A Streetcar Named Desire

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 11th grade April 2001

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When Two Worlds Collide When two persons from very different backgrounds come together, conflict is inevitable. In the play, "A Streetcar Named Desire,"Ã¯Â¿Â½ Tennessee Williams tells the story of two people of fail to coexist. When the seemingly arrogant Blanche moves in with her sister and low class husband, Stanley, a series of conflicts arise between Blanche and Stanley. Differences in their social positions, desires, and perspectives on reality cause many clashes between them.

Blanche and Stella are the last aboard the sinking ship that is the old Southern aristocracy. After losing their family and property, all that remains is the memories of their aristocratic past. Stella jumps from the sinking ship and moves to New Orleans. There, she marries a factory worker named Stanley. Yet, Blanche still clings to and idealized world in which family heritage is all-important. Upon her arrival at Stella's modest house, Blanche's first comment to her sister is "I thought you would never come back to this horrible place!"Ã¯Â¿Â½(p.

1588) , clearly indicating her disapproval of her Stella's living conditions. Blanche is further shocked when she discovers that Stella's house lacks a maid and has only two rooms. The situation is quite different from the wealthy environment in which the two sisters grew up, where they lived in a large plantation house with servants.

Blanche develops an immediate prejudice against Stanley because of his low class origins. Not only is Stanley the son of immigrants, who worked in a factory, he does not behave the way a gentleman should. As time passes, Blanche's bias deepens. She sees him as a simple-minded commoner and does not give Stanley credit for any higher feelings or thoughts. Blanche expresses her views regarding Stanley after the latter loses his temper and strikes his wife following a night of...