Stanley Kowalski In The Street Car Named Desire

Submitted By amandaglekas143
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Stanley Kowalski is a very brutal and barbaric person who always has to feel that no one is better than him. His brutish and ferocious actions during the play leave the reader with a bad taste in their mouths. Stanley's brutality is shown in several places during the duration of The Street Car Named Desire . For example, his first array of brutality is evident at the poker night when he gets so angry and throws the radio out the window.
Another example of his brutality is displayed when he beats his wife, Stella. Lastly, his arrogance and ferocious actions are most apparent when he rapes Blanche, while his wife is in labor in the hospital. Stanley’s final statement to Blanche that they have “had this date from the beginning” suggests that his rape of her has been fated all along.

This is Stanley's implicating moment. In a fundamental way, Blanche and Stanley have always been the only ones who knew what was going on. Blanche knows what part of her story is illusion, and Stanley sees through it all. The conflict of that dynamic was destined, according to Stanley, to come to a head in the bedroom. But this statement also turns Blanche's rape into a premeditated act, turning Blanche for once into as much a victim as she has long painted herself to be.

Since the colour white stands for purity, innocence and virtue, the symbolism of Blanche‘s first name reveals these qualities, which stand in contrast to her actual character traits. The name suggests that Blanche is a very innocent and pure person, but throughout the play it becomes obvious that Blanche cannot call any of these traits her own. Only the illusory image which she tries to create for herself suggests these traits, but her true nature is not like that at all. She constantly tries to hide her embarrassing past from all of her new acquaintances, because she fears that they might not accept her anymore. In order to maintain her apparent social status among her new neighbours and friends, she builds this intertwined net of lies which creates a false image of herself. She herself believes in this imaginary world, and as soon as there is the slightest sign of its destruction, she seems to be lost, and her nervous condition worsens. Therefore all she cares about is to keep that image alive

Stanley Kowalski
Audience members may well see Stanley as an egalitarian hero at the play’s start. He is loyal to his friends and passionate to his wife. Stanley possesses an animalistic physical vigor that is evident in his love of work, of fighting, and of sex. His disturbing, degenerate nature, first hinted at when he beats his wife, is fully evident after he rapes his sister­in­law. Stanley shows no remorse for his brutal actions. The play ends with an image of
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