A Streetcar Named Desire Rhetorical Analysis

In Tennessee Williams’ 1947 play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Williams highlights the inequality of the patriarchal society through the character of Stanley Kowalski. Through the comparison of Blanche and Stanley respectively representing the ‘old south’ and ‘new south’, Williams draws out Stanley’s character as a Polish immigrant’s son, employed as a factory worker who is unwaveringly contributing to the diminishing of the aristocratic lifestyle which Blanche embodies. Williams presents the brutality of Stanley’s character through unconventional dramatic techniques, specific animalistic language and stage directions.

Williams draws attention to Stanley’s beast like nature through the use of unconventional dramatic techniques. In the 1944

play Glass Menagerie that preceded Streetcar, Williams comments in the introduction that he uses expressionism to offer a symbolic representation of reality. He argues that realism is unimportant and inessential to give ‘a more penetrating and vivid expression of things as they are’. It is significant that some of the expressionistic sounds and lighting are used to highlight Stanley’s animalistic side and it implies the barbarity of Stanley’s personality. Both Stanley and Blanche are given musical motifs - the ‘Blue Piano’ represents the ‘spirit of life’ and the Varsouviana represents Blanche’s past and her inability to escape it. The ‘Blue Piano’ is used to present Stanley’s emotions and desires at points of primitivity and when he is driven by his basic instincts. For example, when Stanley yells ‘with heaven-splitting violence’ at Stella to beg for her forgiveness, Williams describes the ‘low-tone clarinet [moaning]’. This is reiterated after Stella and Stanley’s embrace as they ‘come together with low animal moans’. The similarities in these descriptions suggest that Stanley’s sexual attraction to his wife is almost instinctive and the music provides more insight for the audience. The jazz music is also used to show Stanley’s territorial dominance and sexual aggression when he ‘picks up’ Blanche and attacks her. As he lifts her ‘the hot trumpet and drums from the Four Deuces sound loudly’ and so his victory is accentuated through the music. Likewise, the ‘inhumane jungle noises’ are also used during the climax of the play to align Stanley’s ultimate victory to his animalism. In the final scene of the play, in which Blanche is forced to leave, it is accompanied by Expressionistic techniques. ‘The ‘Varsouviana’ is filtered into a weird distortion accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle’. This ‘distortion’ creates a horrifying and disturbing dissonance during Blanche’s exit scene, making the audience not only feel sympathy, but also empathy as the audience shared her confusion and despair. Therefore, through Expressionism and sounds, Williams highlights Stanley’s animal state also also the dominance of his brutal nature.

Throughout the play, William’s uses animalistic language to emphasise Stanley’s brutality and cruelty.

Although Stella believes Stanley is ‘as good as a lamb’, his true identity is revealed through both his brutality and dominance he exerts on women, and the references to his animal-like nature used to accentuate this. Williams uses animalistic imagery to display Stanley’s primitive characteristics and this is evident at the start of the play when Stanley is seen throwing a package of ‘meat’ to his wife. This immediate symbol suggests both his role as a provider, as if he is a primitive hunter-gatherer, and has sexual connotations because of the phallic suggestiveness. His association with cavemen is emphasised by Blanche, who mocks him as ‘an ape’, ‘bearing the raw meat home’ and who understatedly complains that he is ‘a little bit on the primitive side’. This ‘little bit’ is an example of an understatement that is used to suggest the opposite, that she finds him remarkably brutish. From Blanche’s criticism that ‘[Stanley] acts like an animal, has animal habits!’, Blanche believes Stanley is putting on a performance, suggested by the word ‘acts’, and from the exclamation we can imply that Blanche has strong feelings of disgust and aversion towards him. This is furthered by her emphasis on his brutality through the repetition of ‘eats like one, moves like one, talks like one’ and the use of a tricolon places attention and emphasis on his actions which embody an animal. Williams therefore uses Blanche’s refusal to accept and normalise brutal behaviour to create conflict and this causes juxtaposition between their contrasting personalities to accentuate

them.

