The Representation of Different Gender Stereotypes within A Streetcar Named Desire

A great work that has won three major awards in American theater, A Streetcar Named Desire has attracted the attention of academics and general audiences for its superb characterization, its heavy conflicts, and the almost ambiguous narrative attitude of its author, Tennessee Williams. The mid-twentieth century was a period of social upheaval. Two world wars injected sudden power into marginalized groups, and within a short time the balance of power between the sexes shifted. By the 1950s, however, men were once again in the ascendancy. It was against this backdrop that Tennessee Williams brought his dynamic play A Streetcar Named Desire into the world. This violent and brutal play discusses the struggle between men and women in inner-city American society and shows gender stereotypes and society’s reaction to those who challenge them. Tennessee Williams highlights this stereotype and uses different techniques to show the truth about society’s attitudes toward men and women. This paper attempts to take the gender consciousness of the four characters in the play (Blanche, Stanley, Stella, and Mitch and their actions under their roles to gain a deeper understanding of the gender relations Tennessee advocates through a careful textual analysis and in the context of historical background.