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A Street Car Named Desire - Summary

Scene One:

The opening scene is in New Orleans, in the poor but colorful neighborhood where Stanley and Stella have their apartment. Outside, the people of the city go about their business. Stanley Kowalski and his friend Mitch enter walking on the street outside the apartment building. They are both in their late twenties, and they are rough, powerfully built men. Stanley calls for Stella, and she appears on the first-floor landing of their apartment. She is about 25 years old and somewhat fragile looking. Stanley tosses her some meat, and announces that he is going bowling. Stella wants to come to watch.

Just after she leaves, Blanche Dubois arrives; she looks at the address she has and looks at her surroundings, surprised that her sister Stella lives in such a place. She is helped into the Kowalski apartment by Eunice, the landlady. Eunice mentions that she saw pictures of the Dubois home, Belle Reve; she says pensively that a place like that must be hard to keep up. Blanche, worn out and in no mood for small talk, finally says that she wants to be left alone. Eunice goes to fetch Stella.
Stella and Blanche greet each other with some emotion. Things start out warmly enough, but before long Blanche is irritable. They speak about the poor conditions Stella lives in; Stella talks about how much she needs Stanley. Blanche seems to criticize the relationship; the Dubois sisters come from Southern aristocracy, and now Stella is married to a "polack." Blanche has bad news: Belle Reve has been lost. Blanche, with her teacher's salary, couldn't keep the place up. She stayed and fought for Belle Reve, caring for all of their dying relatives, while Stella left. Blanche is full of resentment, and her harshness makes Stella cry. While Stella goes to the bathroom to wash her face, Stanley comes home. Outside, Stanley, Steve, and Mitch plan their next poker game. Stanley enters, giving Blanche a frank stare. They have an awkward conversation. Stanley is course and rough compared to delicate Blanche, and he is a very sexual man. Through their conversation, we learn that Blanche had a husband long ago, but the young man died.

Scene Two:

Six o'clock, the subsequent evening. The Kowalski apartment is being prepared for a poker game. Stella and Blanche are going to go out for the evening. Blanche is taking a bath, and Stella tries to tell Stan to be nice to her. She also tells Stan that they've lost Belle Reve. Stan, doubtful that the plantation was sold, begins to ask about papers. Stella is sure, and rightly so, that Blanche has not profited from the home's loss. Almost in frenzy, Stanley begins to pull out Blanche's "expensive" clothing. He is convinced that Blanche has pocketed the money and spent it on finery: in truth, anything fine that Blanche owns is old, and anything new is cheap. Stanley can't tell the difference.
Blanche emerges. As she prepares for her night out, Blanche tries to make small talk with Stanley, but the two converse in a way that is entirely incompatible. Stanley is increasingly rude, and Blanche is fully aware of what he suspects: she sends Stella to get a soft drink for her, and tells Stanley to ask away. He demands to see papers, and begins to search through the trunk. He upsets her terribly when he begins to examine love letters from her dead husband. She gives him the papers he demands, and Stanley says he's going to have a lawyer acquaintance go over them. Blanche is unconcerned. Stanley lets slip that Stella is pregnant.

Blanche greets her sister with joy. She feels exhilarated about winning her confrontation with Stanley, as well as the idea of Stella having a baby. Blanche feels strong, and the women go out for their dinner; on their way out into town, Blanche is startled by the shout of a tamale vendor.

Scene 3:

The same night at 2:30 AM, Stanley, Steve, Pablo, and Mitch play poker. Everyone is tipsy, and Stanley is quite drunk. He is somewhat bossy with the other men. Mitch announces that he should go home, as he fears his sick mother will be waiting up for him. Stella and Blanche return home to find the poker game still in progress. Stanley rebuffs her friendly overtures with absolute rudeness. On her way to the bathroom, Blanche meets Mitch. The two seem attracted to each other right away.
Blanche asks Stella about Mitch. In the back room, the two sisters chat and Blanche turns on the radio. Although the other men seem to like the music, Stanley demands that it be shut off. When the women don't obey, he jumps up and shuts it off himself.

Mitch goes to the bathroom, but it is being used by Stella. He chats with Blanche, and they smoke together. Blanche is tipsy, too. She admires his cigarette case, which was a gift from an old girlfriend, who now is dead. They talk about the sincere affections of suffering people. Blanche claims to be Stella's younger sister. She's bought a Chinese paper lantern and asks Mitch to put it over the bulb. Stanley is growing angrier and angrier about Mitch's absence from the poker table; he also seems to be in a foul mood because he's been losing. When Stella comes out of the bathroom, Blanche turns on the radio again and starts dancing; Mitch moves in imitation of her. Furious, Stanley jumps up and throws the radio out the window. Stella, infuriated and embarrassed by Stanley's behavior, calls Stanley a drunken animal and tells all the men to go home. Stanley pounces on Stella and begins beating her. The men restrain him; at first, he resists, but eventually he goes limp.

