Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire will have many ideas for essay topics. The ideas of duality and contrasts is just a beginning. There are at least four main characters in the play that are worthy of essays as well as all of the symbols and motifs. Below is a list of topics generated from my Advanced Junior English classes over the years:

Why Stanley hates Blanche

Differences between Stella and Blanche

Discuss the title of the play

Stanley -- truth, Blanche -- dream world, illusion

Is Blanche a vitim?

Character-Name Symbolism

Compare/Contrast backgrounds of Stanley and Blanche

Passiveness of Stella and why

Animalism is Streetcar

Blanche's fall

Light vs Dark

Williams use of the single set and scenes

Blanche's escape goats

Contrast DuBois and Kowalski's

Mitch and Blanche's love affair and reasons

How Mitch is different from Stanley

Use of colors

Cruelty in the play

Where immorality leads Blanche

The many definitions of love in Streetcar

Stanley's destruction of Blanche

The fight for Stella's approval

Illusion vs Reality

The most sympathetic character in the play is _______ and why

"Desire" is used throughout the play, both literally and figuratively. At the end of Scene Six, Blanche tells Mitch that Desire is the opposite of death. Explain her use of desire.

At the end of the play, Blanche is taken away to an asylum. do you believe she is insane? It she isn't, what defines her sanity? Do you think she is responsible for her circumstances?

Blanche's "world" is often contrasted to the world of Stanley's and Stella's. Blache firmly states the kind of world she wants: "I don't want realism. I want -- magic!" In what way is Blanche's world an illusion? Is it any less real than Stanley or Stella's? What defines reality in the play? What defines illusion?

Williams uses astrology to further define Blache and Stanley. Research the astrological birth signs of Blanche and Stanley. What do these signs reveal about the characters? What about their names? What significance does the name Blanche DuBois hold? What about Stanley Kowalski?

How does the play reveal violence and antogonistic behavior? Who is affected by this behavior and in what ways? How does this violence progress throughout the play and change the course of action?

When the doctor escorts Blanche out of the house, Blanche delivers her famous line: "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Why does she say this? Do you think this departure is a defeat or victory for Blanche? What about for Stanley and Stella?

Images of light, both literal and figuarative, appear throughout the play. Find at least two references to light in the literal sense and through dialogne and describe their significance.

The play makes several references to the old streetcars of New Orleans and places found in literature. Describe the significance of the use of Desire, Cemetaries, Elysian Fields, and "the ghou-haunted woodland of Weir".

Music is as much a part of the play as the dialogue. It is often argued that music acts as a second dialogue within a play. Williams makes specific reference to the Varsouviana. When is it mentioned? What significance does it have for the character(s)? Does everyone hear this piece of music, or is it intended to be shared only by the audience and one or two other character? What other music is used in the play? How is it used?

Blanche makes reference to being trapped in the last few scenes of the play. What does she mean? Is Blanche the only character trapped or the only one who realizes it? Explain your answer with concrete examples.

[Synopsis] [Setting & Characters] [Poetic References]

[Essay Topics] [Test] [Study Questions] [Blanche] [Stanley] [Stella] [Mitch]

[Structure and Themes] [Notes] [Letters to Jessica Tandy]

From Streetcar:"No, I have the misfortune of being an English teacher."

Got questions or comments? Contact Jay Edwards

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