Streetcar Named Desire Destruction

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In A Streetcar Named Desire, a recurring theme throughout the play is how the characters fall into their desires, ultimately leading to their destruction. Tennessee Williams explores the destruction desires can cause through the characters Blanche Dubois, Stella Kowalski, and Stanley Kowalski. Each character has a downfall in various ways due to their individual desires. Stella, for example, desires Stanley and has passionate and unconditional love for him. She also loves her sister, which causes conflicts in her life because of the issues Stanley and Blanche have with each other. Stanley desires to be the man of the house, and because of Stella's submissive nature, he is, but when Blanche challenges him, this causes him to become very angry. Although Stanley does not …show more content…

Stella is driven by her passion and unconditional love for Stanley. Stanley is a rough man who abuses Stella, yet she stays with him despite her sister's efforts to help her. Stanley hits Stella at his poker party because she stood up for her and her sister. Blanche is appalled by his behavior, and rightfully so. However, Stella excuses his behavior by saying, "But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark- that sort of makes everything else seem-unimportant"" (Act 1, scene 4). She excuses his behavior because of her wholehearted love for him. She convinces herself that despite his brutish and unacceptable behavior, she likes him how he is, and his violent tendencies are just something you need to tolerate. It is inferred that Stella even enjoys his violent tendencies when she tells her sister about her wedding night in which Stanley broke all the lightbulbs with her shoe. Stella chooses to prioritize her relationship with Stanley and dismisses his actions. If Stella had chosen to leave him after this scene, the following conflicts could have been

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