Title– A Streetcar Named Desire
Besides the literal meaning of the title of the play it also serves as a metaphor. Desire is the drive that behind human action. People go where their desire takes them. The fact that there is a streetcar (representing modernization) shows that despite the advent of society and civilization people are still driven by their basic desires.
Metaphor for the play
Modern-day cavemen
Though the play takes place in the industrialized New Orleans, the men all still have the mentality of cavemen. They are aggressive hunters acting on their baser instincts.
Philosophical Statements
Key idea that can be seen throughout the text of "A Street Car Named Desire." These philosophical statements can be categorized as Gender Roles, Poker, Life and Death, and Animal Metaphors.Gender Roles
1. "Have you ever heard of the Napoleonic code?"
2. "You men with your big clumsy fingers."
3. "I've never met a woman that didn't know if she was good-looking or not without being told, and some of them give themselves credit for more than they've got."
4. "Some men are took in by this Hollywood glamor stuff and some men are not."
5. "You can't beat a woman and then call'er back!"
6. "When men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen."
7. "A man like that is someone to go out with – once – twice – three times when the devil is in you."
8. "And men don't want anything they get too easy. But on the other hand men lose interest quickly. Especially when the girl is over – thirty. They think a girl over thirty ought to go – the vulgar term is – €˜put out.'"
9. "The one (law of nature) that says the lady must entertain the gentleman €” or no dice!"
10. "A man with a heavy build has got to be careful of what he puts on him so he don't look too clumsy."
11. "Hughey Long €˜Every Man is a King'"
12. "A cultivated woman, a woman of intelligence and breeding, can enrich a man's life €” immeasureably!"
13. "I always did say that men are callous things with no feelings, but this does beat anything. Making pigs of yourselves."
The most prevalent category of philosophical statements in "A Street Car Named Desire" is the general statements about the role of men and women. These statements all refer to specific ways that men and women are expected to act. As for men, the reference to them as kings implies that they are the primary actors in the society who determine how things should be. On the other hand, women are seen as the secondary actors in the society, and their roles are to "entertain the gentleman" (9) and "enrich a man's life." (12) However, unlike the men's role, there seems to be a contradiction in the women's role. On one hand, it is stated that the important thing about women is their "intelligence and breeding" as can be seen in quote 12, while on the other hand, it is stated that the important thing about women is their sexual appeal, as evident in the reference to being "good-looking" in quote 3 and the reference in quote 8 about how women are "put out" when they reach thirty. There is a gap between how the society tells women to act, and the reality of women. This is because the men are the primary actors, and the rules of society were created by men. This leads to the idea that "There are specific roles for both men and women, but the role of women contradicts with the reality because it is a male-dominated society."
Poker
1. "When men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen."
2. "Nothing belongs on a poker table but cards, chips and whiskey."
3. "Poker should not be played in a house with women."
Poker is a symbolic activity that Tennessee Williams uses in "A Street Car Named Desire." In the play, poker is not only a gamble, but also a stage for the males to compete with each other and try to prove their superiority. It is a symbol for politics. Quote 1 suggests how poker is a stage for significant actions, while quote 2 and 3 describe the exclusiveness of the game. The fact that women are excluded from this game reinforces the idea that "In the society, men are the primary actors and women are the secondary actors."
Life and Death
1. "And funerals are pretty compared to deaths. Funerals are quiet, but deaths – not always."
2. "Death is expensive, Ms. Stella."
3. "There is so much – so much confusion in the world."
4. "People have got to tolerate each other's habits, I guess."
5. "No matter what happens, you've got to keep on going."
6. "To hold front position in this rat-race you've got to believe you are lucky."
7. "But, honey, 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!"
Another major category of philosophical statements in "A Street Car Named Desire" is Life and Death. There are several quotes that refer to the nature of life and death in the text. Of these quotes, the recurring theme seems to be about how humans should deal with life. Quote 4, 5, and7 all refer to how one should deal with life, and the conclusion is that one has to accept whatever happens and cope with it. This submissiveness of female characters can be seen throughout the play, and in relation to the conclusion of the above categories, one can say that it is because of the fact that males are the dominant actors who determine how things should be in the society. Females do not have the power to change this structure, and any sufferings that they receive, they simply have to endure them and cope with them.
