Book Review: A Streetcar Named Desire

I remember seeing this during lockdown, when The National Theatre was streaming theatre on YouTube and anyone and everyone could tune in to watch an amazing play for a week for free. It was incredible. This particular version of the play had the phenomenal Gillian Anderson playing Blanche, which was one hell of a performance.  The play is probably William’s best-known work and one he credits as launching his career, and quite rightly so, as it is a phenomenal piece of literature.

The 20th century was one of major change and upheaval. With the start and end of two very devastating world wars that cost the lives of millions, old traditions and values were seen as part of a world that no longer existed. Ones that died along with countless others on the battlefield. This can be seen in the plot of our play. Blanche DuBois is a fading Southern belle who arrives at her sister Stella’s apartment in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Her home, the once grandiose plantation Belle Reve, is gone, leaving her destitute, but her ego and old-fashioned ideals are still very much intact. Stanley Kowalski is a man of the modern world, a veteran who is hot-blooded and hot-headed; he often clashes with Blanche and fights with her sister Stella constantly over his cruelty, brashness and uncouth ways.

The real deterioration of the impact of the 20th century is seen in the breakdown of Blanche’s ideals and personality. Her airs and graces slowly unravel as the truth of her survival and loss of her home comes to light. Stanley, who represents the new ideals of the 20th century, is brutal to Blanche, as her ideals are just that. Ideals. They are not rooted or grounded in reality. The degradation of the old order really comes to fruition through Mitch, a friend of Stanley’s from the war. Mitch is still attached to the old ideals of the past and all that is idolised in Blanche. But those illusions are shattered by the harsh reality of who she has become, much like the harsh reality and devastation that the war left Europe.

Stella is probably the most intriguing character; she is often at odds with Stanley and Blanche, her loyalties tested and pulled in all directions, causing her much distress. She is a vessel carrying the old ways into the new world, but having learnt and accepted that they do not exist, she successfully adapted to her new surroundings. Her child is the vision of the future, one that is hopeful and one that signals success despite the harsh brutality that Stanley throws at Blanche. She is the most conflicted and most hurt by all of this. While we all agree that Blanche is a victim of circumstance, Stella is a victim of loyalties and familial ties. The ending is bitter; there are no real winners, only losers for the sisters, and Stanley doesn’t give a shit.