A Streetcar Named Desire Setting Analysis

It has been said that the setting of a story shapes its course of events, its narrative and the perspective of its characters. This notion is proven to be true in the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. The city of New Orleans, Louisiana provides the perfect backdrop for A Streetcar Named Desire; The home of Mardi Gras, Jazz and Bourbon Street provides a unique blend of old wealth, traditional southern sophistication, and a new immigrant blue collar culture. This blend of different cultures provides the ideal environment for the development of the main character, Blanche Du Bois. Much like Blanche, the once pristine city has fallen onto hard times in the post World War Two world. In order to understand A Streetcar Named Desire, it is imperative to also understand the city and time period in which it takes place. Located at the mouth of the Mississippi, the busy and strategic port city New Orleans was founded by the French and has been held by the Spanish and then later the United States. Its location and history has allowed an interesting and unique mixing of cultures and people to form. By the early 1900’s, New Orleans Jazz was born and its dance clubs were frequented by thousands each weekend. Throughout this, New Orleans was

It catalyzes themes such as her inability to deal with reality and aids in the development of her character. It becomes apparent that wherever Blanche goes she is out of place. She never feels at home and is always trying to escape. Blanche is constantly trying to escape reality causes her to fall further and further into her own fantasies as the novel progresses. She does not like leaving the apartment and bathes frequently as a way to escape the outside world. Williams uses the physical world around Blanche to push her further away from others and deepen the divide that exists between her and the outside