What is the plot of A Streetcar Named Desire?
A Streetcar Named Desire. A Streetcar Named Desire is a play written by Tennessee Williams that opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatises the life of Blanche DuBois, a southern belle who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her aristocratic background seeking refuge with her sister...
When did A Streetcar Named Desire open on Broadway?
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams that received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
What does Blanche DuBois say about New Orleans in A Streetcar Named Desire?
They were highly offended by the disparaging lyrics. Of course, the character of Blanche DuBois, the "faded Southern belle without a dime," would completely agree with the cruel, satirical lyrics. To her, New Orleans, the setting of "A Streetcar Named Desire," represents the ugliness of reality.
How much is a signed copy of A Streetcar Named Desire worth?
On October 1, 2009, Swann Galleries auctioned an unusually fine copy of A Streetcar Named Desire, New York, 1947, signed by Williams and dated 1976 for $9,000, a record price for a signed copy of the play.
What is the historical context of A Streetcar Named Desire?
The play is set in the atmospheric aftermath of the Civil War. The Civil War in America was fought between the Northern and Southern States, and this was mainly on the issue of the abolishment of Slavery. The Southern States were against its abolishments as their plantations were based on slavery.
Where does A Streetcar Named Desire take place?
City of New OrleansIt is undoubtedly one of the most famous film depictions of the City of New Orleans, despite the fact that the much of the production took place in Burbank, California film studios. Williams lived in the French Quarter throughout much of his adult life, he lived in this apartment at 632 1/2 St.
When and where is A Streetcar Named Desire set?
"A Streetcar Named Desire," written by Tennessee Williams is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The year is 1947—the same year in which the play was written. All of the action of "A Streetcar Named Desire" takes place on the first floor of a two-bedroom apartment.
Why was A Streetcar Named Desire banned?
A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams The critically acclaimed play A Streetcar Named Desire was banned for its sexual content and perceived "immorality."
Who yelled Stella in a movie?
StanleyFamous, torrid scene in which Stanley (Marlon Brando), remorseful after a tantrum, shouts for his wife Stella (Kim Hunter), in Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire, 1952, from Tennessee Williams' play.
WHY IS A Streetcar Named Desire so controversial?
When "A Streetcar Named Desire" was first released, it created a firestorm of controversy. It was immoral, decadent, vulgar and sinful, its critics cried. And that was after substantial cuts had already been made in the picture, at the insistence of Warner Bros., driven on by the industry's own censors.
How old is Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire?
about twenty-eight to thirty years oldStanley Kowalski: A rather common working man, about twenty-eight to thirty years old, his main drive in life is sexual.
Why does Blanche go insane at the end of the play?
The play chronicles the subsequent crumbling of Blanche's self-image and sanity. Stanley himself takes the final stabs at Blanche, destroying the remainder of her sexual and mental esteem by raping her and then committing her to an insane asylum.
Why is Blanche in New Orleans?
Stella's quietness unnerves Blanche, who suggests that Stella isn't happy to see her. She then explains that she has come to New Orleans because her nerves have forced her to take a leave of absence from her job as a schoolteacher during the middle of the term.
What mental illness does Blanche DuBois have?
s psychological disorder is indeed schizophrenia. Thus, the symptoms of Blanche Dubois? personality disorder are disturbances of perception, delusions and illusions, and withdrawal from reality....Abstract.Item Type:Thesis (Bachelor)Last Modified:30 Mar 2011 12:17URI:http://repository.petra.ac.id/id/eprint/70745 more rows•Mar 30, 2011
How is Blanche Stanley cruel?
His actions toward Blanche are all the more cruel because he misunderstands how weak Blanche is to begin with. Stanley's desire for ownership manifests itself as the furious sexual desire he displays for Stella in the play.
Who is Stanley Kowalski based on?
