Stanley Kowalski's Masculinity In A Streetcar Named Desire

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From the beginning of a streetcar named desire Stanley Kowalski is dominant, sexual, aggressive, and takes pleasure in his masculinity. Stanley enjoys gambling, bowling, sex, and drinking. All of these show that he is full of masculinity. As soon as the play starts Stanley shows off his animal like nature when interacting with Stella when he; “heaves the package at her.” (4) In this scene his clothes are rough and his choice of words are crude. Before Blanche comes for a visit he is content because Stella does whatever he wants which keeps him in control at all times. Sex with Stella is the thing that is holding their marriage together. So every time they fight they end up having sex to heal the wound. This is Stanley’s fault because he doesn’t believe in relationship unless it is a sexual relationship. Even though Stanley seems tough, he is very dependent on Stella. When he becomes aggressive he calls for her because she is the only one that can soothe him. In the third scene after he hits her while he’s drunk, he has an emotional breakdown and screams for Stella to come back to him. …show more content…

As soon as Blanche appears Stanley feels like everything close to him is at risk. He believes that he owns everything around him including his wife and property. As a result he tends to be shirtless to show everyone that he is in control. Blanche is a major threat to him because he feels as if he has to compete with her to win Stella’s love. Stanley feels like Blanche is trying to win Stella over then turn her against him. One reason Stanley and Stella can’t get along is because they are both volatile characters. Stanley never actually says that Blanche would be a good partner for pleasure, but they both bring up sexual connotation and Stanley always takes his shirt off around

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