Stanley Kowalski Character Analysis

Out of the entire cast in A Streetcar Named Desire, there are only four major characters. Out of those four, one that stands out quite more than the others is Stanley Kowalski. In the play and film, Stanley Kowalski is the working-class husband of Stella Kowalski (nèe Dubois). Stanley is characterized as hard-working, passionate, and loyal but also short-tempered and brutal. From the beginning, Stanley takes no liking to Stella's sister, Blanche Dubois, and this enmity between the two grows worse and worse over the course of the story. In the end, Stanley, after all his plans against Blanche, gets away with it, at least in the play. In the movie, he still ends up winning against Blanche, but is punished in the end. Stanley, in a sense, is a fascinating character. Some characters may sympathize or relate to him. Others may dislike him, or hate him entirely. When initially compared to Blanche in the very beginning of the story, Stanley appears to be more sane and well-grounded than his sister-in-law.

While Blanche may not be the best interaction to prove this as Stanley's malignant feelings mainly stem from their different backgrounds and ideals, his interactions with Stella prove more. Whenever Stella attempts to scold or yell at Stanley, he completely shuts her down. When she, Blanche, and Mitch refused to turn off the radio, Stanley immediately turns to violence, throwing the radio out the window. While it can be argued that he may actually love Stella as he calls for her and sires a child with her, the general overview could be that their marriage is driven on lust, passion and desire, rather than true love. Also connecting with the stereotype of the 1950s, it was not common for a wife to leave her husband, so she may only be staying with him as she is still "blinded by