A Streetcar Named Desire
16 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
This is a re-read – I went through a stage in high school where I read quite a few Tennessee Williams plays and ended up performing a monologue from one for one of my outcomes. What I like most about the work of Williams is that he seems to have a deep affinity for those personalities that are deeply troubled by the realities by which they are presented. All of his characters are troubled by the past and this has heavy impacts on their present.
Blanche DuBois is the one of the infamous lead characters in this play, a fading Southern Belle who has 
fallen from grace and sought comfort in countless men. But she still hangs on to the image of herself as a sweet Southern lady – which she attempts to portray to her sister Stella who she visits in New Orleans. But Stella’s husband Stanley – a new breed of man for the time, common, hard-working and passionate – isn’t fooled for a moment. Blanche’s lies and deceptions bring out his cruelty, the result of which is played out in two devastating final scenes whereby all of Blanche’s illusions are stripped from her. If you haven’t read any Williams before, get onto it.
