A Streetcar Named Desire

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Summary: A boring story in N.Orleans
Review: The most boring story I ever read, The story of a crazy woman his sex maniac sister and the ape of her husband. All is surrounded by the tipical sexim of William's plays. Don't waste your money

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Summary: *A Streetcar named Desire*
Review: "A Streetcar named Desire" is one of Tennessee Williams' masterpieces,
published in 1947.
The play is about the Southern Belle Blanche duBois who comes to live with
her sister Stella in New Orleans. There she is confronted with her sister's
husband Stanley who wants to destroy Blanche's life. The conflict between
Stanley and Blanche gets worse and it comes to a rape.
In the following scenes Stella has to decide whether she believes in her
sister or in Stanley.
The play gets more and more exciting and your interest will b e caught by
the development of the plot.
In his book Williams tries to assimilate his own life which was dominated by
his brutal father. Also the autobiographical aspect makes the play worth
reading.
Further I would recommend you to read the book because it contains numerous
themes which are still relavant today. So love, lonliness and cruelty play an
important role. Moreover easy and colloquial language is used.
All in all the play "A Streetcar named Desire" is really recommendable.

Rating:
Summary: "Don't -- don't hang back with the brutes!"
Review: Tennessee Williams' 1947 masterpiece A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE features one of the most infamous characters in modern drama, Stanley Kowalski (created on Broadway by Marlon Brando). Stanley caricatures the masculine: he is loud, rough, crude, and handsome in a rugged way; he would also guard at all costs those things which belong to him -- including his gentle wife, Stella. But, like a stereotypical male, Stanley has no sensitivity, being concerned only with hard facts and given to violent behavior - even lashing out at Stella - when he cannot have what he wants. Stanley's animalistic qualities are summed up in his famous, primal cries of "Stella! Stella!" Blanche du Bois, Stella's sister who shares her and Stanley's New Orleans flat after losing her job as a high school English teacher in Laurel, Mississippi, is Stanley's polar opposite. Blanche is soft-spoken and pretty in a fair, delicate way; she is a romantic and given to illusions. Thus, when she and Stanley find themselves living together in close quarters, passions become heated and it eventually becomes clear that the fragile Blanche must be destroyed by the brutal Stanley, as their world views are directly opposed to each other and cannot coexist. In the play's later scenes, Williams dramatizes unforgettably the destruction of Blanche.
An additional, important fact about STREETCAR's dramaturgy is that it influenced both Williams' contemporaries and his successors. For example, Arthur Miller was so struck by STREETCAR's expressionism - its visual demonstration of the fevered workings of Blanche's mind, as in the "shadows and lurid reflections" of the scene leading up to the climactic rape - that he emulated it to brilliant effect in his DEATH OF A SALESMAN (1949), while Neil Simon subtly alluded to STREETCAR's male camaraderie in his hit 1965 comedy THE ODD COUPLE.


Rating:
Summary: Williams Desire
Review: A Streetcar Named Desire is an intricate play written by Tennessee Williams. It is easy to see that his work was carefully thought of and developed by the irony and symbolism throughout the play. I believe this can be used positively and lessons can be learned through Tennessee's writing. Although good lessons can be learned, I do feel that the play was lacking morally.
I believe Williams's reason for writing this play was to show his opinion on some matters that were faced in A Streetcar Named Desire. Williams wrote very closely to how he himself was. He let himself be portrayed through his writing. I believe that Williams made the main character, Blanche, somewhat psycho because that's what his sister had faced. He portrays Blanche in a way that brings on a sense of pity and sorrow for the reader. He also brings up the issue close to his life of homosexuality. Blanche had married a "boy" in her younger days and he tragically killed himself when she found out he was a homosexual. Williams also put a lot of irony into the play. Stella, Blanches sister, moved to a run down part of town and is living with her husband Stanley. Oddly, Williams named the place, Elysian Fields. In Greek mythology Elysian Fields is a type of heaven to them. So to put a run down part of New Orleans and name it Elysian Fields is showing part of Williams and his life. I see two perspectives in this. One is that Williams wants to show the irony of calling a crumby place heaven. Or two, Williams considered it to be his heaven and was showing that through his writing again.
I believe another reason Williams wrote this was to show life in the 50s. In our society we are very repulsive to the things that Stanley, Stella's husband does. Stanley is a very rough man. He is disrespectful to women, he gets angry quickly, beats his wife at times, and ends up raping Blanche. When Blanche talks to Stella after the night Stanley hit her, Blanche, not used to the circumstances, says that Stella should leave Stanley. Stella replied with "...I am not in anything that I have a desire to get out of...people have to tolerate each others habits, I guess." I think that here Williams shows that in New Orleans during the 1950s life was expected to be this hard. Williams writes to show emotion of something. He portrays that life was hard and that it really did have many down parts that left you in the dumps and sometimes, like Blanche, it left you going insane. Williams shows a harsh realism to the way life was in his story, and perhaps for him.
I have personally learned that life is going to be hard. And although life is hard we need to find a way to deal with it. In A Streetcar Named Desire you can see Blanch pushing away her responsibilities and not facing them. She makes up a world that revolves around lies because she doesn't know how to handle the truth and pain she's surrounded by. By observing the play I have learned the importance of facing the things that come at me, and not only facing them but also being prepared to deal with them. I have learned the best way for me to deal with problems is to go to God. God can offer all the wisdom and strength to get through all circumstances.
I recommend this play if you are interested in learning about the author as well as ironic things intertwined in the play. It is tragic and if taken seriously, a thought provoker. The characterization is incredible and very well done. Be discerning because the morals are not high but nothing terribly described. Otherwise this is a very interesting and good play to read.

