Stanley Kowalski’s first exhibition of his brutal actions occurs at poker night. Blanche turns on the radio, but Stanley demands her to turn it off. Blanche refuses and so Stanley gets up himself and turns it off him self. When Stanley’s friend, Mitch, drops out of the game to talk to Blanche, Stanley gets upset and he even gets more upset when Blanche flicks on the radio. Due to the music being on, Stanley, in a rage, ‘stalks’ in to the room and ‘grabs the instrument’ and throws it out of the window. His friends immediately jump up, and then they drag him to the shower to try to sober him up. This is the first example of a powerful moment in the play as it enables the audience to see what Stanley is potentially capable of.
Not only does throwing the radio out the window represent an impure demeanour, but so does beating your wife. During his entire rage during poker night he is not sober which leads to another problem. When he threw the radio out the window, he then immediately charged right at his wife, Stella. He was in such rage and he was so drunk that when he reached her he hit her in the face. Luckily, before he could hurt her again his friends grabbed him and pinned him to the floor. This action leads the reader to believe that he is a very brutal person and needs some psychological help to aid him to control his temper. This again provides a sense of foreboding, as we now understand what Stanley is capable of, he is capable of beating his own wife which enables us to see that he is going to be a dangerous character.
Lastly, and the most evident action that leads the reader to believe that Stanley is very ferocious and rapacious is when he rapes Blanche. When Blanche finds out that Stanley has to spend the night at home because Stella did not give birth yet, she becomes wary and is alarmed at the thought of being alone with Stanley. When Blanche tells Stanley that she has put Mitch in his place for being mean to her, Stanley explodes in rage and disgust. Then Stanley retreats to the bathroom to put on his silk pyjamas. When he comes out of the bathroom, Blanche is threatened by his words and she smashes a bottle on the table to use the sharp edge to fend him off. Stanley approaches her carefully, but Blanche swings at him and Stanley catches her arm and forces her to drop the weapon. She then collapses at his feet and he picks her up and carries her to the bedroom and rapes her. This event shows that Stanley is very brutal and avaricious because it shows that he was greedy to the fact that he could not just have one woman, and it also showed that he is very arrogant because he feels that now because he “conquered” Blanche and he has won.
A Street Car Named desire is compelling from beginning to end with its bold adult drama and sexual subjects (rape, domestic violence, homosexuality, and female promiscuity or nymphomania). However Scene 3 holds the most dramatic moments and powerful happenings in my opinion, all of which are centred on Stanley. Dripping wet with water, Stanley realizes he has struck and abused Stella, and feeling repentant, he searches for her. Stella and Blanche have sought protective refuge in an upstairs apartment. Animalistic and virile in a wet, torn T-shirt, he bellows repeatedly for Stella from the street in front of their building, begging for her return: "Hey Stell - Lahhhhh!” With the low moan of a clarinet, Stella finally responds to her contradictory impulses - her anger melts into forgiveness, her fear into desire. She leaves the shelter of the upstairs apartment and stands staring down at him from the upper landing. Then, she surrenders herself to him - she slowly descends the spiralling stairs to him and comes down to his level. He drops to his knees, crying. She sympathizes with him as he presses his face to her pregnant belly, and they embrace and kiss. Stanley begs: "Don't ever leave me, baby," and then literally sweeps her off her feet - he carries her into their dark apartment for a night of passion.
