The Theme of Desire in Streetcar Named Desire Essay

In A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, desire is one reoccurring theme that is displayed throughout the play. Blanch Dubois, one of the main characters in the play, is inflicted with a sexual desire for men, the desire to feel wanted, and the desire to be young. In the play, Blanche ceases to reveal the truth about her age because she is terrified that her beauty has faded. Blanche's desire to be wanted by men has caused her to hide her true identity. Blanche would hide herself beneath her furs and jewelry, trying to reveal her youth, and she would avoid direct light in order to hide her true image. In order for her to feel longed for, Blanche directs her sexuality towards the younger men in order to receive the longing she desires for.

Violence is also a prominent character. It makes its debut appearance in the Kowalski home where Stanley and Stellas relationship is based on Stanleys rugged manliness and Stellas ability to endure his violence towards her. Stanley and his friends are playing a game of cards and tension rises between Stanley and Stella and he hits her, however she still goes to bed with him the same night. This shows that no matter how bad the violence gets her sexual attraction to him and his beastly behaviors will always keep their relationship mended.

The theme of desire intertwined with physical violence is also used in the book, and can especially be seen in Stanley and Stellas relationship. It seems as if their relationship is purely based on desire and abuse. Throughout the book there are countless occurrences of Stanley mistreating Stella through verbal or physical violence, such as the unpleasant incident where Stanley hits Stella during a poker night, and these occurrences almost always end lightly with Stellas forgive and forget attitude. No matter how vulgar or violent Stanley behaves Stella expects no apologies and is completely content with their marriage. And though Stella may think that her acceptance of Stanleys vulgarity is the result of unconditional love, it is undeniably the result of attraction, which is the basis of their relationship in Stanleys perspective. He implies this himself when he speaks about their marriage before Blanches visit. The sole happiness of their marriage, to him, came in the form of colored lights (112), and this, above all, reveals the strong hold that desire has over their unhealthy relationship and the violent heights that it can overcome.