Explore the ways in which Williams presents masculinity in a Streetcar Named Desire. You must relate
your discussion to relevant contextual factors.
In Tennessee’s Williams “ A Streetcar Named Desire” masculinity is portrayed through specific characters such as Stanley,
constructed to embody the patriarchy, further oppressing female characters such a Stella and Blanche back into the private
sphere. Set in post-war New Orleans, women were under immense pressure to return to the more submissive and domestic
roles of pre-war America. Williams uses this contextual factor to highlight the impact masculinity had on women.
In Scene 3, we see a display of masculinity through Stanley, we see this through the descriptions of the poker night, stage
directions and language. The men are seen wearing clothes “as coarse and direct and powerful as the primary colours” Here we
see an indirect presentation of hypermasculinity within the Kowalski’s apartment. One could suggest that as “primary” colours
create all the other colours, in a way this mirrors the dominance of men over women, further suggesting Stanley’s dominance
over Stella. “Whiskey bottles” are seen, which are seen as signposts of masculinity. The fact that the room in which the men are
playing poker in is “dim”, not only suggests something bad may happen, but it is also portrays masculinity, this is also reinforced
by the game being is “poker”. We are introduced to Stanley’s aggressive nature in this scene as he “lurches up ad tosses some
watermelon rinds to the floor.” This exemplifies the idea that men are careless, and the aggressive nature of “lurch” conforms
to the ideas of masculinity. When Stella and Blanche arrive, Stanley questions her about her whereabouts. The interrogative
tone in which he questions Stella mirrors patriarchy and his masculine nature. When Stella asks him to “call it quits after one
more hand”, Stanley “gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh”. The verb “whack” emphasises Stanley’s brute force and
strength. During WWII, the number of women in the workforce had increased from 27% to 37%, however after WWII, women
such as Stella were forced by men to return to more traditional roles, as it would have emasculated the men who would come
back from the war. We see this in Stanley when he “whacks” Stella's thigh, this could be seen as an attempt of Stanley
reasserting his masculinity over Stella as she questioned him, or it could just be seen as an emphasis of the brute nature of
Stanley. Stella states that it makes her “so mad when he does that in front of people” Here there is a suggestion that this has
occurred multiple times, some more question why Stella has not left her “abusive” husband. This may be for the plain and
simple fact that Stella depends on Stanley. Stanley’s financial stability ensures Stella’s safety, and so without Stanley, she would
not survive on her own. This also links in with how in 1943, the US supreme court had passed a law which only allowed 1 person
from each household to hold a government job. This ties in with the idea that women are financially dependent on men.
Towards the end of scene 3, we hear “the sound of a blow”, in which “Stella cries out” and runs away to the Neighbours house,
however when she comes back, she subverts viewers expectations, as this would have been her chance to finally get away from
Stanley, however she goes back and Stanley “lifts her off her feet and bears her into the dark flat”. The fact Stanley lifts her up is
contradictory to the “whack” or the sound of the “blow” he gave yet is still sign of his strength and masculinity. The words
“bears” and “dark” combined in the same sentence illustrates how Stella is being taken back into that hypermasculine space. It
also reinforces the idea that women are dependent on men, and considering that Stella is pregnant, given the time period,
there is essentially no way she would have been able to provide for both her and her child.
We also see Stanley exert his dominance and masculinity over Blanche in scene 10 where he rapes her. Initially we hear the
“audible blue piano beginning to drum up louder” adding suspense and intensity caused by Stanley’s masculine presence, and
as Stanley grins, the sound of the blue piano “turns into the roar of an approaching locomotive”, at this point the viewer
expects something climactic to happen, but is instead met with the piano going “softly” however Stanley's animalistic and
zoomorphic nature is exposed when “ he takes a step towards her, biting his tongue which protrudes between his lips”, the
imagery here is almost devilish and perhaps Willaims is trying to showcase the inhumane side of masculinity. After some
resistance, Blanche “moans” and Stanley “picks up he inert figure and carries her to the bed”, This is then combined with the
sound of the “hot trumpet and drums” from this we can infer that Stanley brutally rapes her, this could be seen as another
attempt of Stanley trying to reassert his masculinity possesses, and perhaps Williams wrote this text to critique the institutions
that restrict and oppress women within society.
Ultimately, masculinity through characters such as Stanley to expose how the patriarchy placed limitations on women in post-
war America as well as exemplifies what women had to endure.
