How successfully has Williams introduced the main characters and ideas of A Streetcar named Desire in the first two scenes?

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How successfully has Williams introduced the main characters and ideas of “A Streetcar named Desire” in the first two scenes?

“A Streetcar Named Desire” contains many different themes and symbolism, included by Williams to help introduce the characters and ideas of the play. I believe one of the main ideas Williams tries to convey in this play is to do with the streetcar being a metaphor for the idea of fate, going down one route and not being able to change your direction but being destined to arrive in one, pre-chosen destination.

“Take a streetcar named desire, and then transfer to one called the cemeteries” shows further how Williams chose the name of the play to symbolise how desire and passion (in Blanche’s case) lead to death or self destruction.

Within the first two scenes of the play, my first impressions of Stanley were that he was the alpha male, in charge of his household, very stereotypical of a working class man. You also see Stanley as quite short tempered and slightly violent without many manners. Stanley is first seen in the play in a bowling jacket which shows immediately his working class background and joy in sports. He is also carrying a red meat stained package showing his savage manliness and that he is bringing home the food for his family. His character is also constructed through the language he uses in the first scene; in a conversation with Stella he answers “Catch!” “Meat!” “Bowling!” “Come on” all very short to the point plain answers showing again he is working class with primitive speech. Throughout the play Williams builds on his character and we see a more violent and equally passionate side of Stanley as he becomes more and more angry towards Blanche finally raping her and then with Stella, as we see the violence he shows towards her suddenly change into a raw, animal like passion. Stanley’s lines are very to the point and often shouted showing his working class and straight up attitude, but also his tendency to anger and need for dominance of his life and the people in it.

My first impressions of Stella arise from the conversation she has with Blanche. They show her as very quiet, and quite simple compared to her sister. She appears to not be worried about her appearance, as she is wearing simple clothes that have been made dirty. This additionally shows how Stella has become more working class than the way she was brought up because she married a working class husband, and could symbolise that unlike Blanche hiding behind fancy clothes, she has nothing to hide. Right from the beginning you are given signs of Stella’s infatuation with Stanley, and it seems that from Blanche’s speech, she has matured and settled down becoming more lower class than the class she was born into at Belle Reve. The way Blanche speaks to Stella shows the drop in class as she seems surprised and looks at Stella with a slight distaste. This is shows when she exclaims, “What Two rooms,” and we are shown Stella’s maturity in, “How quiet you are, you’re so peaceful” As the play goes on I don’t think my impressions about Stella change dramatically I think I understand more the extent of Stella’s desire for Stanley as she continues to go back to him after violence and rage.

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I think you learn most about Blanche’s character within the first two scenes although some of these impressions maybe false. Within her first conversation with Stella she comes across as very open, speaking freely and plentifully but later on we see how closed she is with a lot of history that she tries to keep hidden. She also becomes a lot frailer; she is described as a ‘moth’ having to avoid strong light but as the play goes on she is shown in light and we see how old and decayed she really is. We discover in the first ...

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