Setting of a streetcar named desire Continue This research guide consists of approximately 31 pages of chapter summary, quotes, character analysis, topics, and more - all you need is to sharpen your knowledge of a Streetcar called Desire. This section contains 696 words (about 2 pages for 400 words per page) Stanley and Stella Kowalski live in an apartment on the ground floor of a building located on the corner of a street called the Champs-Elysees in the French quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Above their apartment is a second apartment, where Eunis and Steve Hubbell, the couple who own the building, live. The play takes place in Kowalski's house and on the porch and steps of the building. Inside, there is a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. There was a crib set for Blanche during her stay, with a curtain separating him from Stella and Stanley's bedroom. The tram is a passenger railway vehicle that runs on rails along public city streets and sometimes on separate directions. Blanche Dubois arrives at her sister Stella's residence on a tram... (More) This section contains 696 words (about 2 pages by 400 words per page) Copyright tram called Desire from BookRags. c) 2020 BookRags, Inc. All rights reserved. For other purposes, see a tram called Desire (disambiguation). 1947 play Tennessee Williams tram titled DesireFirst Edition (New Directions)By Tennessee WilliamsCharactersBlanche DuBoisStella KowalskiStanley KowalskiHarold Mitch MitchellDate PremiereDecuber December 3, 1947Place PremiereEthel Barrymore Theatre New York City, New YorkOriginal languageEnglishGenreGenreSouthern GothicSettingThe French quarter and the Center of New Orleans Street Car titled Desire is a play written by Tennessee Williams, which was first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experience of Blanche Dubois, a former Southern beauty who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves behind her privileged background to move into a shabby apartment in New Orleans, which was rented by her younger sister and brother-in-law. Williams' most popular work, The Tram called Desire, is considered one of the best and most critically acclaimed plays of the twentieth century. It is still among his most performed plays, and has inspired many adaptations in other forms, notably the production of the critically acclaimed film, which was released in 1951. Plot Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter and Marlon Brando in the original Broadway production of Tramway titled Desire (1947) After losing her family home to creditors, Blanche Dubois travels from the small town of Laurel, Mississippi, to New Orleans to live with her younger married sister Stella and son-in-law Stanley Kowalski. Blanche's in her thirties, and, with no money, there's nowhere else to go. Blanche tells Stella that took a leave of absence from her English teaching position because of her nerves (which later turned out to be a lie). Blanche laments the shabbyness in her sister's two-bedroom apartment. She finds Stanley loud and rude, eventually calling him common. Stanley, in turn, does not care about Blanche's manners and does not like her presence. Stanley later questions Blanche about her previous marriage. Blanche married when she was very young, but her husband died, leaving her widowed and lonely. The memory of her dead husband causes Blanche some obvious grief. Stanley, concerned that he was deceived from the inheritance, demands to know what happened to Belle Rove, once a large plantation and home of the Dubois family. Blanche submits all documents related to Belle Reve. Looking at the newspapers, Stanley notices a bundle of letters, which Blanche emotionally proclaims personal love letters from her dead husband. For a moment, Stanley seems to be taken by surprise because of his proclaimed feelings. He then tells Blanche that Stella will have a baby. This can be seen as the beginning of Blanche's mental turmoil. The night after Blanche's arrival, during one of Stanley's poker games, Blanche meets Mitch, one of Stanley's poker buddies. His polite image sets him apart from other men. Their chat becomes flirtatious and friendly, and Blanche easily charms him; they love each other. Suddenly upset by the numerous breaks, Stanley explodes in a drunken rage and strikes Stella. Blanche and Stella are hiding at the upstairs neighbor, Eunis. When Stanley recovers, he screams from the yard below to let Stella come back, repeatedly calling her name until she's asleep and lets herself get carried away. After Stella returns to Stanley, Blanche and Mitch sit at the bottom of the steps in the yard, where Mitch apologizes for Stanley's rude behavior. Blanche wonders that Stella will return to her cruel after such violence. The next morning Blanche rushes to Stella and describes Stanley as inhuman, although