A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

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A Streetcar Named Desire Summary
Tennessee Williams

Everything you need to understand or teach A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams.

A Streetcar Named Desire Summary & Study Guide
31 Student Essays
1 Encyclopedia Article
27 Literature Criticisms
1 Book Notes
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30 A Streetcar Named Desire Lessons
20 Activities
180 Multiple Choice Questions
60 Short Essay Questions
20 Essay Questions
Pre-Made Tests and Quizzes
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A Streetcar Named Desire Summary

A Streetcar Named Desire is a Pulitzer Prize winning dramatic work by acclaimed playwright Tennessee Williams. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949.

The play is set in and around an apartment building on the corner of a street named Elysian Fields in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, just after the end of World War II. Stanley and Stella Kowalski live in the lower apartment...

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The A Streetcar Named Desire Study Pack contains:

A Streetcar Named Desire Study Guide

Plot Summary

Chapter Summaries

Characters

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Quotes

Topics for Discussion

Encyclopedia Articles (1)

A Streetcar Named Desire

1,075 words, approx. 4 pages

A Streetcar Named Desire According to Brooks Atkinson, the major theater critic of the mid-century, Tennessee Williams' urban tragedy, A Streetcar Named Desire, was "a modern masterpiece... Read more

Tennessee Williams Biographies (4)

Tennessee Williams

769 words, approx. 3 pages

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983), dramatist and fiction writer, was one of America's major mid-20th-century playwrights.Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams in Columbus, Mississippi, on Ma... Read more

Tennessee Williams

5,154 words, approx. 18 pages

The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Suddenly Last Summer: these plays are considered among the classics of twentieth-century American theatre. Their author, Tenne... Read more

Tennessee Williams

20,129 words, approx. 68 pages

Tennessee Williams's playwriting career, already spanning more than four decades, has been marked by the highest acclaim, as well as the kind of critical controversy that is generated only by one whos... Read more

Tennessee Williams

21,086 words, approx. 71 pages

Biography EssayTennessee Williams's playwriting career spanned more than four decades and was marked by the highest acclaim, as well as the kind of critical controversy that is generated only by one w... Read more

Essays & Analysis (58)

Critical Essay by Karel Reisz

388 words, approx. 2 pages

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Critical Essay by Howard Barnes

306 words, approx. 2 pages

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Critical Essay by Harold Clurman

1,087 words, approx. 4 pages

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Critical Essay by George Jean Nathan

776 words, approx. 3 pages

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Critical Essay by W. David Sievers

712 words, approx. 3 pages

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Critical Essay by Eric Bentley

367 words, approx. 2 pages

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Critical Essay by Joseph Wood Krutch

828 words, approx. 3 pages

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Critical Essay by John Gassner

1,413 words, approx. 5 pages

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Critical Essay by C. N. Stavrou

729 words, approx. 3 pages

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Critical Essay by Winifred L. Dusenbury

749 words, approx. 3 pages

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Critical Essay by Richard Watts, Jr.

376 words, approx. 2 pages

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Critical Essay by Robert B. Heilman

843 words, approx. 3 pages

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Critical Essay by R. H. Gardner

2,027 words, approx. 7 pages

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Critical Essay by Leonard Berkman

1,700 words, approx. 6 pages

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Critical Essay by Martin Gottfried

1,065 words, approx. 4 pages

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Critical Essay by Harold Clurman

577 words, approx. 2 pages

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Critical Essay by Leonard Quirino

3,161 words, approx. 11 pages

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Critical Essay by Normand Berlin

1,275 words, approx. 5 pages

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Critical Essay by Louis Kronenberger

381 words, approx. 2 pages

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Critical Essay by Wolcott Gibbs

485 words, approx. 2 pages

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Critical Essay by Kappo Phelan

358 words, approx. 2 pages

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Critical Essay by Joseph Wood Krutch

694 words, approx. 3 pages

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Critical Essay by John Mason Brown

1,141 words, approx. 4 pages

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Critical Essay by Rosamond Gilder

