One could potentially argue that the destructive power of sex is the central theme of the play A Streetcar Named Desire due to the way in which primary characters use sex and sex appeal in order to manipulate others. Both Blanche and Stanley use sex and desire in different ways throughout the play. Blanche uses her sex appeal in order to manipulate characters such as Mitch, whilst Stanley uses sex and desire in order to assert his dominance over others thus contributing to the complications and eventual climax of the play. However, one could also argue that the power of sex and desire is an important theme of the play but isn’t necessarily the central theme. Elements such as conflict ignited by difference in class and lies and deceit all contribute to the events that occur.

With regards to the way in which Stanley abuses the power of sex and desire, it is clear that he uses sex in order to assert his dominance over others. This is evident in the way he treats Stella and the eventual rape scene in which Stanley over powers Blanche. ‘He picks up her inert figure and carries her to the bed.’ The use of the adjective ‘inert’ emphasises Blanche’s powerlessness within this scene whilst depicting Stanley as the dominant character. The way in which Stanley uses sex also contributes to the extended metaphor used throughout the play in which Stanley is compared to an animal.

Put titles of plays in speech marks. To develop explore more ideas about attitudes towards sex and desire in the 1940s. For eg ideas about a Southern Belle. Blanche may be seen as obsessed about her desire to be seen as pure, even though she is not, due to the importance played on this as a SB, so she could be seen as a product of her class/gender. AL

It can be said that the audience is intended to sympathise with her because she cannot cope alone and has no one to rely on, the other view is that she is simply just dishonest and self-deceiving.

Quotes that support this: “[holding tight to his arm]: Whoever you are – I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”. – This presents her as in need which makes us sympathise with her. The stage direction makes it seem as if she cannot be okay alone and relies on others, however she has no one to rely on anymore. Also, women were expected to get a husband who they can rely on, however her husband died which makes us sympathise with her.

“Blanche is seated in a tense hunched position in a bedroom chair that she has recovered with diagonal green and white stripes”. Here, it could be argued that she is portrayed as a victim. She is a victim of Stanley’s actions, however it could also be said that she only has herself to blame as her own dishonesty has caused this. There is colour symbolism of purity in the colour of the chair and the green separating the white could be symbolic of her purity being ruined by her lies.

The loss of her husband makes us sympathise with her; “All at once and blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow”. The light and shadow could also be symbolic of her covering up most of her past which suggests she is dishonest and self-deceiving. Their relationship being a “blinding light” could represent Blanche being oblivious to the consequences of her actions at the time. 

The way the characters are portrayed by their appearance is important, particularly because of the genre of a play, as their appearance will be the first thing the audience has to judge the character by.

When the audience is first introduced to Blanche, she is dressed in “a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and ear-rings of pearl, white gloves and hat” which gives the immediate impression to the audience that she is a higher class than others in the area and the colour symbolism of “white” might suggest innocence and purity.

The fact that she has been immediately portrayed as pure and innocent, could be so that Williams could make this image she is portraying deteriorate over the course of the play.

Her appearance is described as “incongruous to this setting” which also gives a sense of isolation as she is an outsider in this area, even down to her appearance.

She is also described to appear like a “moth” which may suggest fragility. This is also ironic because she is said to “avoid a strong light” yet moths are typically drawn to light.
Blanche's appearance could depict her a Southern Belle because they were usually well-dressed and took pride in making sure they appeared immaculate- could relate to the way she avoids light because she wants to keep up this appearance at all times.

Stella is also first portrayed to look different from others living in Elysian Fields because she is said to be “of a background obviously quite different from her husband’s”. The text is slightly vague about how she appears “different” but it later becomes clear that this is because she is of a higher class background- but hasn’t carried it on to the same intensity as Blanche.

The first appearance Stanley makes in the play is where he is “roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes” which makes the audience think that he is working class and this is later contrasted with Stella and Blanche’s appearance as he is “roughly dressed” which suggests there is a class difference. This is significant for making a first impression of Stanley because the class difference between Stanley and Blanche is what causes a lot of the conflict and clashes between the characters. Contrastingly, Stella and Stanley are from different class backgrounds yet this isn’t a problem for them as he “pulled [her] down off them columns” showing that Stella’s appearance may seem different in terms of class to Stanley but she is more like him than Blanche is. 

The focus on domestic conflict can be seen throughout the play A Streetcar Named Desire. However, this use of domestic conflicts also seems to highlight more far reaching ideas of conflict between race, and social background rather than just minor dramas between individuals. 

The conflict between Stanley and Blanche seems to show some examples of minor and internal domestic conflict. For example Stanley feels Blanche’s presence in his home damages his relationship with his wife and therefore appears to be at conflict, “She’s not staying here after Tuesday”. This could be suggested to be the source of conflict within the relationship and may suggest Williams does wish to focus on domestic conflict. However Blanches conflict with Stanley may also be seen to present a broader conflict between social backgrounds. This is due to Stanley presenting the working class American whereas Blanch seems to present the Southern Belle and suggest Stanley is below her. This is first suggested in Scene Two, “a little bit on the primitive side”. This use of a broader racial and social tension does however appear to be somewhat limited. This is due to Williams suggesting this more traditional Southern attitude to be in decline as Blanche is inevitably overpowered and defeated by Stanley within Scene Ten, “The bottle top falls she sinks to her knees”. 

Domestic conflict also appears within the play with the conflict between Stanley and his wife Stella. This is shown by Stanley’s use of violence and physical strength to overpower his wife such as during the poker night of Scene Three, “With a shouted oath he tosses the instrument out of the window”. This could also appear to be linked to American social attitudes of the period particularly among the working classes where traditionally males would have dominance over women in relationships. 

The costumes of the character help to represent them before they even start to talk. Stanley and Mitch are the first characters to be described – “roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes” – this shows them as working class men who do manual labour because they are ‘roughly’ dressed, it shows that they have a blue collared job. “Stanley carries his bowling jacket” – this could show how even when he is wearing his dull work clothes, he likes to assert his dominance and power by parading his jacket, which is later described to be vibrant in colour. It could also show how he is the leader of his friendship group as Mitch isn’t carrying his. 

Stella is described as the total opposite to Stanley and Mitch. She is a “Gentle young woman” but there is no reference to her clothing. This could be symbolic of the fact that she is constantly over shadowed by her sister Blanche who is always over the top. It could be argued to be symbolic of gender roles in the 1940s as Stanley has detail when it comes to his clothing however Stella does not, however some people may say that Blanche wouldn’t have detailed clothing description however, she doesn’t fit the stereotype of a 1940s woman and she fights for dominance with Stanley. 

From the stage directions at the start Blanche is different to everyone else. She is clearly isolated as “Her appearance is incongruous to this setting” – she has come down from being a Southern Belle at Belle Reve and being at the top of the social ladder, to a working-class environment. “She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and ear-rings of pearl, white gloves and hat” – the colour symbolism of ‘white’ could symbolise purity, even though we learn that she isn’t that pure. This could show appearance and reality because Blanche lies about other things and it could be argued that she wants everyone to think of her as pure but she isn’t, she avoids light because she doesn’t want everyone to know her true age. It could be argued that the fact that she wears all the accessories could be because she is trying to hide everything that has gone wrong and make everything seem fine. However, “There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth”, could help represent her as someone who wants attention.