Stella kowalski Flashcards
What does she represent?
•Stella Kowalski’s role in A Streetcar Named Desire is essential to the play’s exploration of human nature and societal values
•She is a tragic figure whose emotional vulnerability and compromised choices reflect the central conflicts of the play—loyalty versus betrayal, love versus abuse, and the clash between old-world gentility and modern, brutal realism. •Stella’s character is caught in a cycle of denial and repression, making her one of the most complex and tragic figures in Tennessee Williams’ work. •Ultimately, her decision to remain with Stanley, despite his faults, represents the themes of survival and emotional compromise, and highlights the play’s exploration of the human condition in a world of uncertainty and conflict
“ he heaves the package of meat at her. She cries out in protest, but manages to catch it: then she laughs breathlessly.
•Stella catching the “meat” serves as a metaphor for Stella’s emotional and physical submission to Stanley, as well as her acceptance of the rough, animalistic love that defines their relationship
•It highlights the primal and often painful nature of their bond
•Meat can also be interpreted as a symbol of sexual desire and physical hunger where Stanley takes sexual proprietorship in their relationship
•the meat represents the raw, primal sexual energy between Stella and Stanley. The way she catches it emphasizes her direct participation in this dynamic, suggesting how she is drawn to Stanley’s passionate and sexual nature, even though it often involves violence and aggression.
The act of catching the meat can also be seen as reinforcing traditional gender roles.
•It underscores her acceptance of the patriarchal and gendered expectations within her marriage, where she is expected to remain in a more passive, accepting role while Stanley is the active, dominant force.
•This moment reflects the broader themes of domesticity in the play.
“You never did give me a chance to say much, Blanche. So I just got in the habit of being quiet around you” (scene one)
•In Scene One, Stella honestly shares her experience growing up with Blanche
•In fact, Stella is always honest with Blanche
•The personalities of Stella and Blanche are in sharp contrast with each other throughout the play as Blanche, the more talkative of the two, is the sister of words, while Stella is the sister of action
“I’m going to try to keep Blanche out till the party breaks up because I don’t know how she would take it”
•Stella is trying to protect her fragile sister from the roughness of the night’s poker game
•She seems to be the only one who understands Blanche
•Stanley is not happy about this however and is beginning to resent Blanche’s presence in their household and doesn’t trust her delicate persona
“ the best I could do was make my own living, Blanche” (scene one)
• Stella says this after Blanche criticizes her leaving belle reve
• while Blanche “ stayed and fought for it, bled for it, almost died for it”; Stella left to go pursue her own path refusing to be shackled to her fading aristocratic past
•Here Belle Reve is a barrier between blanche and Stella, which symbolizes the torn nature of new America
• Stanley exploits this
• Stella is seen as pragmatic like her husband
“ they stare at each other. then they come together with low animal, moans. He falls to his knees on the steps and presses his face to her belly, curving a little with maternity, her eyes go blind with tenderness as she catches his head and raise him level with him, he snatches the screen door open and lift her off her feet and buzz her into the dark flat”
(Scene 4)
•Stage directions depict the following events after Stella leaves the flat following Stanley hitting her
•This passage depicts the intense, passionate, and tumultuous nature of Stanley and Stella’s relationship
•Their connection is deeply rooted in physical attraction and primal desire, with moments of tenderness and vulnerability intertwined with power struggles and domination
•The imagery of maternity, darkness, and the raw physicality of the scene suggests that their relationship is one of contrasts: love and aggression, tenderness and violence, dependency and power.
•It’s a portrayal of a marriage that is at once nurturing and destructive, with no clear boundaries between the two
•Sex brings them back together
• her being “blind with tenderness” alludes to the blindness Stella will have to Blanche being raped
“ her eyes and lips have that almost narcotized tranquility that is in the faces of Eastern idols”
• these stage directions depict Stella lying down in the bedroom after she reunites with Stanley in scene 4
• Depicts a state of post-coital bliss
•the idea of it being a “narcotized tranquillity” is likened to a drug induced feeling suggesting her craves the pleasure of her and Stanley’s sexual relationship- she’s addicted to it and constantly chasing a high
•The “narcotized tranquility” could also suggest that Stella has internalized this suppression to the point where she is almost numb to the reality of her relationship with Stanley
•The comparison to Eastern idols evokes the image of serene, calm, and emotionless statues of religious figures, often associated with Buddha or Hindu gods. These idols are typically still and tranquil, suggesting peace or spiritual enlightenment. However, this comparison to Eastern idols also highlights the artificiality of Stella’s calmness- its passing, like her orgasm. and won’t last as Stanley will be violent to her again
“Oh Stella, Stella for star!”
•The idea of stars suggest a sense of guidance eg the North Star
•Blanche sees Stella as source of stability, reliance, guidance and effectively safety
•Which makes it all the more tragic when she betrays her at the end of the play
“ Stella has embraced him with both arms, fiercely, and full in the view of Blanche. He laughs and claps her head to him.”
•Shows the harsh truth- that Stella although a mediator between Blanche and Stanley, will take the side of her husband
•The laughter suggests a sense of victory or satisfaction, as if Stanley is amused by the power he has over Stella, especially in front of Blanche. •The act of clapping her head to him is an assertion of physical control, reinforcing Stanley’s typically aggressive and dominating nature in the relationship.
“I couldn’t believe her story and live with Stanley.”
•This line reflects Stella’s decision to disregard Blanche’s allegations of abuse in order to preserve her marriage with Stanley
•It shows how Stella compromises her own values and moral compass for the sake of emotional attachment and stability
•She becomes like Stanley, choosing self preservation over kindness and goodness
• Shows the complete breakdown of the old south