Tennessee Williams's Stanley is an amalgamation of three real people who affected his life: the real Stanley Kowalski who was working-class and friend to Willams; Cornelius Coffin Williams, the father Willams who was a domineering, working class man and also a violent drunk; and finally, a boxer Pancho Rodriguez y ...
In what area do Stanley and Stella live?
The area of New Orleans in which Stanley and Stella live is called Elysian Fields.
Does New Orleans still have street cars?
In New Orleans, trolleys are called streetcars, and their image is iconic to the Crescent City. The streetcar system is cheap and easy to navigate. There are currently 5 streetcar routes: the Riverfront; St. Charles; Canal (Cemeteries); Canal (City Park/Museum); and Rampart/St.
Where do Eunice and Steve live?
The play is set in a two-story, white-frame, faded corner building on a street called Elysian Fields, which runs between the train tracks and the river in New Orleans. The neighborhood is poor but has a “raffish charm.” Stanley and Stella Kowalski live in the downstairs flat, and Steve and Eunice live upstairs.
Where does Stella live in A Streetcar Named Desire?
French Quarter of New OrleansBlanche DuBois arrives to visit her sister, Mrs. Stella Kowalski, who lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans. She is shocked by the disreputable looks of the place. While a neighbor goes to find Stella, Blanche looks around the apartment for a drink.
Where is the setting for a streetcar named Desire?
The setting for "A Streetcar Named Desire" is a modest, two-room flat in New Orleans. This simple set is viewed by the various characters in sharply contrasting ways—ways that directly reflect the dynamics of the characters.
Where does the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" take place?
The entire play is staged in the cramped flat in a particularly low-income area of the French Quarter.
What does Blanche do in the play?
Blanche occupies the room adjacent to theirs—so close that it impinges on their privacy. Her garments are strewn about the furniture. She adorns lights with paper lanterns to soften their glare. She hopes to soften the light in order to look younger; she also hopes to create a sense of magic and charm within the apartment. However, Stanley does not want her fantasy world to encroach upon his domain. In the play, the tightly-squeezed setting is a key factor in the drama: It provides instant conflict.
Why did Stella leave Belle Reve?
Stella, Blanche's sister, has left her life at Belle Reve in exchange for the exciting, passionate (and sometimes violent) world that her husband Stanley has to offer. Stanley Kowalski thinks of his small apartment as his kingdom. During the day, he works in a factory.
What is Blanche's sister's name in the book?
Fantasies and delusions, however, are very difficult to cling to in the basic two-room apartment of her sister Stella , and specifically in the company of Stella's domineering and brutal husband, Stanley Kowalski.
Who plays Blanche Dubois in The Simpsons?
There's a classic episode of "The Simpsons" in which Marge Simpson lands the role of Blanche DuBois in a musical version of "A Streetcar Named Desire." During the opening number, the Springfield cast sings:
Is there segregation in Stella and Stanley?
In the low-income world of Stella and Stanley Kowalski, racial segregation appears to be nonexistent, a sharp contrast to the elitist realms of the old South (and Blanche Dubois' childhood). As sympathetic, or pathetic, as Blanche may appear throughout the play, she often says intolerant remarks about class, sexuality, and ethnicity.
When was A Streetcar Named Desire selected for preservation?
In 1999 , A Streetcar Named Desire was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
How much money did A Streetcar Named Desire make?
In the months after its release in September 1951, A Streetcar Named Desire grossed $4.2 million in the United States and Canada, with 15 million tickets sold against a production budget of $1.8 million. A reissue of the film by 20th Century Fox in 1958 grossed an additional $700,000.
What is Blanche riding in the Desire?
In the film, Blanche is shown riding in the streetcar which was only mentioned in the play. By the time the film was in production however, the Desire streetcar line had been converted into a bus service, and the production team had to gain permission from the authorities to hire out a streetcar with the "Desire" name on it.
What does Blanche reveal about Belle Reve?
