Analysis of the first scene in A Streetcar Named Desire (play)

• Stanley - "throws the screen door" - suggest aggression and controlling personality
• "animal joy in his being" - animalistic
• "crude images flashing into his mind and determining the way he smiles at them" - suggests a lot about his personality and the way he portrays women
• He removes his shirt before Blanche can object - won't listen to her anyway
• "Where's the little woman" -
• "Exercising hard like bowling is" - trying to seem more masculine
• "Her head falls on her arms" - implies lunacy (?)
• "I rarely touch it" - liar
• "I'm - going to be sick!" - implies weakness physically and mentally
• Elysian Fields - heaven/paradise - contradicts with the reality of the apartments and Blanche understands the irony of this
• Raffish charm - reflects Stanley - not perfect but has charm
• Detailed description of the stage - written like poetry - literary
• "spirit of life" - lively, vibrant and multicultural (segregation elsewhere)
• Stage directions describing Blanche - beautiful and glamorous
• Figurative analogy of Blanche - moth
• Light is symbolic of the truth
• Blanche is patronising towards Stella
• Blanche has long turns while Stella has short turns
• Blanche - monologue - to herself? - highlights self-obsession
• "Daylight...ruin!" - hyperbole, melodramatic
• Blanche - offensive to Stella - boosts self-confidence