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Summary: Death and Desire
Review: Tennessee Williams conveys the true spirit of 1940's New Orleans in A Streetcar Named Desire. Williams has captivated a large audience through his provocative plays, showing the tragic lives of character such as Blanche Dubois. He enhances the magnificent play with ingenious foreshadowing and symbolisms.
Tennessee emphasizes the importance of our desires and the effects they have on our lives. Blanche says "The opposite of death is desire", she fills her life with desires to keep her from death but they ultimately destroy her. Blanche moves in with her sister Stella and brother in law Stanley because her life was a miserable wreck in her former residence. "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields". During the journey, from her old home to the Elysian Fields, Blanche takes "Desire" which then leads to "cemetery" or death. This foreshadows how Blanches fantasy's lead to self-destruction.
Blanche admits, at one point in the story, that "after the death of Allan (her husband) intimacies with strangers were all I seemed able to fill my empty heart with". She had sexual relations with anyone who would agree to it in order to satisfy her loneliness. Sex is her most obvious weakness and desire, Stanley uses that against her and rapes her. After he has sex with her, she is taken away to a psychiatric hospital. Which again starts the cycle, "Desire" has sent her off to "Cemeteries".
This play has taught me the importance of choosing the right dreams to pursue, and keeping them in perspective. Life is not always beautiful and poetic but is often dirty and uncouth. To create a balance would be ideal, embracing the good along with the bad aspects of life. Blanche failed to see the reality of life and was unable to feel successful unless she achieved all she dreamed.
Streetcar is a play unlike any other, highly respected by many audiences for its unusual story line and beautiful use of literary elements. The characters are riveting and controversial, allowing the audience to discuss the characters actions and personality. I highly recommend this play; it covers many issues that are still relevant today.


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Summary: Melissa Henning
Review: A Streetcar Named Desire...was a very interesting book, it was well written and I would have to agree on that Tennesse Williams is truly a genius but, this book wasnt something at first that would seem like I would just pick it up and start reading it to be honest with you. Tennesse Williams did an awesome job,the points that he was trying to get is the fact that we all have desires but, soon we wont have those desires for long, because they will soon fade away and die, there are always going to be new desires and some dont last very long. Blanche had this big desire of living in this fake world but, eventually it took her to the point where, everyone found out about her life, that desire was gone she couldnt have that desire anymore no matter how bad she wanted it.
I learned that you can go through life having as many desires as you want but, they wont last long and you cant hold on to desire just like you cant hold on to a person when they die, no matter how bad you want to. They book shows you all the characters desires and feelings and how they didnt want to let go of those no matter how hard they tired to keep them they would just die and new desires would come up again. I would recommand this book because it shows you that you need to let go at some point and that we cant just live in a fake life, because sooner are later we will be found out. I think Tennesse Williams also did a great job with kinda showing that some people can be a Blanche, Stanely, Stella, Mitch, Eunice, and other characters that were mentioned.