As the play progresses, the criticism from Blanche becomes more obvious; she bursts out the at ‘there’s something downright - bestial - about him!’ because she believes he is uncultured, violent and belongs in the ‘stone age’. His lack of ability to control his urges also comes out through his physical violence and his wife’s accusation that he is a ‘drunk - drunk - animal thing’. This juxtaposes his drinking and animalism, showing that when he drinks his ability to behave in a civilised manner disappears. Therefore, given the frequency of the animal images and primitivism, Williams clearly exhibits agreement with Blanche’s assessment of Stanley as an animal with animal habits and prepares the audience for his final predatory ‘kill’. However, Stanley’s brutality and cruelty is not only recognised when he is drunk. Stella recalls that Stanley has ‘always smashed things’ and ‘he smashed all the light bulbs with the heel of [her] slipper!’ The acceptance of his destructive persona is amplified and it becomes habitual through Stella’s remark that ‘[she] was - sort of - thrilled by it’. Thus, Williams allows the audience to conclude that Stanley’s brutish and cruel character represents the population of American that is demising the aristocratic lifestyle.

Through the use of stage directions, Williams implicitly suggests Stanley’s brutality. The initial impression of Stanley is presented through his exterior appearance, his desires and pleasures, and his brutality is particularly emphasised through animalistic imagery. Williams implies the animal resemblance of Stanley through the description ‘animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes’. From this it can be implied that ‘all’ of Stanley’s actions are based on his animalistic desires and brutality and cruelty is inherent in his behaviour. Also, this gives the impression that he receives satisfaction and enjoyment from his possessions - his wife, his alcohol, food and games that ‘bears his emblem of the gaudy seed-bearer’. His alignment with a ‘gaudy seed-bearer’ not only has sexual connotations but also highlights Stanley’s strength furthering the description of him being ‘strongly, compactly built’. This is a microcosm of Stanley and emphasises his sexual power as opposed to Blanche’s fragility; this effectively stimulates sympathy in the audience towards Blanche who is sexually weak. Stanley’s connection to animals is furthered with Williams portraying him as a ‘richly feathered male bird among hens’ to highlight his masculinity and pride in his appearance to stand out and attract women. It also might be said to foreshadow the ending, as the dominant male has the freedom to mate as he pleases, reflecting that the ‘centre of his life has been pleasure with women, giving and taking of it’. Williams presents Stanley as a man driven by his sexual desires and his ‘centre of life’ revolves around women; this deems his other personality traits as less important than this, furthering the brutality of his character.

More brutality is presented to the audience as Stanley’s actions are overly aggressive - when he ‘jerks out an armful of dresses’ showing his disrespect for Blanche and her belongings, and when he ‘seizes the atomiser and slams it down on the dresser’. The explicit use of the words ‘jerks’, ‘seizes’ and ‘slams’ conveys barbarism and dominance, highlighting the extent of his violence and aggression. As well as this, he begs for Stella’s forgiveness by ‘[throwing] back his head like a baying hound’ and yells with ‘heaven-splitting violence’. This alignment of his actions with a ‘baying hound’ mirrors Williams’ depiction of Stanley as predatory. Williams also ends the play with stage directions which reflect Stanley’s brutal and lascivious nature. Blanche is vanquished, his wife traumatised, and yet Stanley reverts back to his habit of compensating for violence with sex; Stanley’s ‘fingers finds the opening of [Stella’s] blouse’. The inappropriate timing of this display of his desires further emphasises his ignorance and brutality to fuel the audience’s sympathy and empathy for Blanche. Thus the play closes with the idea that the ‘game is a seven-card stud’ and from this it can be implied that the brutal conquers the fragile and the world revolves around men with differing desires.

In conclusion, through unconventional dramatic techniques, use of language and stage directions, Tennessee Williams labels Stanley as a brutal, animalistic and primitive character driven by his instincts. Tennessee also effective uses Blanche to instill sympathy in the audience and to compare with Stanley who is undoubtedly the opposite to Blanche.