Blanche reveals that the family estate, Belle Reve, was lost to creditors , and Blanche is broke and had nowhere to go, since she was widowed at a young age after her husband's suicide. When Stanley suspects Blanche may be hiding an inheritance, she shows him proof of the foreclosure. Stanley, looking for further proof, knocks some of Blanche's private papers to the floor. Weeping, she gathers them, saying they are poems from her dead husband. Stanley explains he was only looking out for his family, then announces Stella is pregnant.
What is the name of the movie that Blanche Dubois plays?
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1951 American drama film, adapted from Tennessee Williams 's Pulitzer Prize -winning 1947 play of the same name. It tells the story of a southern belle, Blanche DuBois, who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her aristocratic background seeking refuge with her sister and brother-in-law in ...
What is the name of the movie that was based on a play by Tennessee Williams?
A Streetcar Named Desire. (1951 film) For other uses, see A Streetcar Named Desire (disambiguation). A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1951 American drama film, adapted from Tennessee Williams 's Pulitzer Prize -winning 1947 play of the same name. It tells the story of a southern belle, Blanche DuBois, who, after encountering a series ...
Where was the movie The Machine Factory set?
The play was set entirely at the Kowalski apartment, but the story's visual scope is expanded in the film, which depicts locations only briefly mentioned or non-existent in the stage production, such as the train station, streets in the French Quarter, the bowling alley, the pier of a dance casino, and the machine factory.
Where is Blanche Dubois set?
Setting (place) New Orleans, Louisiana. Protagonist Blanche DuBois. Major conflict Blanche DuBois, an aging Southern debutante, arrives at her sister’s home in New Orleans hoping to start a new life after losing her ancestral mansion, her job, and her reputation in her hometown of Laurel, Mississippi.
What happened to Blanche in the apartment?
Blanche, alone in the apartment once more, drowns herself in alcohol and dreams of an impossible rescue. Stanley returns to the apartment from the hospital and rapes Blanche. Falling action Weeks after the rape, Stella secretly prepares for Blanche’s departure to an insane asylum.
What happened to Stella in the Climax?
Climax After Stanley treats Blanche cruelly during her birthday dinner, giving her a bus ticket back to Laurel as a present, Stella goes into labor. She and Stanley depart for the hospital, leaving Blanche alone in the house. Mitch arrives, drunk, and breaks off his relationship with Blanche.
Who is Blanche's brother in law?
Blanche’s brother-in-law, a macho working-class guy named Stanley Kowalski, is so filled with class resentment that he seeks to destroy Blanche’s character in New Orleans as well. His cruelty, combined with Blanche’s fragile, insecure personality, leaves her mentally detached from reality by the play’s end.
What ward was the Desire Streetcar in?
The Desire streetcar route--so called because its terminus was on Desire Street in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans--served the shopping areas along Royal and Canal streets and the nightclubs on Bourbon Street. The route ceased operation in 1948, the same year A Streetcar Named Desire had its premiere on Broadway.".
How many awards did A Streetcar Named Desire win?
A press booklet promoting the theatrical re-release of the film after the 24th Academy Awards (where the film received five awards) suggests, “A Streetcar Named Desire reveals a side to the lovely Southern city that has startled American play and motion picture fans.”. [3]
What is the name of the movie that was based on a play by Tennessee Williams?
A Streetcar Named Desire. A Streetcar Named Desire is the title of a 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams, adapted in 1951 for the big screen by director Elia Kazan. It is undoubtedly one of the most famous film depictions of the City of New Orleans, despite the fact that the much of the production took place in Burbank, ...
What did Carroll suggest?
One of his suggestions included putting the “streetcar named Desire” on a trailer and send it “rolling around the country loaded with promotional materials for potential visitors.”.
Where was the Streetcar movie filmed?
Today, visitors to New Orleans have a few options for “Streetcar” tourism since much of the movie was filmed on set in California. Each year in late March the city plays host to the Tennesse Williams Festival, featuring lectures, performances, and a "Stella" screaming contest to honor the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright.