687 words, approx. 3 pages

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Critical Essay by Anne Fleche

5,939 words, approx. 20 pages

6,211 words, approx. 21 pages

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Critical Essay by Mark Royden Winchell

5,429 words, approx. 19 pages

2,142 words, approx. 8 pages

Dramatic Technique, Dramatic effect: Discuss the use of symbolism, imagery and allegorical figures in Tennessee William's plays Williams once said, in the foreword to Camino Real, "a symbol in a pla... Read more

Psychological Analysis of Blanche from "A Streetcar Named Desire"

2,084 words, approx. 7 pages

New patient Blanche Dubois is originally from Laurel, Mississippi, and released into our care by her sister Stella Dubois Kowalski, who resides in Elysian Fields, New Orleans. Blanche lived in a beau... Read more

Relationships between Men and Women in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

1,741 words, approx. 6 pages

Stanley says to Stella in scene eight "Every man is a king." Explain how Williams presents dramatically the relationships between men and women in the play as a whole. Make detailed reference to at le... Read more

Role of Gender in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

2,510 words, approx. 9 pages

Social upheaval in many senses was explicit through the beginning of the twentieth century; two world wars had - for a short time - shifted the balance of power between men and women. Women were ... Read more

How History Relates to "A Streetcar Named Desire"

874 words, approx. 3 pages

How History Relates to A Streetcar Named Desire During the time period Tennessee Williams, author of the play A Streetcar Named Desire, lived in, men were typically portrayed as leaders of the house... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire

2,197 words, approx. 8 pages

Life has been cruel and brutal to all of the characters in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. All except Stanley Kowalski, that is, who has instead been cruel to those in life. He was rel... Read more

Dramatic Irony in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

1,344 words, approx. 5 pages

In Tennessee William's play A Streetcar Named Desire dramatic irony has enriched the audience's appreciation of the play and adds another dimension to the plays meaning. The music contributes to the d... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire: 'the Kowalskies and Dubois Have Different Notions.'

1,243 words, approx. 5 pages

It is intriguing that in this quotation Stanley refers to the `the Kowalskis and the DuBois' in plural. Yet, there is only one character with the surname DuBois and only one Kowalski by blood. Stella ... Read more

"A Streetcar Named Desire" - the Character of Mitch

1,083 words, approx. 4 pages

We first meet the real character of Harold Mitchell playing poker in scene three, and at first it seems he is just one of the "rough bunch". We eventually come to realize, however, he is in fact diffe... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire - Evaluate First Three Scenes

1,515 words, approx. 6 pages

Scene one begins with a description of the building, which we learn to be the home of Stanley and Stella in Elysian Fields. Elysian means heaven and we soon see the irony of this name as the play co... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire, the Character of Blanche

1,767 words, approx. 6 pages

"A Streetcar named Desire": The character of Blanche. "A Streetcar named Desire" was written by Tennessee Williams in 1947. This play concerns the psychological decomposition of a sensitive, delicate ... Read more

Analysis of "A Streetcar Named Desire"

981 words, approx. 4 pages

After World War II, in 1947, Tennessee Williams wrote a play called A Streetcar Named Desire, the play takes place in the jubilant city of New Orleans, it is a about a sensitive woman named Blanche wh... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire

586 words, approx. 2 pages

"Ho-ho! There's nothing to be scared of. They're crazy about each other." said Mitch. Isn't it true the relationship between Stella and Stanley is praiseworthy, since it combines sexual attraction ... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire

505 words, approx. 2 pages

In "A Streetcar Named Desire", Blanche uses her fantasy world to get through things that she doesn't like or doesn't know. She never lives in reality of what really happened to her and Belle Reve.... Read more

Street Car Named Desire

241 words, approx. 1 pages

"Winners never quit, and quitters never win." Throughout history it has become a popular saying, which has been used to show that people should not give up on themselves and ... Read more

