“Streetcar Named Desire” by American Playwright Tennessee Williams

Streetcar Named Desire is a play that came out in 1947. The play was written by American playwright Tennessee Williams. In the play Blanche is the protagonist and Stanley is the antagonist. In the Webster's dictionary the antagonist is describe as a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary. The protagonist is known as the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text or one of the most prominent figures in a real situation. The play was a reflection on the social view of immigrants as second-class citizens. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche blocks out the harsh light of reality, using a paper lantern to cover up the bright bulb in the Kowalski apartment. In this paper you will see discussed why I think Blanche is the protagonist and Stanley is the antagonist.

Stanley Kowalski is the antagonist in the play Streetcar Named Desire. Within the story Blanche antagonizes Stanley. Blanche antagonize Stanley when he was trying to convince Stella to leave Stanley. In the play Stanley he was a violent man and, he was the enemy to the protagonist, who is Blanche. Another example of Stanley being the antagonist is in the scene where he hits Stella and also the rape of Blanche is an another example. Also another evidence to show that Stanley is the antagonist is with the whole racist slang. Stanley, a practical man firmly grounded in the physical world, disdains Blanches fabrications and does everything he can to unravel them. The antagonistic relationship between Blanche and Stanley is a struggle between appearances and reality.

The Protagonist in the play Streetcar Named Desire is Blanche DuBois.

Blanche DuBois, is an aging Southern debutante, who arrives at her sister's home in New Orleans hoping to start a new life after losing her ancestral mansion, her job, and her reputation in her hometown of Laurel, Mississippi. Blanches brother-in-law, a working-class man named Stanley Kowalski, is so filled with class that he seeks to destroy Blanches character in New Orleans. His cruelty, combined with Blanches fragile, insecure personality, leaves her mentally detached from reality by the play's end. Blanche has sympathy within her and is romantic. Blanche is abused by those around her. Stanley her brother-n- law was one of the people that Blanche was abused by. Stanley he broke Blanche into a broken woman by the time we got to Scene Eleven in the play.

In conclusion, the more I read the play made me rethink my choice on who the antagonist and protagonist was at times but knowing the definition of each protagonist and antagonist I think that Stanley Kowalski is still the play's antagonist and Blanche DuBois is the protagonist.

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