Stanley Character Analysis Essay

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A Streetcar Named Desire Character Analysis: Stanley Tennessee Williams’s classic 1947 play, A Streetcar Named Desire, explores a variety of important themes. Williams enhances the themes found within the play through the various characters’ actions and interactions. Stanley Kowalski is a strong example of a character who not only progresses the plot of the play, but also helps to explore some of the play’s larger themes. Williams uses Stanley and his specific traits to cultivate some of the play’s themes. One way of doing this is through contrasting Stanley’s boorish behaviour to Blanche’s seemingly prim-and-proper mannerisms. It is arguable that Blanche represents an old-world way of life whereas Stanley is a stand-in for a Post-World War Two America. Using this analogy, it is apparent that the constant struggle between old and new eventually ends in the triumph of a new structure; this directly leads to a…show more content…
Blanche is initially presented as culturally superior to Stanley, but upon closer inspection the perfection of her life is only a thin veneer. Both Stanley and Blanche are obsessed with power and sex, but Stanley is certainly more forthcoming with his demands due to his role as the simple, new generation of American. Because of this, Stanley is sometimes described as casual, but more often uncivilized. When first meeting Blanche, Stanley calmly undresses in front of her while maintaining conversation (Williams, 1787). Blanche directly calls Stanley “a little bit on the primitive side,” (Williams, 1791). Stanley functions on desires and urges rather than polite social standards. His break from formal traditional conventions is especially important when considering how his actions mirror the behaviour of many Americans in the late
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