Animal Metaphor
1. "That shut her up like a clam."
2. (Old farmer, hen and rooster joke.)
3. "Is he a wolf?"
4. "You hens cut out that conversation in there."
5. (Like a dancing bear)
6. "He was as good as a lamb"
7. "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 Kowalski – survivor of the stone age! Bearing the raw meant home from the kill in the jungle."
8. "Night falls and other apes gather! There in front of the cave, all grunting like him, and swilling and gnawing and hulking! His poker night! – you call it – this party of apes! Somebody growls€”some creature snatches at something – the fight is on!"
9. "Same canary-bird, huh!"
10. "Parot"
11. "He says you been lapping it up all summer like a wild-cat."
12. "I stayed at a hotel called The Tarantula Arms!"
13. "But he's not going to jump in a tank with a school of sharks."
In terms of metaphor, one will immediately notice how many metaphors to animals there are in the text of "A Street Car Named Desire." The comparison of animals with humans implies that humans are also fundamentally primitive. Another important idea that is evident in these metaphors is the two different kinds of metaphors for women. On one hand, women are compared with canary birds and clams, while on the other hand, they are compared to Tarantulas and sharks, those predator animals. When one focuses on the reason why there are two different kinds of metaphors for women, it becomes clear that image of women shift from weak animals to predators when they do not follow the social order of male dominance. For example, Blanche pursues happiness through her own power, instead of depending on one man. She does not play the role as a woman that the male-dominated society expects her to play, and this is when she is described as those predator animals. This is because she has become a threat to the male-dominated society by trying to be independent. The concluding idea is that "Humans are primitive animals. Men are accepted to express their primitive nature, though women who do the same are seen as dangerous."
Action
Each of the main characters' actions reveal ideas crucial to the play.
Stanley's actions (playing poker, drinking, having sex with Stella, raping Blanche) are fueled by his primal desires (compete with men, dominate women). Because Williams presents us with a society created and dominated by men, Stanley's male desires can be fully expressed without inhibition or fear of any negative consequences. Stanley is free to satisfy all of his desires by taking direct action, completely unopposed by society.
Stella is also driven by desire, and she too reveals this through her actions. She stays with Stanley despite his physical abuse because she can derive sexual and emotional pleasure only from being with him. Of course she does not like being beaten but Stella's actions make her priorities clear: she will sacrifice her independence if it is necessary in order to satisfy her desires. The idea illustrated here is that while social rules do not completely prohibit women from pursuing pleasure, they do restrict the ways in which women can do so, essentially demanding that they submit to male control of their lives. As opposed to men, who are largely free to do as they please, women must carefully balance their actions to get what they want without stepping outside their social boundaries.
Blanche is the author's example of a woman who refuses to accept the social limitations placed on women. Through her actions, (kissing the paperboy, drinking, flirting with Mitch) Blanche seeks to satisfy her desires in the same way that the men do. But society automatically condemns her because according to its rules, women should not have that same freedom. Throughout the play, as characters learn about Blanche's "scandalizing" past and present, they categorize her as an outsider, someone who breaks the rules of society and is therefore inferior. Both Mitch and Stanley attempt to force themselves on her because they desire her, but also because they disapprove of her openly expressed sexual desires.
Analyzing the outcome of the play for each character: Stanley satisfies his desires at no personal cost, successfully dominating his male friends and wife and ejecting the troublemaker Blanche from his house. Stella, by staying with Stanley and ignoring Blanche's accusation of rape, chooses desire (sex and love) at the expense of submitting to Stanley's power and losing her sister to an asylum. Blanche, as the only character who defied society's rules with her actions, is raped and sent to a mental institution. Her pathetic end demonstrates the futility of rebellion against acceptable social behavior.
The action and outcome of the play, then, suggest that both women and men are fundamentally driven by desire. However, in a male-dominated society men are free to seek gratification, while women must accept the constraints imposed on their desires or be crushed by unbearable consequences.
Overall Theme: People are driven by primitive desire, but women's desire is restricted by the male-dominated society. This society only allows women to fulfill their desires by giving up their independence and submitting to men.