Essay/Term paper: The street car named desire

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Book Reports

Stanley"s Brutality In the Street Car Named Desire, by

Tennessee Williams, Stanley Kowalski displays his brutality

in many ways. This classical play is about Blanche Dubois"s

visit to Elysian Fields and her encounters with her sister"s

brutal and arrogant husband, Stanley Kowalski, and the

reveling truth of why Blanche really came. Stanley Kowalski

is a very brutal and barbaric person who always has to feel

that no one is better than him. His brutish and ferocious

actions during the play leave the reader with a bad taste in

their mouths. Stanley"s brutality is shown in several places

during the duration of The Street Car Named Desire . For

example, his first array of brutality is evident at the poker

night when he gets so angry and throws the radio out the

window. Another example of his brutality is displayed when

he beats his wife, Stella. Lastly, his arrogance and ferocious

actions are most apparent when he rapes Blanche, while his

wife is in labor in the hospital. Stanley Kowalski"s first

exhibition of his brutal actions occurs at poker night. Blanche

turns on the radio, but Stanley demands her to turn it off.

Blanche refuses and so Stanley gets up himself and turns it

off himself. When Stanley"s friend, Mitch, drops out of the

game to talk to Blanche, Stanley gets upset and he even gets

more upset when Blanche flicks on the radio. Due to the

music being on, Stanley, in a rage, stalks in the room and

grabs the radio and throws it out the window. His friends

immediately jump up, and then they drag him to the shower

to try to sober him up. This is the first example of Stanley"s

rage and brutality. Not only does throwing the radio out the

window represent an impure demeanor, but so does beating

your wife. During his entire rage during poker night he is not

sober which leads to another problem. When he threw the

radio out the window, he then immediately charged right at

his wife, Stella. He was in such rage and he was so drunk

that when he reached her he hit her in the face. Luckily,

before he can get another blow off his friends grabbed him

and pinned him to the floor. This action leads the reader to

believe that he is a very brutal person and needs some

psychological help to aid him to control his temper. This is

another example of why Stanley is so brutal. Lastly, and the

most evident action that leads the reader to believe that

Stanley is very ferocious and rapacious is when he rapes

Blanche Dubois. When Blanche finds out that Stanley has to

spend the night at home because Stella did not give birth yet,

she becomes wary and is alarmed at the thought that of

being alone in the house alone with him is a scary thought.

When Blanche tells Stanley that she has put Mitch in his

place for being mean to her, Stanley explodes in terror. Then

Stanley retreats to the bathroom to put on his silk pajamas.

When he comes out of the bathroom, Blanche is threatened

by his words and she smashes a bottle on the table to use

the sharp edge to fend him off. Stanley approaches her

carefully, but Blanche swings at him and Stanley catches her

arm and forces her to drop the weapon. She then collapses

at his feet and he picks her up and carries her to the

bedroom and rapes her. This event shows that Stanley is

very brutal and avaricious because it shows that he was

greedy to the fact that he could not just have one woman,

and it also showed that he is very arrogant because he feels

that now because he "conquered" Blanche and he has won.

In Conclusion, in The Street Car Named Desire, by

Tennessee Williams, Stanley"s brutality is evident throughout

the entire course of the play. Clearly, his rape of Blanche,

beating of Stella, and throwing the radio out the window are

all examples of why Stanley is such a fierce and intimidating

character in this play.