Analysis of Symbols and Themes in A Streetcar Named Desire

1,634 words, approx. 6 pages

A Streetcar Named Desire Historical information about the period of publication as it applies to the work: Tennessee Williams wrote A Streetcar Named Desire after the Depression and World War II... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire: Themes of Death and Desire

636 words, approx. 3 pages

Williams uses many forms of expression such as light, sexual undertones, setting and actions to display the characters of the play and their personalities. Elysian Fields is a poor, jaunty suburb in N... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire - a Short Textual Analysis

1,311 words, approx. 5 pages

In "A Streetcar Named Desire", Tennessee Williams leaves a large amount of stage direction to the actor and the director. The choices in the performance made by the latter can neither be right nor wr... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire: A Character Study of Blance Dubois

754 words, approx. 3 pages

In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, the central character Blanche DuBois represents a deep attachment to the past. Blanche was once the overseer of her family's mansion, Bell... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire: Sympathy for Blanche

870 words, approx. 3 pages

The arts stir emotion in audiences. Whether it is hate or humor, compassion or confusion, passion or pity, an artist's goal is to construct a particular feeling in an individual. Tennessee Williams i... Read more

Imagery in a Streetcar Named Desire

866 words, approx. 3 pages

The literacy device of imagery allows the audience to easily grasp what is forthcoming in plays, movies or television programs while providing the audience a sense of excitement. Imagery comes in many... Read more

Musings on A Streetcar Named Desire

1,009 words, approx. 4 pages

In writing this interpretation of a Streetcar Named Desire, I am trying to give the play an entirely new perspective, by changing several settings of the story, but making it so that it can still hav... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire, An Analysis of Two Sisters

1,175 words, approx. 4 pages

"I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can't be alone!" (pg 23). In Tennessee William's play A Streetcar Named Desire the two main women characters cannot be alone when it comes to men. Bo... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire: The Play Versus the Movie

740 words, approx. 3 pages

Tennessee Williams authored both the play and original screen version of A Streetcar Named Desire, so it is understandable that both works have much in common. Both initial releases even shared the s... Read more

A Streetcar Named Desire Analysis

1,185 words, approx. 4 pages

This 1950's theatrical presentation was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Tennessee Williams. It is about a southern bell by the name of Blanche Dubois who loses her father's plantation to a mo... Read more

Psychoanalytical Study of "A Streetcar Named Desire"

2,834 words, approx. 10 pages

Was Tennessee Williams a psychoanalyst too" A crítica psicanalítica, em outras palavras, pode ir além da caça aos símbolos fálicos; ela nos pode dizer alguma coisa sob... Read more

"Fences" and "A Streetcar Named Desire"

916 words, approx. 4 pages

In the mid nineteenth century the relationship between men and women were defined by the men's domineering character and the woman's vulnerability. This is proven true in both "A Streetcar Named Desi... Read more

Tragic Flaws in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

508 words, approx. 2 pages

In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams gives the main characters of the story tragic flaws which ultimately bring them down. The tragic heroes are contrasted from others in t... Read more

How Does William Present Blanche in a Streetcar Named Desire

680 words, approx. 3 pages

When glancing through the first few scenes, we gain a large insight into what type of person Blanche Dubois is, deep inside. Blanche soon turns out to have been a school teacher in Mississippi, she tu... Read more

Quests in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

1,793 words, approx. 6 pages

There are many situations in life in which an individual is set on a quest. A quest is defined as the act or instance of seeking or pursuing something; a search. When an individual embarks on a q... Read more

Sexuality Depicted in Tennessee Williams "Street Car Named Desire"

1,935 words, approx. 7 pages

Human sexuality is a topic that is very blatantly exposed in Tennessee Williams's Street car named Desire. The lack of fear the author displays in tackling with various issues of sex makes the play st... Read more

Free Book Notes (1)

A Streetcar Named Desire

13,254 words, approx. 45 pages

A Streetcar Named Desire Book Notes is a free study guide on A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. Browse the summary below:   Author Biography / Context of the Work   One-Page... Read more

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