A Streetcar Named Desire [Paperback]

Tennessee Williams (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0451167783 | ISBN-13: 978-0451167781 | Publication Date: August 13, 1986

The story of Blanche DuBois and her last grasp at happiness, and of Stanley Kowalski, the one who destroyed her chance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Play in three acts by Tennessee Williams, first produced and published in 1947 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama for that year. One of the most admired plays of its time, it concerns the mental and moral disintegration and ultimate ruin of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle. Her neurotic, genteel pretensions are no match for the harsh realities symbolized by her brutish brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

About the Author

Tennessee Williams (1911 - 1983) first won recognition with the Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie in 1945, followed by his masterpiece, A Streetcar named Desire in 1947. Later hits included Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly Last Summer, Sweet Bird of Youth, and Night of the Iguana.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Signet (August 13, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451167783
• ISBN-13: 978-0451167781
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (131 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( W ) > Williams, Tennessee
  • #51 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > United States
  • #56 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > United States > Classics

More About the Author

Tennessee Williams (1911-1983), one of the 20th century's most superb writers, was also one of its most successful and prolific. His classic works include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, Summer and Smoke, Camino Real, Sweet Bird of Youth, Night of the Iguana, Orpheus Descending, and The Rose Tattoo.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Williams's Intense Desire, May 14, 2000

By 

Blaine Bisel (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Streetcar Named Desire (Paperback)

Tennessee Williams's masterfully written drama explores the extremes of fantasy versus reality, the Old South versus the New South, and primitive desire versus civilized restraint. Its meager 142 page spine is no indication of the complexity and significance that Williams achieves in his remarkable work. A strong aspect of the play is Williams's amazingly vivid portrayal of desperate and forsaken characters who symbolize and presumably resolve his battles between extremes. He created and immortal woman in the character of Blanche DuBois, the haggard and fragile southern beauty whose pathetic last grasp at happiness is cruelly destroyed. She represents fantasy for her many outrageous attempts to elude herself, and she likewise represents the Old South with only her manners and pretentions remaining after the foreclosure of her family's estate. The movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire shot Marlon Brando to fame as Stanley Kowalski, a sweat-shirted barbarian and crudely sensual brother-in-law who precipitated Blanche's tragedy. He symbolizes unrestrained desire with the recurring animal motif that follows him throughout the play. A third major character, Stella Kowalski, acts as mediator between her constantly conflicting husband and older sister. She magnifies the New South in her renounce of the Old pretentions by marrying a blue collar immigrant. Conflicts between these and other vividly colorful characters always in light of the cultural New Orleans backdrop provide a reader with a lasting impression and an awe for Williams's impeccable style and intense dialogue.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Humble Literary Criticism of A Streetcar Named Desire, May 8, 2001

By 

Richard O Frazier II (Arlington, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Streetcar Named Desire (Paperback)

Tennessee Williams utilizes sounds and music throughout A Streetcar Named Desire to change the mood, to foreshadow the future events, and to reveal the inner workings of the character's minds. The use of music, especially the use of polka music, dictates the mood of the play. The rushed, pounding polka inspires a sense of insanity in the reader, and even more so from a person watching the play. The reader can tell that Blanche is slowly going insane just because of the powerful polka music. The music even shows what could have been, such as when, in the beginning of scene nine, Mitch saves Blanche from the tortuous polka. This symbolizes that Mitch could have saved Blanche from her ultimate insanity. The other major music in the book is the "Blue Piano." This music is often in the background when Stanley and Stella are acting like they are in love. This music almost seems to entice the two lovers into an even deeper state of loving each other. In the first scene, the "Blue piano" plays, and the married couple are flirting and having a good time with each other. This musical symbol is very powerful and important, enough so to be the subject of the final stage direction in the play. The play's "happily ever after" ending is characterized by "the swelling of the 'blue piano' and the muted trumpet." Without this symbolism, Stanley and Stella's love for each other would not be as evident, and scenes like the end of scene three would be much more confusing if the music was not being played. These two major pieces of music serve as translators for the reader and film patron; the music foreshadows, interprets character's thoughts and emotions, and changes the mood of the play.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Piece of America, December 5, 2002

By 

isaac moyer (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Streetcar Named Desire (Paperback)

Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece has been the source of controversy since it was written five decades ago. It is the story of the fallen Southern belle Blance Dubois, whose desperate illusions of grandeur are rent to shreds by her earthy and realistic brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. Touching on issues of prejudice, sexual codependence, mental breakdown, and rape, A Streetcar Named Desire is at times disturbing in its brutal honesty. Readings of this sultry play have found it to be anything from a critique of the conflict between the North and South in post Civil War America, to a subtle commentary on the struggles of Williams' life as a homosexual. The image of Stanley bellowing drunkenly to his wife Stella, as well as lines such as Blanche telling how she has "always depended on the kindness of strangers" have become so much a part of the American consciousness that they are recognizable even to those who are unfamiliar with Williams' work itself.