Blanche is hysterical. She gathers Stella's clothes and they go up to Eunice's place. Stanley attacks the men, even as they try to help him. The men sweep up their winnings and leave.
Stanley tries to call up to Eunice's place. When that doesn't work, Stanley goes outside and bellows Stella's name. Eunice comes out and tells him to go away. She goes back inside, but Stanley keeps calling to her. Stella comes out, and the two come together like animals in heat. He carries her into the apartment.

Blanche comes out looking for Stella, frantic with fear. She goes down to the landing in front of the Kowalski apartment, and then stops, as if stunned by something she sees. She looks around, lost.

Mitch appears. Blanche is shocked that Stella went back to Stanley, but Mitch seems not at all surprised. Blanche and Mitch smoke together on the steps, and Blanche thanks Mitch for his kindness.

Scene 4:

That night Blanche stayed at Eunice's. The next morning, when Stanley is gone, she rushes into the Kowalski apartment, frantic with worry. Stella seems baffled by Blanche's concern; she thinks Blanche is overreacting. Blanche simply cannot understand how Stella could return to a man who beat her. Stella insists that she loves Stanley, and his impulsive and ferocious nature is part of what she loves about him.

Blanche is awash with plans to "escape." She seems oblivious to the fact that Stella does not want to escape Stanley. She recently ran into an old college friend of hers, who has since become a millionaire. She thinks he might provide the funds to set the women up in a shop. As she tries to think of an appropriate way to word the telegraph message, Stella tries to assure Blanche that everything is fine. She tries to share some of the money Stanley has given her, and she also tries to convince Blanche that what she saw was Stanley at his worst. Blanche believes she saw Stanley's true self.

Stanley comes home, but the sound of a passing train masks the sound of his coming. He overhears as Blanche condemns him as an animal, a primitive, an ape-like creature. Stanley hears it all. He waits for the sound of another train to leave and make another entrance. He embraces Stella and grins at Blanche over Stella's shoulder.

Scene 5:

Blanche is in the middle of writing a letter to Shep, her millionaire friend. The letter is full of lies, describing a jet-set life for Stella and Blanche. Upstairs, Eunice and Steve are having a noisy fight. Eunice rushes down out of the apartment, saying she's going to call the police. Stanley comes home, dressed to bowl. Steve comes down, with a bruise on his forehead; Stanley tells Steve that Eunice has gone to a neighborhood bar. He rushes out to find her.

Stanley asks some unsettling unquestions. A friend of his goes through Laurel, Blanche's and Stella's hometown, quite often; this friend claims that Blanche was a guest at a disreputable hotel called the Flamingo. Blanche denies it. Stanley leaves. Steve and Eunice come home, Eunice sobbing and Steve trying to make it up to her.

Blanche is horribly shaken. She asks if Stella has heard any rumors about her; Stella is baffled by Blanche's behavior. Blanche admits that she "wasn't so good" during the last few years; she sought comfort with men. She insinuates that she was sexually intimate with these men, but Stella has stopped listen because Blanche is being so morbid. Blanche is clearly on edge. Stella fixes her a drink. Blanche gushes with emotion and affection for Stella; Stella is embarrassed by Blanche's sentimentality.

Stella and Blanche talk about Mitch. Blanche will be going out with him later that night. Blanche is quite taken with him. She hopes that their relationship can go somewhere. Stella leaves for an outing with Stanley. Eunice bounds out of the apartment, shrieking with laughter, and Steve chases after her.

A Young Man comes to collect for the paper. Blanche hits on him with shocking forwardness. The Young Man, a boy probably not out of his teens, seems nervous and excited at the same time. Finally, she kisses him, and then sends him on his way. Mitch comes with a dozen roses, and Blanche accepts them with mock-formality.

Scene 6:

Late, that same night, Blanche and Mitch return from a carnival. Fragile Blanche is completely exhausted. Mitch seems upset that Blanche did not have a good time, but Blanche tells him it's her fault. He asks to kiss her, and she asks why he always asks. He says that he asks because of a previous incident, when she rebuked him; she tells him that during the incident, she objected not to his kiss but to his somewhat familiar fingers. A girl, she says, needs to protect herself or else she is "lost." He tells her that she is like no one else he knows.

Blanche invites Mitch in for a drink. While they enjoy their drink, Blanche briefly speaks naughty French to Mitch, which he doesn't understand. Mitch and Blanche discuss Mitch's imposing build. He speaks of his height and weight and trim waistline with a charming awkwardness, somewhere between boyish shyness and boasting. Blanche seems duly impressed by his physique. He lifts her. They flirt. Blanche proclaims her devotion to old-fashioned values. She asks, somewhat anxiously, if Stanley has said anything about her. Mitch says no. She talks about the difficulties of the situation, staying with Stella and Stanley. Mitch asks Blanche's age, but she deflects the question.

They talk about Mitch's mother, who is terminally ill. Mitch is touchingly devoted to her. Blanche tells Mitch about her husband. They were only teenagers when they married. The boy was beautiful, sensitive, and talented. She eloped with him, not realizing that the boy needed her help. She "discovered" his secret in the worst possible way: she found him in bed with someone else. Afterward, everyone pretended that nothing had happened. All three of them went to Moon Lake Casino, and danced the polka. As Blanche retells her memory, she hears the music again. In the middle of their dance, the boy broke away and shot himself. When Blanche describes hearing the gunshot, the music stops.

