Stella quotes and critics

Question 1

Stella as a passive wife

Answer 1

“I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley”-rejects the rape of Blanche. Her philosophy of marriage is to be tolerant for happiness symbolic of the role of wives in the 1940s

Question 2

Stella’s denial of abuse

Answer 2

“He smashed all the light bulbs” “I was sort of thrilled by it”-enjoys his masculinity, Stella lives in a fantasy
“No matter what happens, you’ve got to keep on going”-Eunice

Question 3

Stella as powerless

Answer 3

“Stanley gives a loud wack on her thigh”-Stanley is sexually possessive. Onomatopoeic. His masculinity is enhanced when drunk
“This is my house and I’ll talk as much as I want to”-Stella. Defending herself

Question 4

Stella’s loss of identity

Answer 4

“Mrs Stanley Kowalski”

Question 5

Stella understanding Blanche’s needs

Answer 5

“I’ll stop at twenty five”
“admire her dress, tell her she’s looking wonderful”
“people like you abuse her and force her to change”-Stella to Stanley about Blanche

Question 6

Stella’s emotional dependance on Stanley

Answer 6

“and when he comes back I cry on his lap like a baby”

Question 7

Stella’s financial dependance of Stanley

Answer 7

“Stanley doesn’t give me regular allowance”- subjected to male dominance, victim of economic domination

Question 8

Stella choosing Stanley over Blanche

Answer 8

“Stella has embraced him with both arms”

Question 9

Critic Mihaela

Answer 9

Stella “escaped her old life only to create almost the exact same version of it”- her entrapment in the marriage

Question 10

Stella’s symbolism (authorial context)

Answer 10

symbolic of Williams mother (a southern belle) as she believed his husbands drinking and lifestyle did not reflect well on her

Question 11

Freudian lens, symbolism of Stella, Stanley and Blanche

Answer 11

Stella- ego, operating on reality principle
Stanley- Id, animalistic pleasure
Blanche- superego, struggles to stand on morality

Question 12

Elia Kazan

Answer 12

“Stella is a refined girl who has found a kind of salvation or realization but at a terrific price”

Question 13

J. M. McGlinn

Answer 13

“Stella ignores the needs of others and eventually adopts her own illusion.

Question 14

Stella’s fear of loneliness from the death of Belle Reve

Answer 14

“Stella looks slowly down at her hands folded on the table”

Question 15

Ruby Cohn

Answer 15

“Stanley has trained his wife to catch his meat in every sense”

Question 16

Stanley and Stella’s relationship as sexual

Answer 16

“he heaves the package at her” “she laughs breathlessly”

Question 17

Stella and Eunice

Answer 17

“that’s much more practical”- Stella to Eunice after drinking rather than calling police after domestic abuse. Domestic abuse in within the private sphere, forced to tolerate mens abuse in the act of ‘practicality’. Reflects the lack of domestic help in 1940s due to its normalisation.
“It’s sort of messed up right now but when its clean its real sweet”-Eunice about Stella’s marriage. Female bonds over domestic violence.