Tennessee William's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Streetcar Named Desire is both grimly naturalistic
and poetically symbolic.

Typical of Williams in its characters and theme, Streetcar pits Blanche DuBois, a neurasthenic
faded Southern belle who represents the culture and beauty of the past as well as its decadence,
against her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, the personification of modern practicality,
crudeness, cynicism, and brutality.

Blanche's childlike helplessness, romantic yearnings, and pretensions to gentility, sharply at
odds with her age and the squalor of her present surroundings--her sister's New Orleans
tenement--suggest an already tenuous hold on reality that completely collapses when Stanley's
ruthless exposure of her past brings about Blanche's final disintegration. 

(Neurasthenia is an emotional and psychic disorder that is characterized by easy fatigability
and often by lack of motivation, feelings of inadequacy, and psychosomatic symptoms.)

Characters of the play:

Blanche Dubois:  No longer a young girl, Blanche has suffered through the deaths of all of her
loved ones, save Stella, and the loss of her old way of life. When Blanche was a teenager, she
married a young boy whom she worshipped; the boy turned out to be depressive and homosexual,
and not long after their marriage he committed suicide. While Stella left Belle Reve, the Dubois
ancestral home, to try and make her own life, Blanche stayed behind and cared for a generation
of dying relatives. She saw the deaths of the elder generation and the end of the Dubois family
fortune. In her grief, Blanche looked for comfort in amorous encounters with near-strangers.
Eventually, her reputation ruined and her job lost, she was forced to leave the town of Laurel.
She has come to the Kowalski apartment seeking protection and shelter. 

Stella Kowalski:  Blanche's younger sister, pregnant with her first child, Stella has made a
new life for herself in New Orleans. She is madly in love with her husband Stanley; their
relationship is in part founded on the most direct and primitive kind of desire. She is close
to Blanche, but in the end she will betray her sister horribly by refusing to believe the truth. 

Stanley Kowalski:  Blanche's husband. A man of solid, blue-collar stock, Stanley Kowalski is
direct, passionate, and often violent. He has no patience for Blanche and the illusions she
cherishes. He is a controlling and domineering man; he demands subservience from his wife and
feels that his authority is threatened by Blanche's arrival. He proves that he can be cold
and calculating; in the end, he moves mercilessly to ensure Blanche's destruction. 

Harold "Mitch" Mitchell:  One of Stanley's friends. Mitch is as tough and "unrefined" as
Stanley. He is an imposing physical specimen, but he is also a deeply sensitive and
compassionate man. His mother is dying, and this impending loss affects him profoundly.
He is attracted to Blanche from the start, and Blanche hopes that he will ask her to marry
him. In the end, these hopes are dashed by Stanley's interference. 

Eunice Hubbel:  The owner of the apartment building, and Steve's wife. She is generally
helpful, giving Stella and Blanche shelter after Stanley beats Stella. In the end, she
advises Stella that in spite of Blanche's tragedy, life has to go on. In effect, she is
advising Stella not to look too hard for the truth. 

Steve Hubbel:  Euniceıs husband. Owner of the apartment building. One of the poker players.
Steve has the final line of the play. As Blanche is carted off to the asylum, he coldly
deals another hand. 

The following characters make small appearances throughout the play, but contribute to the
diverse New Orleans atmosphere. They punctuate the scenes with their thematic dialogue and
opposing viewpoints. In short, they often serve as extensions of the lead characters.

Pablo Gonzales:   A buddy of Stanleyıs, one of the poker players. 

Negro Woman:  A Neighbor of Stella, Stanley, Eunice and Steve.  This actor will also play
other minor roles.

The Doctor:  The Doctor arrives at the end to bring Blanche on her "vacation." After the
Nurse has pinned her, the Doctor succeeds in calming Blanche. She latches onto him,
depending, now and always, "on the kindness of strangers."  This actor may also play other
minor roles.

The Nurse:  The Nurse is a rough, desensitized and impersonal character, institutional and
severe in an almost stylized fashion. She accompanies the Doctor.  This actor may also play
other minor roles.

Paper Boy:  The Paper Boy comes to collect money for the paper. Blanche throws herself at
him shamelessly.  This actor will also play other minor roles.

Mexican Woman:  Sells flowers for the dead. She sells these flowers during the powerful
scene when Blanche recounts her fall(s) from grace.  This actor may also play other
minor roles.