Context

• First performed


  1949
• Post-World War Two America

  Shift in social class structures, with the disintegration of the bourgeoise and economically independent new classes of women emerging
• American Dream


  Belief that economic and social problems could be solved by the USA, and that US economic and military power could build and maintain world peace and shape the behaviour of other nations
• Post-World War Two America

  Marked by an influx of conservatism and prudish conformity, with social taboos becoming stronger and an aversion to sex and depictions of sexuality prominent in mainstream social spheres
• The play addresses the cultural tensions present following the Second World War, with American superiority fuelled by its triumph over Nazi Germany
• Despite the relative prosperity for minorities in the US, the backlash they faced in their struggle for equal rights was significant
• With the development of social justice came a resurgence of traditional American conservativism, bolstered by their newfound national pride after the war
• French Quarter of New Orleans


  Setting of the play, representing casual acceptance of diversity and a prosperous setting for minority groups at the time
• Play's setting


  • All action takes place on the first floor of a two-bedroom apartment, with the characters positioned in front of the window so the audience can peer outside
  • Enclosed setting ensures instant conflict with the implication of enforced compromise between the varied classes of character present
  • Flat is perceived as dirty and dingy, creating a stark contrast with Blanche's upper-class background having lived on a plantation
• Form of the play

  May be considered a tragedy, though more accurately a Southern Gothic sub-genre, with exaggerated emotions, explosive events, and theatrical effects
• Dialogue in the play

  • Straightforward and naturalistic spoken by Stella and Stanley
  • More poetic, spoken by Blanche
  • Blanche's dialogue maintains a lyrical, rhythmic quality with incorporation of verbose language and developed abstract metaphor
• Structure of the play

  • Chronological, with eleven scenes documenting Blanche's inevitable mental decay
  • Each scene leads to a natural climax and flashbacks are used periodically to demonstrate the characters' respective mental declines
  • Not divided into acts, with each scene culminating in its own crescendo
• Southern Belle archetype


  • Debutante of the planter class in Southern America, characterised by beauty and often flirtatious, though chaste, nature
  • Blanche Dubois becomes a figure of the dissolution of the Southern Belle archetype, reflecting the situation in the wartime Antebellum South
• The Home Front in the USA throughout World War Two demanded more of both male and female workers, changing the public perception of women in work and domestic roles
• The encroachment of women on traditionally male-aligned workplaces made many of the male workers feel threatened and saw a spike in workplace harassment
• After the war, employers felt justified in removing women from higher-paying positions to be replaced by men and degrading women to "pink-collar" jobs where they would be paid much less
• Pre-code Hollywood (1927-34) saw a small group of films feature homosexuality, often in a jovial manner, though homosexuality was still universally known of and discussed
• In the early formation of equal rights groups, lesbians became the spearheads of the movement, though only homosexuality between two males was against the law
• While postwar America appeared to be more open in its discussion of homosexuality, convictions based on sodomy laws were no less prevalent and homosexuality was often discussed as a disease or affliction
• Tennessee Williams' internalisation of his own sexuality and views of homosexuality as a mental illness are indicated in his work through the discussion of homosexuality as reflective of wider society's beliefs
• The play's inclusion of homosexuality within a heteronormative context mimics the way in which homosexuals were forced both to exist within a world misaligned to their desires and to prosper in a hidden world, obscured from the sight of the audience
• Tennessee Williams' biographical information

  • His dysfunctional family relationship, with an abusive father and institutionalised sister, became a prominent theme in his plays
  • He infused many aspects of his own personality with that of Blanche Dubois and found the character to be relatable
  • His inclusion of homosexuality in his plays reflects on his dissatisfaction with his own sexuality in life
• The play is set amid the early Cold War, following both the second world war and the American Civil War, and implicitly explores the reverberation of both events, as well as the cultural climate developing under the Cold War
• Williams became active in the gay social scene in the 1930s. His inclusion of homosexuality in his plays reflects on his dissatisfaction with his own sexuality in life
• Many scholars and theatre critics have agreed on the impact of Williams' turbulent childhood and internalisation of his misgivings surrounding his sexuality on his writing
• Williams' desire to remove himself from the Puritanism of his upbringing being a propelling force in his theatrical career
• Prominent historical influences and cultural climate