Rating:
Summary: Judge not.....or be Judged
Review:


I found the play, "A Streetcar named Desire," not as enjoyable as I expected. I feel that the plot was not well formed and the actors were too unrealistic for my liking. I feel that the reason that Tennessee Williams had for writing this play was to inform the audience of the sinful nature that humans have. Throughout the play you see various characters go through their everyday routines and not once think twice about the sin in their lives. For example take Blanche. The first time that she was talking to Mitch she lied about her past, and she lied about her job right to his face. Some might say that Blanche was a little mentally unstable so I'll give another example. Stanley's life was of no means perfect. He would talk bad to women, gossip about people behind their backs, beat his wife, and even rape Blanche then lie about it to Stella. Now even though the reader can see that Stanley is doing all of these bad things, I believe that Stanley is unaware of how bad his actions truly are, all he really cares about is making Blanches life worse. Which leads me back to my original point, I believe Williams wrote this to help show the reader that no one is perfect, but before you start to point out someone else's faults you need to examine the sin in your own life.
From reading this play I have been able to stop looking so much at other's mistakes and I have started to try and fix the mistakes in my life. For example when reading the play I really was not fond of Blanche. I did not like the way she would lie to people and try to fool them into falling in love with her. Because of this I started to like Stanley because he was basically Blanche's enemy. Truthfully, I have done that in real life as well. When I don't like someone I sometimes, unconsciously, think I wouldn't mind if something bad would happen to them. What I need to do is stop focusing so much on other people and the things that they do, especially the bad things they do. I also need to reevaluate my life and try to fix some of the problems I have. Judge not, or you will be judged is what the Bible says, and maybe Williams wasn't too far away from the same idea.
I personally would recommend this play. I believe that this play can be looked at from a variety of ways and many things can be learned from reading it. I did not enjoy reading the play but I think the lessons that can be learned from it makes it worth the read.


Rating:
Summary: Williams' "Streetcar" Right On Track
Review: After recently finishing the reading of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, I was profoundly struck by the massive amount of information packed into such a small play. Williams has packed the reading full of all kinds of subtle undertones, foreshadows, and various allusions to his own lives or the lives of those around him in this dramatic piece of literature. Williams' style is unmistakable and immediately recognizable, giving the reader a clear understanding of his artistic vision with deep detailed descriptions of his scenes, as well as giving obvious representation of his characters mindsets and personal mental states.
While reading A Streetcar Named Desire, the main point I felt that Tennessee was trying to convey to the reader was a sad one, one that reflected his own life very deeply. As Blanche Dubois flees her troubled past to her sister's home, she climbs aboard a streetcar named Desire. After a time, she gets off and switches to another streetcar, this one named Cemetery. Finally, she reaches her destination, the place of his sister's living, an apartment complex style building known as the Elysian Fields. This trip is repeated several times throughout the play, sticking its emphasis in the reader's mind to consider. I saw Williams pointing out that if you follow your desires, you will be under the impression that you will be heading for "heaven", or at least peace and enjoyment, just as Blanche thought she was. However, your fleshly desires, the wants of this world's pleasures, will lead to death, maybe not the physical death, but to the death of your soul, your mind, your emotional stability, or maybe someone around you's death. And then, just when you think you've escaped it, gotten away from Cemetery, and you are at your Elysian Fields, you will discover not what you thought would be there at all, not a heaven, not a pleasant resting place, but a set of dingy, dirty, run-down apartments, not heaven at all, but actually closer to hell itself. I believe that Williams found this in his own life, and this play was his specific way of conveying that message out to his readers.
In my reading of Streetcar, I found myself waffling between having a preference for Stanley Kowalski and hating Blanche Dubois, and abhoring Stanley and feeling pity for Blanche. This reminded me that there is not always black and white, not always right and wrong, not always a good and an evil, plain and simple, in every situation. There are circumstances, there are things that change, and there are opinions in every fight. Judging too quickly may not always be the best thing, and you can never judge and be done, your opinion of a situation or even a person may be constantly changing.
This play was a moral dilemma for everyone who I know who read it. It made me think, and it made me ponder some of the issues raised. I would recommend this as a good read, not for a feel-good read, but for a read that may make a person take stock of their own life, may make them think twice about the way they live, the way they treat others, or the way they act.

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Summary: Michael Robinson's Review
Review: A Street Car Nmed Desire is a weird play, that has a hidden theme. the play is about a lady named Blanche, who goes to live with her pregnant sister, Stella, and her husband, Stanley. To get to her sisters house Blanche takes two streetcars one named Desire and the other named Cemetary. The name of the house where her sister lives is Elysian Fields. Elysian Fields is the name of a Greek Heaven where the Greeks believe you went when you died.

Stanley is a hard working man, he is a Master Sargeant in the Engineering Corps. He provides for Stella and Blanche, but he does not care much for Blanche because she is so demanding of Stella. Stella does things like draw baths, get her drinks and other stuff she asks for. Stanley does not like Blanche because he can not do anything with is wife when she is around. It also does not help that Blanche calls him names like Brute and Animal, and that Blanche is always trying to Stella to leave him.

