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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
  • 30 Student Essay
  • 1 Encyclopedia Article
  • 27 Literature Criticism
  • 1 Book Note
  • ...and more
  • 30 A Streetcar Named Desire Lessons
  • 20 Activities
  • 180 Multiple Choice Questions
  • 60 Short Essay Questions
  • 20 Essay Questions
  • Pre-Made Tests and Quizzes
  • ...and more

A Streetcar Named Desire Summary

Scenes 1 and 2

The play opens in a shabby district of New Orleans where Stanley Kowalski lives with his wife Stella. After they leave for the bowling alley, where Stanley is to play with his friend Mitch, a well-dressed woman arrives carrying a suitcase. This is Blanche DuBois, Stella's sister. Hardly believing that this is Stella's home, Blanche ungraciously accepts the invitation of the landlady, Eunice, to wait inside. She appears nervous and highly strung and searches out a supply of alcohol, supposedly to calm her nerves. When Stella returns they greet each other fondly, but there is a hint of unease between them.

On his return home, Stanley meets Blanche and they talk amicably, but as the conversation develops and as details of Blanche's past come out—particularly her marriage to a husband who is now dead, and the loss of Belle Reve, the family's property— we see Stanley beginning to distrust... View more of the A Streetcar Named Desire Summary

Study Pack

The A Streetcar Named Desire Study Pack contains about 550 pages of study material in 65 products, including:

A Streetcar Named Desire Study Guide

Lesson Plan

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A Streetcar Named Desire Lesson Plans contain 106 pages of teaching material, including:

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-- Tennessee Williams is the author of A Streetcar Named Desire. read more
-- Stella has two choices at the end of Streetcar Named Desire; .she can either stay with Stanley knowi... read more
-- Blanche DuBois is a single lady in her thirties that must go and live with her sister Stella and Ste... read more
-- The streetcar symbolizes Blanche’s desire to reinvent herself as a respectable woman that has the... read more
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