A Streetcar Named Desire - Critics

Tennessee Williams 2

Depicted desire as being “rooted in the longing for companionship”

Tennessee Williams

"One major theme for my work is the destructive power of society on the sensitive non-conformist individual."

Galloway 2

“the play has no clear victor, everyone loses something”

Galloway

"there are no clear cut lines of good vs. evil, no character is completely good or bad, because the main characters, (mainly Blanche), are so torn by contradictory desires and needs"

Samual Tapp 2

“Blanche Dubois is a victim of the mythology of the Southern Belle”

Samual Tapp

“Stanley is as much a victim of masculine ideology”

Samual Tapp 3

“Blanche’s coquetry is often a self-defence strategy”

Marxist Perspective

A Marxist critic would feel satisfied that Stanley is triumphant in the end over Blanche, that he won the power struggle. Symbolically he has represented the North defeating the South, which Blanche is symbolic of.