Stanley has a poker game, one night at his house. Blanche causes one of Stanley's friends, Mitch, to leave to take her out on a date. This makes Stanley very angry and inspires him to do some research about Blanche. Stanley finds out that at her previous residence Blanche slept with a lot of men and a 17 year old boy. Stanley lets Mitch know about Blanches past and he breaks up with her. Stanley is really happy that Blanche is devastated.

However, Stella got very angry that Stanley exploited her sisters past to cause her grief. Just as they are about to have a large argument about this, Stella goes into labor. While she is at the hospital, Stanley and Blanche got into a big fight and Stanley rapes Blanche. This causes Blanche to go really crazy. A doctor takes Blanche to an insane asylum. Stella ends up staying with Stanley because she never finds out that he raped Blanche.

Tennessee Willams is a man who uses his past experiences and feelings to create his plays. This play is pretty twisted. But you are seeing a genius at work. It is very hard to interpret his work the first time you see it. You need to read it numerous times to understand his plays and the numerous twists and turns the characters go through.

I found myself loving certain characters at certain times and as the plot develops I started to dislike those characters. That is what Tennessee wanted you to do. His book goes on to tell you if you are obsessed with what you want, you will probably die before you get it and when you die you will go somewhere, hell or heaven. I do not know who you are or why you will die for your desire, but in my opinion, Tennessee's hidden plot is to get you to think about your motives before you run into your desires and end up somewhere you will regret.

My conclusion to this play is that it is a good play that is worth reading or seeing more than once.

Rating:
Summary: Streetcar
Review: Tenneesee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, has been continuously named one of the greatest dramatic plays ever written, and rightfully so. The play's raw honesty of the late 1940s' lifestyle is compelling, and Williams'refusal to "gloss over" the hard truth is as refreshing as it is shocking. His well-developed use of foreshadow also brings depth and interest to the plot line.
Though many moral lessons can be learned from A Streetcar Named Desire, I do not necessarily believe that it was Williams' intent to focus on a particular way to convey a certain morality statement. He simply used his play as a means to display the truth of life: that sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there are many things about it that we cannot change. Williams portrays the characters as they are, with no attempt at hiding their faults or virtues. Stanley Kowalski is a prime example. He's a hard laborer who takes what he wants in any given situation and doesn't care who he steps on to get it at that moment in time. However, he is not without his good qualities. Though he is somewhat of a brute, his love for Stella is true, and his devotion to his friend Mitch is honorable.
The character of Blanche displays the fact that life and past experiences cannot be escaped or erased, and attempting to do so only produces the opposite effect. Blanche's efforts to modify her past and hide her age lead not only to her psycological death but ultimately her physical as well.
Williams' life and personal experiences are also incorporated into the play, communicating a honesty and realism that was, and still is, rare on stage. The heavy reliance on alchohol and the presence of physical abuse were both very real in Williams' life from childhood until his death. The character of Blanche suffers from psychological problems, just as his own sister Rose did, and Williams' homosexual lifestyle is even incorporated through Blanche's homosexual husband.
To put it simply, Williams shows how life is life, and very rarely can it be changed. Yet, without the "bad things" in life that we have to go through, we would never appreciate the good ones as much as we do now.
During a class discussion, the question was raised of whether or not Stella was right in returning to Stanley after he hit her. At first, I was certain that, if I had been in that situation, I would not have returned; at least not without some sort of counseling and certainly not by myself that same night. However, as the discussion went on, I became more and more doubtful of my answer. Throughout the play, it is obvious that Stella loves Stanley, and she herself admits that he is basically irresistible for her. I wondered that if I truly felt that way about someone, if I would really be able to stay away when "Stanley" is calling me back.
This caused me to realize that it is very difficult to assert what you yourself would do in a situation before you have actually lived through it and been faced with the problem of choosing what path to take. Of course, speculation and discussion are all very important beforehand, but, when it comes down to it, those speculations are just that: speculations. We never really know for sure how we will respond until we actually have to do so. Perhaps Stella felt as I did before Stanley had ever hit her; that she wouldn't go back to a man that abused her in such a way. However, when she was first faced with going back or not, she decided to return. Her original speculations were left behind and she made a choice to move on without them.
I would highly recommend the reading of this play. The story is different because it's true and not watered down at all, and its difference makes it great. The foreshadow and amazing use of stage directions cause the reader to think and form opinions or predictions, which, in turn, keep the reader interested. Aside from the literary elements, the play is terrific because it captures what life was really like for many people in the late 1940s, and shows how they dealt with it differently. It is no exaggeration when Tenneesee Williams is attributed with writing a one-of-a-kind classic.