Where did the movie "The City of New Orleans" take place?
It is undoubtedly one of the most famous film depictions of the City of New Orleans, despite the fact that the much of the production took place in Burbank, California film studios. Williams lived in the French Quarter throughout much of his adult life, he lived in this apartment at 632 1/2 St. Peter Street while writing A Streetcar Named Desire.
Who plays Blanche in Streetcar?
Streetcar begins with Blanche (Vivien Leigh) arriving at her sister Stella’s (Kim Hunter) run-down apartment in the French Quarter. Blanche lives in a “dream world of long-gone gentility,” and is dismayed by her sister’s way of life, including her marriage to brutish Stanley (Marlon Brando). Throughout the script, Stanley taunts Blanche, eventually revealing a secret that sends her into a complete breakdown. Ultimately Stanley is rebuffed by his wife and friends, left alone to witness the result of his cruelty. [2]
Storyline
Blanche DuBois, a high school English teacher with an aristocratic background from Auriol, Mississippi, decides to move to live with her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski, in New Orleans after creditors take over the family property, Belle Reve.
Did you know
As the film progresses, the set of the Kowalski apartment actually gets smaller to heighten the suggestion of Blanche's increasing claustrophobia.
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What is the Hindi language plot outline for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)?
What is the theme of a streetcar named Desire?
Many of the major themes of A Streetcar Named Desire are embodied in the history and culture of New Orleans. The lively setting of the French Quarter, with its streetcars, bars, entertainment, and jazz and blues music, provides a rich background for the emotional events of the play; the setting also draws symbolic attention to changes which were ...
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What is the play "The South" about?
On a more general level, the play represents the decline of the aristocratic families traditionally associated with the South. These once-influential families had lost their historical importance when the South's agricultural base was unable to compete with the new industrialization. The region's agrarian economy, which had been in decline since the Confederate defeat in the Civil War, suffered further setbacks after the First World War. A labor shortage hindered Southern agriculture when large numbers of male laborers were absorbed by the military or defense-based industries. Many landowners, faced with large areas of land and no one to work on it, moved to urban areas. With the increasing industrialization that followed during the 1920s through the 1940s, the structure of the work force evolved more radically yet, incorporating large numbers of women, immigrants, and blacks. Women gained the right to vote in 1920 and the old Southern tradition of an agrarian family aristocracy ruled by men started to come to an end.
Who invented tubeless tires?
Tubeless automobile tires, which seal themselves when punctured, are introduced by B.F. Goodrich. Howard Hughes' new seaplane, the Spruce Goose, the largest plane ever built, takes off for a one-mile flight across Long Beach Harbor before it is retired for good.
Who is in rehearsal for a streetcar named Desire?
Kim Hunter (left), Marlon Brando, Karl Malden and others in rehearsal for the original production of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’ (Eliot Elisofon / The LIFE Picture Collection)
Who took the photos of Broadway premiere?
3, 1947, LIFE.com presents photos — some of which never ran in the magazine — taken during rehearsals by photographer Eliot Elisofon.
Who played Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 movie?
Despite all the accolades it earned, however, the 24-year Brando’s galvanizing turn as Stanley Kowalski — in both the play and in Kazan’s 1951 film adaptation — was what really seared the production into the pop-culture consciousness.
Where is the streetcar named Desire set?
A Streetcar Named Desire. Set in New Orleans in the late 1940s, A Streetcar Named Desire unfolds in a time when the United States in general and the South in particular were poised for major economic growth and significant social change.
Why did cities triple in population?
Cities tripled in population as millions of rural inhabitants left farms to take jobs in trade and industry. Immigrants arrived from the Caribbean and South and Central America (personified by Pablo, one of the poker gang), attracted by the sense of growth and opportunity.
What was the New South?
This period gave rise to the New South, as an impoverished, largely agrarian, and homogeneous society transformed into a more prosperous, industrial, and diversified one. The transformation of New Orleans actually began during the Second World War.
