Setting Flashcards
New Orleans
The play is set in New Orleans, Louisiana, within the French Quarter of the city.
Williams describes the city with considerable affection, as he lived in this part of New Orleans for several years, and the setting inspired the play itself through the Streetcars ‘Desire’ and ‘Cemeteries’.
This area of New Orleans is generally implied to be poor and populated with the working-class, but Williams describes the French Quarter as having a ‘raffish charm’: it is a fun and carefree place to live. It is also an ethnically diverse place, given Williams’ reference to the ‘Negro entertainers’ and the presence of the Negro Woman, as well as the presence of Pablo and the Mexican Woman.
Elysian Fields
The Kowalski apartment is located in an area of the French Quarter called Elysian Fields. In Greek Mythology, Elysian Fields is the area of the afterlife reserved for dead heroes - a playground for the virtuous. Hence, Stanley is depicted as going bowling, drinking, and playing poker, but we never see him work.
The Apartment
The play is set almost entirely in the Kowalski apartment. The apartment is incredibly small, which means there is little privacy for either Stella, Stanley, or Blanche, which creates a claustrophobic and tense atmosphere.
