Olivia Shaw Essay -- English Literature

Plot and Sub-Plot A Streetcar Named Desire ======================== The main plot in A Streetcar Named Desire is all based around the character Blanche DuBois and the never-ending downfall of her life. The play opens with Blanche arriving in New Orleans where she has come to find and stay with her sister Stella. Stella lives in an apartment with her controlling husband Stanley, when Blanche sees the apartment which she stays she cannot believe her sister lives in such a place. Blanche and Stella greet each with passion but before long Blanche becomes irritable. Blanche has bad news and tells Stella she has lost they’re old home ‘Belle Reve’ Blanche says to Stella it’s her fault and her leaving was the reason they lost their home. This gets Stella upset so she goes to the bathroom. While she is there Stanley comes home, he gives Blanche a frank stare and they have an awkward conversation, we find out Blanche had a husband who died when they were both very young. Stanley is common and rough compared to Blanche who is delicate. Stanley is a very sexual man and sex is part of what makes him tick. His appraisal of women is frank and straightforward. It becomes obvious that the sexual bond between Stanley and Stella is intense, and that this is what keeps their relationship going. Stella tells Stanley about the loss of ‘Belle Reve’ and Stanley thinks Blanche has profited from this and goes through her things. When Stanley routes through the letters her husband had written this makes Blanche angry and also brings back memories of her past. That night Stanley has his friends round for a poker game and this is where Blanche first meets Mitch they talk about things they have in common and she tells him she is ... ...l ingredients to a play. ‘A play should be about one character’, in A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee used Blanche, the tragic heroin the protagonist he based his play around Blanches character. ‘A play should be set in one place’ Tennessee used New Orleans, with the play begin set in one place this increased the tension, be more intense so more confrontations would occur if there was no where else to escape to. For Blanche’s character New Orleans becomes a trap. Aristotle also said ‘A play should be set over a 24hr period’ Tennessee didn’t use this ingredient in his play because we needed time for Stella’s pregnancy to develop and cause more conflict. We needed to see Blanche and Mitch’s relationship develop and unfold. Also Blanches mental state needed time to deteriorate so we wouldn’t feel so shocked when she was taken away by the nurse and doctor.