Power In A Streetcar Named Desire Analysis

'Representations of power in ‘Streetcar'

The concept of power in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ can be split up into two distinct but related categories. The first category is dominance and the masculinity and physicality that go along with it and the second is subservience which is related to dependance and femininity. However, emotional manipulation and Williams own personal experiences also contribute to the representation of power.

Power is undeniably an essential element of the play. In the very first scene, Stanley tosses a package of meat at Stella. This acts not only as an allegory for raw sexuality between the two characters but also establishes Stanley’s dominance and Stella’s subservience. Stella enables Stanley to act like a brute which is notably seen when Stella tells Blanche that she’s “not in anything [she] wants to get out of”. Whilst it would be obvious to suggest that this acceptance of Stanley's behaviour is a twisted personal preference of Stella’s, it is far more likely that Stella feels that this behaviour is merely a typical

William's relationship with Pancho Rodríguez was undeniably tempestuous much like Stanley’s and Blanche. Whilst one may argue that an extrinsic approach is not essential or even perhaps necessary, the value of applying information about the authors life for this play is unquestionable. Motifs such as alcoholism, depression, thwarted desire, loneliness, and insanity were all part of Williams’s world. His experience as a known homosexual in an era unfriendly to homosexuality also affected his work. Even characters such as Stanley are unassailably modelled upon William’s own father. William’s would have been able to see what his father had to do in order to retain power over those close to him which would in turn help create the ways that power is explored within the