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Quotations List- Stanley Kowalski- A Level English Literature
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An extensive list of quotations for Stanley Kowalski, with analysis, from “A Streetcar Named Desire”. Designed for A Level English Literature.
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A LEVEL STREETCAR CRITICAL ANALYSIS, CONTEXT AND AO2 ANALYSIS
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Essay- Stanley and Mitch in “A Streetcar Named Desire”
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Essay- Are the men admirable in “A Streetcar Named Desire”?
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Stanley KowalskiSCENE ONE
● “Roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes”- The stage direction establishes
Stanley as an “everyman”
○ Juxtaposing Blanche- “daintily dressed…as if she were arriving at a summer
tea”
● “(Bellowing) Hey there!… Catch!… Meat!”- monosyllabic language and stage
direction displays his coarse, aggressive confidence.
○ Later, he “throws the screen door… open”
● “Yes. A different species.”- Stella’s sarcasm highlights the divides between Blanche
and Stanley, setting him apart from her Old South past.
● “A Master Sergeant in the Engineers’ Corps. Those are decorations!”- the play was
first performed not long after WW2, and Stanley would have been well-respected.
● Stanley is the epitome of modern masculinity- “He is of medium height… and
strongly, compactly built”- he doesn’t resemble a traditional romantic hero (like a
traditional Southern gentleman), and will reject Blanche’s romantic notions
throughout the play.
○ “His appreciation of rough humour, his love of good drink…his car, his radio,
everything that is his”- He is a typical working-class man, and the repetition
highlights his possessive attitude. Stanley wants to live the American Dream,
including the personal ownership and control of his life (this links to “he
accepts with lordly composure”- Scene 2)
● Stanley is sexually motivated, often only viewing women according to how they can
fulfil his desires. This is primitive (although he is not simple-minded)- “Animal joy…
Since earliest manhood the centre of his life has been pleasure with women…with
the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens”- this highlights
Stanley’s domineering attitude towards women. The animal metaphors highlight his
dominant physicality, and his objectification of women.
● “He sizes women up at a glance, with sexual classifications, crude images flashing
into his mind”- foreshadows the rape scene (“We’ve had this date with each other
since the beginning”)
○ Blanche is immediately uneasy around him, creating a foreboding tone-
“[drawing involuntarily back from his stare]”
● Stanley is the first one to trigger the polka after inquiring about Blanche’s marriage-
“[The music of the polka rises up, faint in the distance]”
○ The music often symbolises Blanche’s inability to move on from her past, so
this represents Stanley’s ability to draw out and expose her history.
SCENE TWO
● Stanley interrupts Blanche’s sanctuary- “leaving the door open on the perpetual ‘blue
piano’”, he invites the melancholy atmosphere into their home.
● He interrogates Stella about Belle Reve
○ “[ominously] So?…So?”- the repetition fosters an interrogative tone
○ “Sister Blanche cannot be annoyed with business details right now!”- the
exclamation mark reveals Stanley’s anger, and he ironically compares
Blanche to a nun, knowing that she is deeply flawed.
, ○ “Well what in hell was it then, given away? To charity?”- disdainful tone, and
the blasphemous questioning shows how he tries to intimidate his wife.
● “The Napoleonic Code… Let me enlighten you on a point or two, baby…what
belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa”- Stanley adopts a
condescending tone, and the adverb “vice versa” makes Stella’s benefits seem like
an afterthought- she only exists for his pleasure and convenience. He repeats “the
Napoleonic Code” throughout the passage, demonstrating his obsession with Stella’s
fortune.
○ “You have been swindled, baby, and when you’re swindled under the
Napoleonic Code I’m swindled too. And I don’t like to be swindled.”- the
repetition has a cumulative effect, building his anger and creating a
foreboding tone (his anger lurks beneath the surface).
○ “Then where’s the money if the place was sold?”- accusational tone shows
how their marriage is fraught with divisions rather than unity.
● “[He stalks into bedroom…and jerks out an armful of dresses]”- Stanley is animalistic,
and his wife is powerless to stop him. He feels a sense of entitlement to everything in
his home, shown by his break from decency. His body language is meant to
intimidate and assert dominance.
● “Open your eyes to this stuff! You think she got them on a teacher’s pay?”- the
imperative and question show him attacking Stella, not just Blanche.
● “What’s this here? A solid-gold dress, I believe!…Fox pieces!…Fox fur-pieces, a half
a mile long!…The treasure chest of a pirate!”- Stanley uses mocking irony, and the
quick argument builds tension in the household.
● Stanley is a simple man, immune to Blanche’s charms and grandeur.
○ “That’s good… [ominously] Yeah?”- monosyllabic speech highlights his
practicality (juxtaposes Blanche’s flowery language)
○ Pg 21- he refuses to flatter Blanche
● “[…He seizes the atomizer and slams it down on the dresser]”- representative of how
he rejects, attacks, and dominates over femininity.
● Stanley’s vernacular highlights his distance from Blanche. His poor grammar is
deliberate and stubborn, rather than as a result of poor education or stupidity. He
uses a working class sociolect to assert his dominance over Blanche- “What’s them
underneath?”
○ Likewise, Blanche attempts to separate herself from Stanley by using
Standard English- “These are love letters, yellowing with antiquity”
● “The touch of your hands insults them!”- the metaphor indicates how Stanley can
undermine Blanche’s glamorous past and violate her privacy. This lack of respect for
her links to the rape scene (Scene 10).
● “What is Ambler & Ambler?…I don’t want no ifs, ands, or buts! What’s all the rest of
them papers?”- Stanley is immune to Blanche’s shallow charms. The repetition
questioning creates an interrogative tone, emphasising his single-mindedness. He
will not be distracted from what he believes he is owed- the fortune and glory of Belle
Reve. The use of the cliche further implies that he is not distracted by Blanche’s
seductive techniques. This reiterates how powerless Blanche is within their dynamic.
● Blanche’s papers are symbolic of her past and Belle Reve- they are all that she
retains from the plantation. Stanley seizes them, highlighting how he strips Blanche
of her identity and her connection to her past. Furthermore, this indicates how the
legacy of the Old South is being inherited by a harsh, new, working-class generation.
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