A Streetcar Named Desire
From Oneiropedia
“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”
~ Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire was a play by Tennessee Williams made into a 1951 film by Elia Kazan.
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[edit] Plot
Broke Southern would-be-belle spinster Blanche DuBois moves to New Orleans to live with her sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley. However, as time goes by, she goes insane, especially when she's stood up by her would-be-beau Mitch. Then Stanley's rapes her. So in the end a doctor comes from a nut house and takes her away.
[edit] Characters
- Blanche DuBois, a soft-minded and old-fashioned Southern lady.
- Stella Kowalski, her pregnant sister.
- Stanley Kowalski, Stella's brutal Polack husband.
- Mitch, Blanche's love interest of the big nose.
- Stanley's poker and bowling buddies.
[edit] Casting
- Vivien Leigh as Blanche
- Kim Hunter as Stella!
- Marlon Brando as Stanley
- Karl Malden as Mitch
[edit] Themes
The play and film have been controversial for, you know, the sexual tension and implied rape. And Blanche's homosexual ex-lover. The play also explores illusion and fantasy through Blanche's craziness and how she sees herself as something she is not (rich and fancy), and the symbol of her paper lantern. The play also delves into desire. The streetcar is named desire.
