A Streetcar Named Desire Essay

Throughout the 1951 film, A Streetcar Named Desire the audience beholds the story of a young woman who chases her desires and the aftermath that ensues. Directed by Elia Kazan, the film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams. The movie portrays a young woman with an aristocratic nature by the name of Blanche DuBois, as the film begins the audience watches as she makes her way from her family estate in Mississippi down to stay with her sister in New Orleans. The audience then sees Blanche’s life with her sister Stella, as well as the conflict that arises between Stella’s husband and Blanche. After, the viewers see the gradual downfall of Blanche until her inevitable departure. In the film A Streetcar Named Desire,

Through Blanche’s character, the theme of desire and its outcomes are shown throughout the film. One example of Blanche’s desire can be traced to the origin of nearly all her problems. When she was 16 Blanche fell deeply in love with a boy, they were happy until one day when they were dancing, she told the boy he was weak and that she had lost respect for him. The boy would soon then run outside and shoot himself, leaving Blanche with a hole in her heart she was never able to fill (Streetcar 1:11:22-1:14:42). Because of Blanche’s character, she did not think twice about telling the boy what she did, leading to her own loss in her heart. Another example of her desire stems from her actions towards her young lover. With her heart empty and shattered from the suicide of the young man, she would go on sleep with many men in

One situation that sticks out is when Blanche is alone at the apartment after Stella and her husband Stanley have left; a young man comes to collect money for the newspaper when he meets Blanche in the house. Blanche beckons for the young man to come near her in a slightly aggressive manner, she then proceeds to indulge on his lips until she remembers her last incident when she had an affair with another boy (Streetcar 0:59:30). Seconds later a man named Mitch walks up to take her out, who Blanche said she wanted badly. The scene from the plot shows that Blanche’s sexual desires still reside heavily in her, as she kisses a young boy even though she already had a similar incident only months prior. In addition, she also has another man coming to see her who she also says she wants to be in a relationship with, demonstrating that the protection and fulfillment she seeks still hides from her. One of the major scenes of the film is towards the end of the story when the plot leads Stella to the hospital for her baby so just Stanley and Blanche are left at the apartment. Stanley was already aware of Blanche’s history, and with her previous flirting he thought another man would not be a problem. Blanche noticed Stanley’s advances and tried to escape, unfortunately she was outmatched and was raped by Stanley (Streetcar 141). In this occurrence,