

"And men don't want anything they get too easy. But on the other hand, men lose interest quickly."

Blanche speaking to Stella, Scene 5.

"What I mean is — he thinks I'm sort of — prim and proper, you know! I want to deceive him enough to make him — want me."

Blanche admits her feelings about Mitch to Stella, Scene 5.

"Now run along, now, quickly! It would be nice to keep you, but I've got to be good — and keep my hands off children."

Blanche to young man who calls to door to collect money for The Evening Star after she seduces him with a kiss, Scene 5.

"You know as well as I do that a single girl, a girl alone in the world, has got to keep a firm hold on her emotions or she'll be lost!"

Blanche to Mitch, refusing his request for a kiss, Scene 6.

"You're a natural gentleman, one of the very few that are left in the world. I don't want you to think that I am severe and old maid schoolteacherish or anything like that....I guess it's just that I have — old-fashioned ideals!"

Blanche to Mitch, Scene 6.

"The first time I laid eyes on him I thought to myself, that man is my executioner!"

Blanche to Mitch, about Stanley, Scene 6.

"And then the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light that's stronger than this — kitchen — candle."

Blanche speaking about the effect on her of her husband's suicide, Scene 6.

"You need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be — you and me, Blanche?"

Mitch, Scene 6.

"Sometimes — there's God — so quickly."

Blanche, finding herself loved by Mitch, Scene 6.

"The trouble with Dame Blanche was that she couldn't put on her act any more in Laurel! They got wised up after two or three dates with her and then they quit, and she goes on to another, the same old line, same old act, same old hooey! But the town was too small for this to go on forever! And as time went by she became a town character. Regarded as not just different but downright loco-nuts."

Stanley to Blanche and Stella, Scene 7.

"Her future is mapped out for her."

Stanley to Stella, about Blanche, Scene 7.

"That's how I'll clear the table!"

Stanley hurling a plate to the floor, Scene 8.

"Don't you ever talk that way to me. "Pig — Polack — disgusting — vulgar — greasy!" — them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister's too much around here. What do you think you are, a pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said — "Every man's a King!! And I am the king around here, so don't forget it!"

Stanley to Stella, seizing her by the arm, Scene 8.

"I am not a Polack. People from Poland are Poles, not Polacks. But what I am is a one hundred percent American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth and proud as hell of it, so don't ever call me a Polack."

Stanley snaps at Blanche, over her derogatory remarks about his Polish ethnicity and her bigotry, Scene 8.

"When we first met, me and you, you thought I was common. How right you was, baby. I was common as dirt. You showed me the snapshot of the place with the columns. I pulled you down off them columns and how you loved it, having them colored lights going! And wasn't we happy together, wasn't it all okay till she showed here? And wasn't we happy together? Wasn't it all okay till she showed here, hoity-toity, describin' me like a ape?"

Stanley to Stella, Scene 8.

"It's dark in here....I don't think I ever seen you in the light....What it means is I've never had a real good look at you."

Mitch to Blanche, Scene 9.

"I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic. I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things. I don't tell truths. I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!"

Blanche to Mitch, Scene 9.

Blanche clearly says 'I don't want realism.' She would rather her view of the world be like a constant dream which is also her reason for continuously keeping up a façade. She only tells what 'ought' to be the truth in order to avoid shattering her own dreams by facing reality. She feels as if she has never lied ('Never inside, I didn't lie in my heart...) as what she says is the way she perceives things.

"Yes, I had many intimacies with strangers....So I came here. There was nowhere else I could go. I was played out....and I met you. You said you needed somebody. Well, I needed somebody, too. I thanked God for you, because you seemed to be gentle — a cleft in the rock of the world that I could hide in!"

Blanche to Mitch, Scene 9.

"What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved like a road through mountains."

Blanche queries Mitch, Scene 9.

MITCH: "You lied to me, Blanche."

BLANCHE: "Don't say I lied to you..."

MITCH: Lies! "Lies, inside and out, all lies."

BLANCHE: "Never inside, I didn't lie in my heart."

Scene 9.

"Death ... the opposite is desire."

Blanche, Scene 9.

BLANCHE: "Marry me, Mitch."

MITCH: "No, I don't think I want to marry you anymore... No, you're not clean enough to bring into the house with my mother."

Scene 9.

Blanche's loneliness and need for companionship are displayed in her plea for Mitch to marry her. It is not important whether she truly loves Mitch or not but more like a means of a way out the trap she finds herself in. There is evident pathos here as she and the audience are well aware that Mitch came to her house with the intention of raping her. Her willingness to marry a man who would do this to her clearly illustrates Blanche's desperation.

"But some things are not forgivable. Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable! It is the one unforgivable thing, in my opinion, and the one thing of which I have never, never been guilty."

Blanche to Stanley, Scene 10.

"I've been on to you from the start! Not once did you pull any wool over this boy's eyes! You come in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light bulb with a paper lantern, and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile! Sitting on your throne and swilling down my liquor!"

Stanley to Blanche, Scene 10.

Although Stanley is quite childish, spoilt and an uneducated worker in society, he is still however quite cunning and street-smart. He hates Blanche and when he buys Blanche a ticket out of his world, he expects her to go feeling destroyed. So when Blanche tells Stanley of meeting a millionaire he makes sure to discredit this lie and remove even the pretence of dignity that it would have given Blanche. We see again that he isn't fooled easily by her words. We know that Blanche is very deceiving as she does not show her true side or her true appearance as she constantly avoids the light. However, unlike the other men, Stanley isn't fooled. The quotation further emphasizes the fact that Stanley resembles a predator.

"We've had this date with each other from the beginning!"

Stanley speaking to Blanche as he carries her to the bed, Scene 10.

"You know what luck is? Luck is believing you're lucky...To hold a front position in this rat-race you're got to believe you are lucky."

Stanley, to fellow poker player Pablo, Scene 11.

"Whoever you are — I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."

Blanche to the doctor, her final statement in the play, Scene 11.

Blanche's dependence on strangers to fulfill the emptiness she feels has only led her to the position she is in by the end of the play. Blanche's inability to accept that strangers have only been kind to her in return for sex reflects her magical perception of the world. These being her final words in the play, referring to the 'kindness' of the doctor who is not the man (Shep) she was hoping for, shows her complete detachment from reality and the pathos of her empty belief in magic and kindness.

"This game is seven-card stud."

Steve, very last line of the play, Scene 11.