A Streetcar Named Desire
I strongly agree with Brown’s assertion that Williams’ text A Streetcar Named Desire is relevant to study in 2013. In this essay I will explore some important issues that are seen in the text and today in 2013 in order to prove my stand. To begin, I will address the issue of domestic violence, which permeates all the relationships in the play. Secondly I will discuss the issue of loneliness and a need for love. I will also analyse the life of illusion that Blanche leads and the issue of alcohol as it pertains to Blanche and the men.

A major issue in the play is that of domestic violence, a fact that makes the play relevant to modern audiences. There are a number of incidents involving domestic violence throughout the play. It is Stanley who states that “every man is a king and I am the king around here.” It is his need for dominance that makes him believe that he can throw the radio out of the window because Blanche refuses to switch it off. Williams takes great pains to describe Stanley’s sense of dominance as seen in the words “richly feathered male bird among hens.” Stanley represents the violence of the real world. He is physical and is often associated with animalistic imagery. He is described, “Baying like a hound, bellows his wife’s name.” Blanche also associates Stanley with the brutes, “don’t hang with the brutes.” But violence is not limited to the Kowalski’s alone. Eunice threatens Steve saying, “You hit me! I’m gonna call the police.” Stanley and Stella make no response to this incident, indicating how domestic violence is the norm in their society. The climax to the violence in the play is Stanley’s rape of Blanche. These characters who represent the polar opposites in the play finally collide in this act of rape, which Stanley describes to Blanche as, “we’ve had this date with each other from the beginning.” Therefore the issue of domestic violence is both relevant to the play and to the world we live in.

In addition Williams explores loneliness and the need for love, two topics that affect all men in all times. In the epigraph, Hart Crane refers to a “broken world” in which the speaker is desperate to “trace the visionary company of love.” This serves as a useful introduction to all the characters in the play. Stella, even though she is abused by Stanley, is drawn back to him because of her desire for him. Stella admits that Stanley is “a different species “but she also concedes to Blanche “it’s a drive that he has” that keeps her going back to Stanley. In response to Blanche’s suggestion that Stella leave her Polack, Stella says categorically, “I’m not in anything I want to get out of.” The character of Blanche is the one who is most desperately lonely. It is for this reason that she creates an admirer by the name of Shep Huntleigh whom she longs for. The suicide of her young husband haunts her as it makes her feel inadequate. This drives her to be seductive and with her aging she fears, “I don’t know how much longer I can turn a trick…I am fading now” when Mitch appears on the scene, `Blanche sees him as an escape from Elysian Fields. However Mitch also needs someone to take the place of his dying mother as he says, “you need somebody and I need somebody, too.” Even in Steve and Eunice’s dysfunctional relationship, Eunice admits that “life has got to go on.”

Blanche Dubois lives in a fantasy world and manages to escape reality by lying, dreaming and by drinking. Blanche feels that no one is capable of loving her as a result of the death of her young husband. Blanche believes that if she shows her true colors and is honest about her age and about her ideals no-one will love her and so in order to “disguise” herself Blanche makes sure that no-one sees her in a naked light and covers the light with a paper lantern , saying, “I can’t stand a naked light bulb”. Blanche goes on to lie when she tells Mitch on their date, “I have old-fashioned ideals”. However when Stella questions Blanche on her relationship with Mitch, Blanche says,” I want to rest! I want to breath quietly again” which suggests she would like to leave her world now that she has found love again and stop all of this pretending and move forward with Mitch. The fact that Blanche is always dressed in white clothing is ironic and suggests that she would like to be pure again after all of the promiscuous things she has done . She would like people to think that she is good and pure In addition, “dressed in a white suit...suggests a moth” which points to her fragility. In today’s stressful environment where a large amount of pressure is put on people, we often wish we were able to escape to our own world.

Yet another theme that makes the play pertinent to modern readers is abuse of alcohol. From the beginning of the play it is clear that Blanche has a drinking problem although she denies it, saying, “I rarely touch it”. When Mitch arrives at the house to confront Blanche about all the lies she has told he tells her “you ought to lay off his liquor…lapping it up like a wild cat”. Another incident of alcohol abuse is seen in the beginning of the play at the men’s poker game when Stella says “it’s always a powder keg”. That same night while Stanley is highly intoxicated, he and Stella begin to fight and she yells at him, “drunk, drunk, animal thing, you.” Unfortunately the society in which we live today, there are many cases of alcohol abuse. In situations like these the individual who suffers from this addiction is not the only one affected , but rather their family, friends and all of their loved ones become victims of this abuse.

Therefore it is seen that Williams’ play is relevant to 2013. The issues and themes explored in the play find resonance in our modern society, proving that human nature remains unchanging .Molly Brown’s statement is therefore accurate.