In A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, the recurrence of Stanley being compared to animals reveals his primitive nature, highlighting his later need to assert power and domination, and how this relates to his desire. Blanche tells Stella that there is “something ape-like about him” and likens him to a “survivor of the Stone Age” (83). Blanche comes from a very different background than Stanley does, and so she does not understand his behavior, which seems like an “animal’s habits” to her (83). Blanche warns Stella not to “hang back with the brutes” as she is frightened of his animalistic tendencies and the domestic abuse he puts Stella through (83). These recurring comparisons make Stanley more clearly a primitive character than is entirely driven by desire, as demonstrated by his desire to sleep with Stella constantly. This shows how desire governs his actions and that it brings him to demonstrate domination. He instinctively and primitively values domination, which is why he later goes on to demonstrate the full extent of power when he rapes Blanche. Through the likening of Stanley’s character to an animal, the values of desire and domination go hand in hand to explain his less refined and more animalistic state.

In Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley is described to be selfish via the use of his own word choice as displayed in page 33, Stanley calls for the Napoleonic Code which took away the right to women and gave them over to their husbands in France. The call for this code is to be able to rule over Stella and these intentions are clear as he talks about him being "swindled" if Stella is swindled. Stanley wants to be able to be in full control and Stella's sister, Blanche has arrived in fancy attire and reap some of the riches that she may have. The Napoleonic code is only used as the sisters are French and mitigates the fact they both live under the United States in New Orleans which is in fact not under French rule which just makes Stanley overly selfish and controlling.

-Kai W.

In A Streetcar Named Desire, a novel by Tennessee Williams, the author makes use of symbolism and metaphor to expose any hidden truths or lies the characters are hiding and take advantage of it, ultimately illustrating the tension between interactions and relationships with characters such as Mitch and Blanche. The mention of magic is something that Blanche is connected to due to her wanting to be seen as young and beautiful, which Mitch turning on the light exposes the “magic” of her true age, a metaphor for how she decieves people into thinking she’s young and would want to keep it that way since she doesn’t like to be seen as old. She even outright tells him “I don’t want realism, I want magic!“ (145), meaning she wants to keep living in a world filled with lies, up until Mitch turns on the light she screams “Don’t turn the light on!” (145). This means that Mitch can easily crack the code and see through Blanche’s lies if he shines a light near her because throughout the novel, they both have interacted in places that are dark enough so she doesn’t feel uncomfortable and now that he has the advantage of seeing through her lies, he can finally see who she truly is (besides the fact that he was also told by Stanley). Normally, the use of light is symbolic for hope or freedom in many works of literature, but in this case it’s often used to expose any sort of hidden truths and lies that the people in the novel spot, most often being Blanche since Mitch finds out about Blanche’s background and doesn’t fall for her lies anymore, causing her to admit to him “I misinterpret things to them. I don’t tell them the truth, I tell what ought to be truth” (145), even going as far as to live by those lies and be “damned for it!” (145). This is also a common symbolism for deception and manipulation since most of her life has consisted of wanting to be with someone and feeding them lies about herself, which she can no longer do because Mitch now knows the truth and has caught her red handed. 

-Mayeli M.

In this passage, the words that stand out most are “boy,” “girl,” “sixteen,” “discovery,” and “love.” These words highlight how young and innocent the speaker was when she first experienced love. The line “When I was sixteen, I made the discovery—love” is important because it shows that love felt like something new and life-changing, not just a normal feeling. The word “discovery” makes love sound like a sudden realization or something powerful that she found all at once. The writer uses the image of a “blinding light” turning onto something that had been “half in the shadow” to show how love opened her eyes but also overwhelmed her. Words like “boy” and “girl” remind the reader of how young both people were, while words such as “completely” suggest that her emotions took over everything. Some of these words have double meanings, for example, “completely” means both fully and uncontrollably. Tennessee Williams includes this language to show how the speaker’s early experience with love shaped her deeply, revealing both the beauty and the danger of feeling too much too soon. _ Viridiana G

In "The Streetcar named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, the paper lantern symbolizes Blanche's desperate attempt to disguise the truth and protect herself from the painful light of reality. She places it over the light bulb to soften its brightness, saying that she cannot stand naked light bulb. The light represents truth and exposure, and the lantern hides it, much like Blanche hides her past behind charm. When Mitch rips off the lantern and insists to "turn on the light", the moment becomes a metaphor for Blanche's illusions being stripped away. Mitch's demand to see her "good and plain" shows how the reality she's been avoiding can no longer be hidden. The lantern itself mirrors Blanche, fragile and filtered. By tearing it away, Mitch not only exposes her physical appearance but destroys the world of lies she built to keep up her pure persona.

In Tennessee William's "A Streetcar Named Desire", the perception of Blanche's character is shifted when she is given off into the mental institution after seeking and telling the truth for the first time within the play. Blanche, throughout the play, being characterized as a liar and untrustworthy, seeks truth after Stanley's assault but is not believed, marking the decent into her madness which then leads her sister, Stella, to get rid of her with the consultation of Stanley. The mention of the "Della Robbia blue" jacket marks a change in the conformed style that Blanche is characterized by, her white clothes. "The blue of the robe in the old Madonna pictures", in changing this aspect of her and connecting her to the image of the Virgin Mary, now paints her as a benevolent and generous person, which in the context of the play is off since every character has their unique irredeemable quality. Blanche's mention to the color of the jacket and the connection which it has to purity and virginity keeps up with the lie she wanted so desperately to uphold. Her grasp of this view and the mentioning of it to Stella marks her last attempt to console herself with her twisted point of view.

-Amelia

In "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams a comparison and metaphor on page 60 are used in order to highlight Blanche's desire to hide from reality and project the lie that she is young. While Blanche is having a conversation with Mitch within this scene, she requests that he "put" a "little colored paper lantern" that she bought "over the light bulb," this request symbolizes her wish to hide the reality of herself in the darkness under a pile of lies. She cannot "stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark of a vulgar action," this comparison of a light bulb to a rude remark alludes to how she cannot stand reality, similarly to how a vulgar action could reveal someone's true self, the light is able to reveal her true self. Blanche does not want to be seen in the light and desires to stay within the darkness, this is her safe place and where she is able to keep up the lies of her youth.

Passage: “Then marry me, Mitch! … You’re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother.” (150)

In Tennessee William’s novel A Streetcar Named Desire, the author makes use of Mitch’s perspective, exhibited in his sense of morals and justice throughout the novel, to juxtapose Blanche’s desire to settle down immediately and marry him despite committing atrocious acts in the past in order to illuminate how the untruthful and manipulative will be struck down by misfortune and tragedy once the harmful truth is revealed. In an argument between Mitch and Blanche regarding Blanche’s true character, Blanche pleads out to Mitch to “marry me,” but is met with disagreement from her admirer because Blanche is no longer “clean enough to bring in the house with my mother.” (150) This altercation between the two strikes the reader with Mitch’s change of heart as a result of Blanche’s history being revealed through Stanley’s investigation. Thus, the reader establishes that Mitch is pure and just in turning down the lying and mistrustful character of Blanche. Furthermore, Mitch describes Blanche as “not clean enough,” not necessarily appealing to a physical sensation, but a metaphorical one as the vile and manipulative acts Blanche has committed in her past, like romanticizing with a young student, tainted her clean soul, making Blanche unfit for Mitch’s love. Within Mitch’s disapproval for Blanche after coming to terms with the truth of her past, Tennessee Williams illuminates how tragedy and misfortune crashes down on those who keep up an act of mystery and deception around others, ultimately illustrated in the end of the novel when Blanche is sexually assaulted and sent away to a mental institution.