A Streetcar Named DDesire

Stella

If you didn't know that Blanche and Stella were sisters, could you guess that they were related? what would Stella have become had she never met Stanley? On the surface she seems like an unlikely mate for Stanley. They share so little together. He plays poker and she goes out to the movies. She accepts his tantrums, abuses, and his coarse manners. Even when her sister, Blanche, insults her, she passively listens and does nothing but mumbles, "so what do want me to do?"

Why isn't she hurt by Blanche's insults and judgements about her life with Stanley? Why doesn't she fight back more often? Perhaps it is because Blanche's criticism is too close to the painful truth.

The only real action that Stella takes in the entire play is to put her sister away in an asylum. There are a number of possible reasons for this. There may have been a great deal of resentment building up inside her. This was building even when they were very young and she learned to be quiet when Blanche was around. Another reason may be that she sacrificed her sister to save her marriage. It may have gotten to the point of either her marriage or her sister. A third reason might be that she believes that Blanche is insane, rather than face the ugly truth of what her husband did. In the end she isn't sure who to believe. It she thinks that Stanley had raped Blanche, then she is closing her eyes to the truth, a lesson she may have learned from sister: how to deceive yourself to avoid the pain of reality.

Stella serves as the middle ground between the world of reality (Stanley's world) and the world of reality (Blanche) which have been in conflict from the very beginning of the play. Stella is the bridge. Both Stanley and Blanche are quilty of trying to involve Stella in their quarrel and try to win Stella over as an ally. At one point in the play, just as Stanley comes home from a business trip, it looks like Blanche is winning. The apartment is cleaned up and there are feminine touches throughout the home. Stella even uses Blanche's words at different times ("drunk...drunk...animal thing, you!" and "Mr. Kowalski is too busy making a pig of himself to think of anything else."). She would have never said those words before Blanche arrived.

Stanley reminds Stella of their life together before Blanche's arrival. He reminds her of the colored lights of their life before Blanche and he delights in telling Stella about Blanche's immorality back in Laurel. He doesn't need Stella's consent to throw Blanche out, but he wants Stella's approval.

In the end, Stella is NOT a strong character. If she had a mind of her own, there would have been a three-way conflict in the home. She does nothing until the end and for Blanche it is too late.

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

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

[Mitch] [Structure & Themes] [Notes] [Letters to Jessica Tandy]

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

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