Stanley often uses violence to express himself, this is first shown when he is dealing with Blanche’s trunk and arguing with Stella in scene 2, he is very rough and gets aggressive because he is annoyed this is shown in the stage directions with adjectives such as ‘hurls’ and ‘shoves’. Stanley uses violence to get what he wants and express his feelings when he gets too angry to talk about them, before blanche arrived you can tell the relationship between Stella and him was different on p23 ‘since when do you give me orders?’ Stanley's anger shows the relationship was different before. His violence then becomes more destructive in Scene 3, the poker night Stanley is very drunk in this scene and violent towards Stella he ‘gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh.’ This is foreshadowing what will eventually happen later, the climax being when Stella gives Stanley and order and he hits her in his drunken state.
In Scene 2 Stanley argues with Stella about the loss of Belle Reve and roots through Blanche’s trunk, Stanley questions Stella aggressively and uses non standard features (double negatives, give instead of given away) for example ‘she didn’t show you no papers, no deed of sale..huh?’ Imperatives show Stanley’s aggression, he patronises Stella ‘Where are your white fox-pieces?’ His language shows him to be impatient, greedy and volatile ‘where are your pearls and gold bracelets?’ The stage directions mirror Stanley’s mood with words such as stalks, pulls, Jerks out, and Hurls. Verbs show Stanley’s aggression and violence, his dislike and mistrust of Blanche by the way he handles her possessions roughly, you can also see Stanley’s violence through his rough actions with his hands and feet. He develops conflict between himself and Stella and this builds up tension(and drama) on the stage. Arguments are always powerful on stage and we can clearly see this is what is going to happen when Stella tries to defend Blanche against Stanley’s accusations of her cheating Stella and him of their inheritance.
In Scene 3 Stanley’s aggression is apparent throughout the scene he says things like ‘you can hear me and i said to hush up’ and ‘let go of me, you sons of bitches’ Through his violent imperatives Stanley shows violence, he reacts aggressively to various characters ‘Turn it off! (radio) mitch!’ even towards his friends using swear words which is taboo lexis. There is also violence towards Stella in the stage directions it explains how Stanley gives a ‘loud whack’ on her thigh, he acts patronisingly towards her and embarrasses her in front of his friends. The adverbs used in this scene are words such as fiercely/roughly. The loudness of Stanley's voice creates drama, and even when he is sorry he’s still violent in the way he calls out to Stella. Physical Violence is always dramatic on stage.
Williams’ presentation of Stanley adds to violence in the play through his dialogue with many of the other chracters and through his actions through stage directions however Stanley’s presence on the stage generally creates conflict and so adds to the dramatic power of the play.
