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. America was at a time when it needed realism, and Tennessee Williams supplied this realism by having his character live in a postwar America.

Biographical information about the author as it applies to the work:

Tennessee Williams went through many of the same experiences in his life as the characters did in the novel. In his life Tennessee Williams suffered through depression, homosexuality, loneliness, insanity, and alcoholism. Most of his female characters were molded after his sisters, Rose and Edwina. His abusive and irresponsible male characters were likely molded after his father who was an alcoholic.

Plot Summary:

The play begins in a place called Elysian fields. Blanche just arrived at her sister Stella's house. Blanche informs...