A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)

What an evil man--a modern-day Heathcliff, one might say. ( )

yet another play about a woman whose world is colored by fantasy

Very impressed with this. I very rarely read plays, so it is delightful for each Scene to be a clearly defined section of space and time, and Williams’ stage directions allow you to visualise the scenery and ambience.
As the playwright Arthur Miller writes in his introduction to my Penguin edition, In Streetcar, however, the real and the lyrical were smoothly blended and emerged a unified voice.. When thinking back on the play I admire its language and structure, but when reading it, I marvelled at the seemingly simple and straightforward narrative, so well told.
The story is Blanche DuBois’s tragedy and we pity her, her personality and circumstance, depending upon our experience and temperament.
In Scene Five we understand that Blanche would like Mitch to marry her, so that she can rest and breathe quietly again. At this point she appears predatory and “depraved”, as she might put it, as she is willing to deceive Mitch to achieve marriage, and clearly does not love him, as explicitly shown by her treatment of the young man, who is a young, young, young, young - man, and who she describes as a child, envying his youth.
But then we learn why she is how she is, from her one great love, whom she married, but who committed suicide and why. How mad this made her, and when, and how society deals with this. These questions determine how we respond.
I would usually be impatient of such a passive “soft” character as Blanche, but Williams’ characterisation enabled me to get past this, so I could understand the tragedy of the famous line to the doctor Whoever you are – I have always depended on the kindness of strangers. ( )

Must reading for the #MeToo generation. This play is rough; it makes The Yellow Wallpaper seem like a quaint weekend vacation. Tennessee Williams really nails the subjugation of women in a male-dominated culture, and how those women who attempt to stand-up against it or define their own roles are mercilessly destroyed. For those who think that the feminism movement is just about equal pay and workplace harassment, this play should be an eye-opener. ( )

Such a devastating play. ( )