A character in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ that certainly isn’t in contrast with his surroundings is Stanley. When Williams first introduces us to him, it is easy to form an opinion quite quickly due the stage directions, as they are very revealing.
‘He heaves a package at her’. This line tells us he is strong. ‘…roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes’. He is a typical working class, New Orleans male. ‘Stanley carries his bowling jacket’. This gives us hints that he likes sport.
After our initial introduction to Stanley, we are led into his relationship with his wife Stella again through stage directions.
‘…of a background obviously quite different to her husband’s’.
We cannot make a definite decision as to whether there is love within Stanley and Stella’s marriage but there are hints of Stella’s admiration for Stanley.
‘…she laughs breathlessly’.
Having formed our some what prejudge mental opinion of Stanley we later establish, through stage directions, our view to be incorrect; Williams goes on to talk about Stanley’s lust for women in great detail. He makes similarities between Stanley and an animal ‘richly feathered male bird’. Stanley’s ‘animal joy’ for women is far from respectable as the stage directions reveal.
‘He sizes up women at a glance with sexual classifications’.
Williams is almost ‘teasing’ us as he makes us doubt our expectations of certain characters. We now endeavour not to hold any ides that are preconceived.
Another character in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ whom we constantly change our opinion of is Blanche. When Williams first introduces us to her, he describes her appearance first. This reflects how appearance ‘comes first’ to Blanche.
‘She is daintily dressed in a white suit’
There is evident use of colour here and white is related to the concept of innocence and purity. This is ironic as we later find out that Blanche is far from angelic. Williams also describes Blanche’s clothes as very elegant and expensive.
‘…a fluffy bodice, necklace and earrings of pearl’.
Blanche is oblivious to the fact that her appearance holds some semblance.
Williams is careful in these stage directions not to give the reader the wrong impression so he is very specific when describing Blanche’s look.
‘Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light’
He additionally suggests Blanche resembles a moth.
‘There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggest a moth’.
This is significant and important to remember.
Our opinion of Blanche is one of confusion in the beginning of the first scene but is soon made clear by a second set of stage directions. In these an immense amount is revealed about Blanche. Firstly outlined in great detail is her body language.
‘Blanche sits in a chair very stiffly…her shoulders slightly bunched…legs pressed close together…hands tightly clutching her purse’.
Blanche obviously feels uncomfortable in Stella’s flat and knows she doesn’t fit in. Williams is clever in portraying this. These stage directions also disclose one of Blanche’s many weaknesses: a ‘taste’ for alcohol.
‘She pours a half tumbler of whiskey and tosses it down’
Blanche is very secretive about her alcoholic tendencies.
‘She carefully replaces the bottle and washes out the tumbler at the sink’.
Throughout the first scene there are numerous occasions where Williams draws attention to Blanche’s drinking habits. He does this to keep us aware of her weakness and also to emphasize that she is very dependent on drink to calm her nerves and give her confidence.
Williams is very skilful in the way he uses stage directions. He can describe a character’s personality, characteristics and appearance so clearly it effectively gives them more depth and helps the reader understand them better. He has the ability to create dramatic tension ‘A cat screeches’ and also is able to construct an atmosphere between two characters.
‘For a moment they stare at each other’.
He can make scenes flow.
‘Stella goes into the bathroom. Outside the men’s voices can be heard’.
He is able to set the scene and create the right mood.
‘Above the music of the “Blue Piano” the voices of people on the street can be heard overlapping’.
Overall Tennessee Williams’s use of stage directions in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ are vital to the play as they make it more comprehendible and more importantly they give the play ambience.
When the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ was performed to an audience, the stage directions had to be perfect. Williams designed them to be as detailed and precise as possible so the actors would therefore perform the play exactly the way he had intended. We can apply this theory when reading the play; Williams wants us to pay particular attention to the stage directions in order for us to read the play the way he intended it to be read. We then get the same pleasure from reading it as a book as people did watching it as a play.
