Stanley Kowalski

Stanley Kowalski is a character in Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named Desire. He was portrayed by Marlon Brando in the play's initial Broadway performance as well as the 1951 film adaptation, and by Alec Baldwin in the 1995 made for TV remake.

Related Topics:
Tennessee Williams - A Streetcar Named Desire - Marlon Brando - Broadway - 1951 - Alec Baldwin - 1995 - Made for TV

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Stanley lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans with his wife, Stella (née DuBois.) A working class construction worker, he takes special pride in having lured Stella away from her rich family, and shows her off to his friends like a trophy. He has a vicious temper, however, and the two have many fights, in which he is not averse to violence. At the beginning of the play, Stella announces that she's pregnant.

Related Topics:
French Quarter - New Orleans - Working class - Pregnant

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His life becomes more complicated, however, when Stella's sister Blanche shows up at their door for a seemingly unlimited "visit." The two despise each other almost on sight; the spoiled, aristocratic Blanche openly looks down upon Stanley, whom she derides as an "ape", while Stanley is enraged at what he sees as a constant reminder that he isn't good enough for Stella. His resentment grows almost unbearable when Blanche starts dating his friend, Mitch, and lets Stella briefly take refuge with her after an argument in which he hits her.

Related Topics:
Blanche - Aristocrat - Ape

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Stanley starts asking questions of a street merchant who knew Blanche in her old life, however, and finds out that she staying with him and Stella because she is homeless; her family's ancestral mansion has been mortgaged. Also, she paid to leave Mississippi to quell gossip about her many affairs, which she began after her husband, a closeted homosexual, committed suicide. Overjoyed to have the upper hand, Stanley tells Mitch about Blanche's secret past, which scares Mitch into ending the relationship.

Related Topics:
Homeless - Mortgage - Gossip - Closeted - Homosexual - Suicide

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The night that Stella gives birth to their son, Stanley goes out and gets drunk in celebration, and finds a similarly drunk Blanche, lost in fantasies of better times, when he returns home. He makes a crude, drunken pass at her, which he she rebuffs, disgusted. Enraged, Stanley overpowers and rapes her. This final assault on what she had left of her dignity sends Blanche over the edge into a nervous breakdown. Days later, Stella has Blanche committed to a mental institution at Stanley's insistence.

Related Topics:
Fantasies - Rape - Nervous breakdown - Mental institution

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In some productions of Streetcar Named Desire, Stella finally leaves Stanley for good in the final scene.

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