The Characters of A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams gives insight into three ordinary lives in his play, A Streetcar Named Desire which is set in the post world war 2 era, in New Orleans. The main characters in the play are Blanche, Stanley, and Stella. All three of these characters suffer from personalities that differentiate each of them to great extremes. Stanley and Stella are form the city and Blanch is from the country. Their lifestyles are quite different. Because of these dramatic contrarieties in attitudes, there are mounting conflicts between the characters throughout the play. The principal conflict lies between Blanche and Stanley, due to their conflicting ideals of happiness and the way things “ought to be”. Williams begins by introducing you to the happy couple, Stanley and Stella Kowalski. The two live in a run-down part of New Orleans, but are content in their surroundings and their lifestyle. Stanley Kowalski is the son of a Polish immigrant who strongly believes in the role of a man in his own household. The man works and the woman is supposed to cook, clean, and take care of other house-hold chores. One may perceive him as being unrefined and rude, due to his blunt nature, but to himself and Stella, it is just his practical attitude towards life. Evident, through his interaction and dialogue with Stella and other characters, is his need to prove his masculinity by being dominant and imposing. In contrast, Stella is overly mild-tempered and always striving to please. Generally, she is able to adapt to all situations. This ability to adapt proves to be useful, as both her husband and her sister, Blanche, have such strong personalities. From the beginning, it is apparent that Stella often plays the peacemaker. She is able to foresee that Stanley and her visiting sister would clash. In hopes of avoiding any confrontation, she warns them both to be on their best behavior....
