the Title of A Streetcar Named Desire

The title of the play has both a literal and metaphorical meaning. The streetcar exists in the opening scene of the play, where Blanche uses it as a means of getting to her sister Stella's house and is referenced later on in the play.

The deeper meaning behind the title can be interpreted as such:

Blanche Du Bois is brought to New Orleans by desire. Having all these "relations" with many strange men led her to go to her sister's home, with her husband, Stanley. This desire always ends in the death of something significant. For example, when Blanche is raped by Stanley (he is consumed by desire at this point), all that was left of her sanity is killed.

Desire is a prominent theme in the play. I think that Stanley and Stella's relationship is completely driven by sexual desire rather than love. Blanche notices this and says to her sister, "What you are talking about is brutal desire-just-Desire!-the name of that rattle-trap street-car that hangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another..." (Williams 4). She is trying to show Stella that her husband and her relationship is not about love but rather desire. What I find interesting is that Blanche is quite the hypocrite. It was desire for men that led her to leave her old life and come to New Orleans.

Stanley; the dominant and the control freak

A Streetcar named Desire's Stanley Kowalski is a man consumed by the need to control. He holds a lot of power over his recessive wife Stella, who has an undying love for him. Or is it love? I think more desire.

Though Stella claims to "nearly go wild when he's away for a week" and "cry on his lap like a baby when he comes back" (Scene one - page 19), I am not certain that she loves Stanley. She puts up with his rude and disrespectful gestures towards her. For example, in Scene one, on page 4, he 'throws his meat at her,' meaning for it to be a sexual innuendo toward her. What kind of husband throws food at his cherished wife, as if she were an animal, if he loves her? Like the title suggests, desire is what drives the relationship between these two. I think this is one of the things that is the root of Stanley's control. He has this woman who would do anything for him at anytime and he knows this. He takes complete advantage of the things Stella does for him. Stella even allows him to slap her straight across her face, in the drunk state that he was, yet still jump his arms that same night - and later that night, into bed with him. I do not think Stanley Kowalski is capable of loving a woman because he thinks he is so much more powerful and important than they are. I think this man is driven by sexual desire and it consumes him, making him an abusive, angry man.

When Mr. Kowalski hears about the loss of the land of Belle Reve, owned by his wife's family, he is very suspicious. He goes on and on about the Napoleonic Code that he knows so much about. He jumps to the conclusion that Blanche, his sister-in-law, lied about its loss and rather, took all of the money for herself. Being the selfish, controlling man he is, he tells Stella that Blanche must have taken the money for herself and insists that she query her about it because "what's Stella's is his and if there is money hidden somewhere, he wants it because it is so rightfully his." He hates Blanche and thinks she is a compulsive liar. He eventually rapes her, being the beast he is, which I think gives him the impression that he is even more sexually powerful over women. I think Stanley is an evil character and I cannot relate to his character in any way because I detest his morals. He puts himself on a pedestal and treats women, especially his wife, as if they are lower than him.