An Overview of The Setting
Blanche's View of New Orleans
- There's a classic episode of "The Simpsons" in which Marge Simpson lands the role of Blanche DuBois in a musical version of "A Streetcar Named Desire." During the opening number, the Springfield cast sings: After the show aired, the Simpsons' producers received a lot of complaints from Louisiana citizens. They were highly offended by the disparaging lyrics. Of course, the char…
The Two-Room Flat
- "A Streetcar Named Desire" takes place two years after the end of World War II. The entire play is staged in the cramped flat in a particularly low-income area of the French Quarter. Stella, Blanche's sister, has left her life at Belle Reve in exchange for the exciting, passionate (and sometimes violent) world that her husband Stanley has to offer. Stanley Kowalski thinks of his s…
Art and Cultural Diversity in The French Quarter
- Williams offers multiple perspectives on the play's setting. In the play's beginning, two minor female characters are chatting. One woman is Black, the other White. The ease with which they communicate demonstrates the casual acceptance of diversity in the French Quarter. Williams is presenting here a view of the neighborhood as having a thriving, exuberant atmosphere, one tha…
Gender Roles After World War II
- The war brought innumerable changes to American society. Millions of men traveled overseas to face the Axis powers, while millions of women joined the workforceand the war effort at home. Many women discovered for the first time their independence and tenacity. After the war, most of the men returned to their jobs. Most of the women, often reluctantly, returned to the roles as ho…
Overview
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1951 American Southern Gothic drama film, adapted from Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. It is directed by Elia Kazan, and stars Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden. The film tells the story of a southern belle, Blanche DuBois, who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her aristocratic backgro…
Production
A Streetcar Named Desire was adapted directly from the successful 1947 Broadway production of the play, which won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Many of the cast and crew were ported over from the stage production, including director Elia Kazan and actors Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden, Rudy Bond, Nick Dennis, Peg Hillias, Ann Dere, Edna Thomas, and Richard Garrick. Kazan intended for Jessica Tandy, who wo…
Plot
Blanche DuBois, a middle-aged high school English teacher, arrives in New Orleans. She takes a streetcar named "Desire" to the French Quarter, where her sister, Stella, and Stella's husband, Stanley Kowalski, live in a dilapidated tenement apartment. Blanche claims to be on leave from her teaching job due to her nerves and wants to stay with Stella and Stanley. Blanche's demure, refined manner is a stark contrast to Stanley's crude, brutish behavior, making them mutually wa…
Cast
• Vivien Leigh as Blanche
• Marlon Brando as Stanley
• Kim Hunter as Stella
• Karl Malden as Mitch
Music
The jazz-infused score by Alex North was written in short sets of music that reflected the psychological dynamics of the characters. It was one of the first jazz scores composed for a mainstream feature film, and earned North an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score, one of two nominations in that category that year.
Comparison to source material
• The play was set entirely at the Kowalski apartment, but the story's visual scope is expanded in the film, which depicts locations only briefly mentioned or non-existent in the stage production, such as the train station, streets in the French Quarter, the bowling alley, the pier of a dance casino, and the machine factory.
• Dialogue presented in the play is abbreviated or cut entirely in various scenes in the film, including, for example, when Blanche tries to convince Stella to leave …
Reception
In the months after its release in September 1951, A Streetcar Named Desire grossed $4.2 million in the United States and Canada, with 15 million tickets sold against a production budget of $1.8 million. A reissue of the film by 20th Century Fox in 1958 grossed an additional $700,000.
Upon release, the film drew very high praise. The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther stated that "inner torments are seldom projected with such sensitivity and clarity on the screen" and comme…
External links
• A Streetcar Named Desire at the American Film Institute Catalog
• A Streetcar Named Desire at IMDb
• A Streetcar Named Desire at the TCM Movie Database
• A Streetcar Named Desire at AllMovie