A Streetcar Named Desire — Tennessee Williams | Coleman’s Notes A Level Student Guide

Desire. Illusion. Power. Violence. And the devastating collision between two very different worlds.

Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the defining works of twentieth-century American drama. Set in the intense, claustrophobic world of New Orleans, the play brings the fading Southern world of Blanche DuBois into direct conflict with the physical, modern world represented by Stanley Kowalski.

Blanche arrives at the home of her sister Stella carrying secrets about her past and the loss of Belle Reve. Her attempts to construct a more bearable version of reality bring her increasingly into conflict with Stanley, who is determined to expose the truth about her.

This Coleman’s Notes® guide helps A Level students move beyond the story to examine how Williams creates meaning through dialogue, stage directions, setting, music, lighting, symbolism and dramatic structure.

Inside This Guide

• Complete Plot Summary
• Detailed Scene-by-Scene Analysis
• New Orleans & Elysian Fields Reference Guide
• Main Characters & Relationship Map
• Blanche DuBois in depth
• Stanley Kowalski
• Stella Kowalski
• Harold “Mitch” Mitchell
• Eunice & Steve
• Allan Grey and Blanche’s past
• Blanche and Stanley’s conflict
• Blanche and Stella’s relationship
• Blanche and Mitch
• Desire & Sexuality
• Illusion versus Reality
• Fantasy, Lies & Self-Deception
• Gender & Masculinity
• Female Vulnerability
• Power, Control & Violence
• Class & Social Change
• The Decline of the Old South
• Memory, Trauma & Guilt
• Loneliness & the Need for Companionship
• Ageing, Beauty & Mortality
• Madness & Psychological Breakdown
• Death & Desire
• Domestic Life & Marriage
• New Orleans as a Dramatic Setting
• Belle Reve & Elysian Fields
• Light & Darkness
• Bathing & Cleansing
• The Paper Lantern
• The Varsouviana Polka
• The Blue Piano
• Animal Imagery
• Costume, Props & Symbolism
• Stage Directions & Stagecraft
• Expressionism & Theatrical Technique
• Language, Dialogue & Dramatic Irony
• Structure & Tension
• Historical, Social & Literary Context
• Post-war America
• Gender Expectations & Sexual Morality
• Key Quotations & Analysis
• Essay Planning
• Model Answers
• 25 Exam & Revision Questions
• Quick Recall Revision
• Key Scenes for Close Analysis
• Critical Debates & Alternative Interpretations
• Exam Technique
• Final Revision Checklist

From Belle Reve to Elysian Fields

Why does Blanche need illusion? Is Stanley simply a brutal antagonist, or does Williams make him more complicated? Why does Stella choose to remain with Stanley? How do music, lighting and stage directions allow the audience to experience Blanche’s increasingly unstable perception of reality?

And what does the destruction of Blanche suggest about gender, power, class and social change in post-war America?

The guide helps students transform these questions into convincing A Level arguments while paying particular attention to something essential when studying drama: Williams’ choices as a playwright and the ways those choices operate in performance.

Perfect For

A Level English Literature students • examination revision • essay preparation • drama and literary analysis • teachers • tutors • independent learners

Coleman’s Notes® Student Guide Series

Designed to help students:

UNDERSTAND • ANALYSE • REVISE • SUCCEED