Stella assures Blanche that she and Stanley are okay. Stanley listens to the conversation, but is silent. When Stanley arrives, Stella hugs and kisses him, letting Blanche know that her low opinion of Stanley doesn't matter. As the weeks pass, the friction between Blanche and Stanley continues to grow. Blanche has hope for Mitch, and she tells Stella that she wants to get away with him and not be someone's problem. During the meeting between them, Blanche admits to Mitch that she once married a young man Allan Gray, whom she later discovered in a sexual encounter with an elderly man. Gray later took his own life when Blanche told him she was disgusted with him. The story touches on Mitch, who tells Blanche that they need each other. Later, Stanley repeats Stella said he had gathered for Blanche, telling her that Blanche had been fired from her teaching job for participating in underage students and that she was living in a hotel known for prostitution. Stella erupts in anger over Stanley's cruelty after he claims he also told Mitch about the rumors, but the fight is interrupted as she goes to work and goes to the hospital. While Blanche waits at home alone, Mitch comes and confronts Blanche with the stories that Stanley told him. At first she denies everything, but eventually admits that the stories are true. She begs for forgiveness. Angry and humiliated Mitch rejects her. When Stella is checked for the birth of a child, Stanley and Blanche are alone in the apartment. Blanche descended into another fantasy that her old fiance was coming to provide financial support and pick her up from New Orleans. Stanley goes along with the act before angrily despising Blanche's lies, hypocrisy and behavior, and advances towards it; in response, she threatens to attack him with a broken bottle, but overpowers. Blanche falls to the floor, and Stanley is last seen taking her unconscious in his bed. At another poker game in Kowalski's apartment, Stella and her neighbor, Eunis, pack Blanche's belongings, while Blanche takes a bath in a catatonic state, suffering from a mental disorder. Although Blanche told Stella about Stanley's attack, Stella can't bring herself to believe her sister's story. When the doctor and the matron arrive to take Blanche to the hospital, she first resists them and falls to the floor in confusion. Mitch, present at the poker game, breaks down in tears. When the doctor helps Blanche, she willingly goes with him, saying: Whoever you are - I have always depended on the kindness of strangers. The game ends with Stanley continuing to comfort a crying Stella while the poker game continues uninterrupted, with one player saying, This game is made up of seven cards. The stage productions of Karl Van Wechten's original Broadway production of Marlon Brando's Portrait Photography during a Broadway production of the tram called Desire (December 27, 1948) The original Broadway production was produced by Irene Meyer Selznik. It opened in Schubert, New Haven, in early November 1947, then played at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, and on December 3, 1947, moved to the Ethel Barrymore Theater. Selznick originally wanted to cast Margaret Sallavan and John Garfield, but settled on Jessica Tandy and Marlon Brando, who were virtual unknowns at the time. The opening night cast also included Kim Hunter as Stella and Carl Malden as Mitch. Tandy was dumped after Williams saw her perform in a West Coast production of his eponymous play, Portrait of Madonna. Williams believed that the casting of Brando, who was young for the role, as it was conceived, will develop Kowalski from a vicious old man to one whose unintentional cruelty can be attributed to youthful ignorance. Despite the shocking scenes and gritty dialogue, the audience applauded the debut performance. Brooks Atkinson, reviewing the discovery in The New York Times, described Tandy's excellent performance as almost incredibly true, concluding that Williams twisted a sharp and glowing story. Uta Hagen later replaced Tandy, Carmelita Pope replaced Hunter, and Anthony quinn replaced Brando. Hagen and quinn took the show on a national tour and then returned to Broadway for additional performances. Early on, when Brando broke his nose, Jack Palans took over his role. Ralph Meeker also took on the role of Stanley in both Broadway and touring companies. Tandy won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1948, sharing the honor with Judith Anderson Medea and with Katherine Cornell. Tta Hagen's Blanche was directed not by Elia Kazan, who directed the Broadway production, but by Harold Klurman, and it was reported, both in Hagen's interviews and in the observations of contemporary critics, that the interpretation directed at Clurma shifted the focus of the audience's sympathy back to Blanche and from Stanley (where the Kazan version was located).