  • The play is set amid the early Cold War, following both the second world war and the much earlier American Civil War
  • The play implicitly explores the reverberation of both events, as well as the cultural climate developing under the Cold War
  • The period was marked by military and societal pressures and tensions with the divide between North and South USA not yet dissipated following the Civil War and growing tensions developing between the US and the USSR
• While the morale of the play is inevitably impacted by the surrounding cultural tensions and is most impressively felt by American audiences of the time, the events of the play remain relatively untied to its temporal and spatial context, with the abstract element of the play's formation applying itself quite seamlessly onto a variety of cultures and eras, and the play was quickly translated into many languages upon release, enjoying success in Mexico, Germany, Sweden, and many other countries
• Perhaps Williams' intention with the play's overtone of dread and tension was to unite his audience under a theme of universalizable feeling, a common feature of social climate regardless of place or time
• The most prominent signpost of cultural relevance in the play is arguably the effects of the Great Depression, with Blanche Dubois becoming a caricature of American society and falling living standards
• Though the abolition of slavery far pre-dated the era in which Streetcar was both written and placed, segregation remained an unavoidable force in society, one which Willams largely shows as being eradicated among the population w ancounter in the play, the Sgure of Blanche comes to represent the archaism present in the minds of those in the traditional Deep South from which she hails, and reinforces the persistent existence of segregation and its prolificacy in the upper classes
• Willams also discusses the conflict arising from woman in work and their dubious position following the enriched tapestry of female roles available during the Second World War
• Following the Second World War, women returned to their previous domesticity after the war's and and pressure from male influence pushed them from their superior ranks. Blanche's traditional views can be seen as indicative of the forces that pushed these women from their powerful roles
• Following the Second World War, living standards for society's richest were diminished, shrinking the gap and blurring the lines between classes and wealth disparity alike. This also provides the play with a backdrop of poverty, emphasising the role played by the Great Depression in the play's formation
• Blanche Dubois


  • A fallen woman, her wealth and estate gone, her husband lost a few years earlier to suicide, and having been forced to leave her post as a high school English teacher
  • She bears a thinly veiled drinking problem and is a figure of the aging Southern Belle, in constant turmoil at the fading of her youthful beauty, and representing the shadow of her diminished wealth with her cheap clothes made to imitate ostentatious evening clothes
  • While she maintains the outward display of dignity, it is supposed that she is sexually charged and has had many lovers
  • Her image is one of meticulous cultivation, though the concealment of her true social weaknesses is easily seen through, particularly by Stanley, Stanley becomes the play's driving force, an antagonist to Blanche, wearing her down over the course of the play, culminating in her rape and enforced commitment to a mental facility
• Stanley Kowalski


  • At the play's opening, Stanley becomes a representative of the cultural diversity available in the USA, with his disdain for Blanche apparently arising from his motivation as a cultural leveller and his distaste for her restrictive traditional views
  • Stanley quickly becomes a vital force of destruction within the play, representing harsh unfairness and inequality, antagonising Blanche with his birthday gift to her and his sabotage of her relationship with Mitch progressing to her rape and commitment to a mental institution, though inevitably preserving his image as a dedicated family man while Blanche becomes ostracized
  • Stanley's down-to-earth working-class nature becomes brutish, a stark and jarring contrast to Blanche's gentle eloquence and represents the crude reality of impoverishment following the Second World War
• Stella Kowalski


  • Stella's character forms an unstable bridge between the characters of her sister Blanche and her husband Stanley
  • Having fled the declining family home shared by her aristocratic sister, she married a man of lower class, and her refined roots show themselves through her persistent gentility in contrast to her more vulgar neighbours
  • She is a maternal figure even preceding motherhood, with her kindness rendering her an easily dismissed character, though she exhibits traits shared by the more imposing characters of both Stanley and Blanche, reflecting Stanley's down-to-earth practicality and imagined tolerance and Blanche's potential for deceitful equivocation
• Harold "Mitch" Mitchell


  • Mitch is a friend of Stanley's, who he met in the army
  • Mitch attempts to court Blanche before learning of her concealed sordid past and, despite their obvious class differences, is the only character to mourn for Blanche as she is taken away
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