Consider how Williams presents differing aspects of desire(TM) in the play.

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Consider how Williams presents differing aspects of ‘desire’ in the play.

Williams portrays desire as being constructive and destructive in the play. The constructive nature of desire is shown between Stella and Stanley, who have a violent desire driven relationship, where Stanley’s brutish nature drives them apart but the animal like desire they have for one another brings them together. This is shown in The Poker night where Stanley mistreats Stella, ‘there is a sound of a blow. Stella cries out.’ But their instinctive desire for each other brings them together once more. ‘They stare at each other then come together, with low animal moans; he falls on his knees and presses his face to her belly.’

The destructive nature of desire is represented by Blanche and her experiences and relationships she develops with men show this; the relationship between Blanche and Mitch was destroyed by the revealing of her past, this halted any further relationship that could have developed, ‘you lied to me Blanche… I don’t think that I can marry you anymore’.

The relationship between Stanley and Blanche is mainly one of dominance; each one is fighting over Stella as their ‘territory’, where Stanley views Blanche as a “potentially dangerous invader of his territory” (1), (Stella). So Stanley wants Blanche gone and does not show any acceptance towards her in his life. However Stanley and Blanche have an underlying desire for one another, ‘Come to think of it, you wouldn’t be bad to interfere with’.

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By using Blanche’s forbidden desire and sexual exploits which were unspeakable at the time and therefore she wasn’t accepted in society, Williams could be portraying himself through her character as his homosexuality was unspeakable in those days and he also wasn’t accepted.

The setting for the play, New Orleans, could have been derived from the fact that it was at the time a state that accepted people of all cultures and had the “most prosperous community of free persons of colour in the south” (2), so provides a stable being for the character of Stanley, who was a polish ...

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