During their dance, Blanche had pulled the boy to her and said, "I know! I know! You disgust me."
Blanche begins to hear the polka music again. She talks about how much the experience has changed her; she begins to sob. As Mitch embraces her and tries to comfort her, the polka music fades away. Blanche is grateful for Mitch's strong presence.

Scene 7:

Late one afternoon, in mid-September, Stella is preparing for Blanche's birthday celebration. Stanley comes home with some disturbing information. Blanche is taking a bath, and Stanley takes the opportunity to tell Stella the many rumors he has collected about her. As he unfolds the sordid details of Blanche's last few years in Laurel, Blanche can be heard offstage, singing "It's Only a Paper Moon." After Belle Reve was lost, Blanche stayed at the Flamingo Hotel; they eventually kicked her out, on account of the endless string of male guests she entertained. She apparently was involved with boys from the nearby military base. She also lost her job teaching high school English because of an affair with a seventeen-year-old student. Stella is horrified and angry that Stanley believes the stories; but apparently, Stanley has checked the rumors with several sources.
When Blanche calls for a towel, and Stella brings it, Blanche notices Stella's upset expression. But Stella tries to pretend everything is fine.

Stella defends Blanche, explaining that Blanche was crushed by the death of her husband. Stanley lets drop that Mitch won't be coming to the party tonight, as previously expected; he told Mitch about everything. Stella is horrified; she had hoped that Mitch would marry Blanche. Blanche emerges, feeling cool and rested; Stanley stomps past her into the bathroom to use the toilet. Blanche notices that Stella is upset, but Stella tries to act as if that nothing has happened.

Scene 8:
At Blanche's birthday dinner one of the places at the table is empty; Mitch has stood Blanch up. Stella seems upset and embarrassed; Stanley is gloomy; Blanche is making painful attempts to seem happy.

To lighten the mood, Blanche asks Stanley to tell a joke. When he refuses, she tells one; it flops. Stanley is eating like a pig. Stella comments so, and asks him to clear the table. Infuriated by her tone, he throws his plate on the floor. Stella begins to cry, and Stanley goes out on the porch to smoke. Blanche goes to call Mitch; he doesn't come to the phone.

Stella goes out to talk to Stanley; she scolds him for telling Mitch. Stanley defends his actions; he longs for the day when he can have privacy with Stella, and they can make noise again without worrying about disturbing the guest who sleeps in the next room.

Back at the table, Stella lights the candles for Blanche's birthday cake. Blanche is upset. The phone rings, but it turns out to be for Stanley. After the call, Stanley presents his present: a bus ticket back to Laurel. She runs to the bathroom, sick. Stella reproaches Stanley, asking why he is being cruel. Stanley tells her, in rough, angry words, that Blanche has changed everything between them: Stella was happy enough with him before, but now she seems more and more unsatisfied with him because he is "common." Stella becomes distracted suddenly. She tells him to take her to the hospital. The baby is coming.

Scene 9:
Later that evening, Blanche is home alone. She has been drinking. In her head, she hears the polka music. Mitch enters, unkempt and in work clothes. He, too, has been drinking. She tries to brush aside his standing her up earlier; he treats her coldly. She offers a drink, but he insists he doesn't want any more of Stan's liquor. Blanche hears the music of the polka again; she asks Mitch to excuse her until it ends. The music ends with the gunshot, as always. She continues to try to offer Mitch a drink but he refuses, saying that Stanley told him she's been lapping up his liquor all summer. She brushes aside the accusation.

Mitch wants to turn on the light. He's never seen in her in the light. Blanche stalls. She doesn't want realism: "I'll tell you what I want. Magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people" (204). Mitch turns on the light, and Blanche gasps under its glare. He tells her he doesn't mind her being older than he thought. But what he does mind is the act she put on all summer; pretending to be old-fashioned, pretending to be devoted to old ideals of chastity. He's heard the stories from Stan, and confirmed them.

Blanche finally admits the truth. After Alan, she had many intimate nights with strangers, looking for protection; until at last she became involved with a seventeen-year-old boy, and lost her teaching job. She had nowhere to go; she realized her youth and beauty were gone. Her innocence, too.

Mitch repeats simply, "You lied to me, Blanche." She tells him she never lied in her heart. Outside, a Mexican woman comes by, selling flowers for the dead. As the vendor cries outside, Blanche remembers the terrible days caring for her dying relatives. Changing the blood-stained sheets, when in her youth servants had waited on her. Lonely, abandoned by her sister. Near Belle Reve, there was a training camp for young soldiers; weekends, they would get drunk in town. On their way back, they would come back to the lawn of the mansion and call for Blanche. The only relative left was an old deaf woman, who suspected nothing. Sometimes, she slipped out of the house and went to the boys.

Mitch comes to her, wanting "what I've been missing all summer." Blanche asks him to marry her. He tells her that she's not clean enough to be in the same house as his mother. Blanche tells him to get out, or she'll scream "fire." When he doesn't immediately comply, she starts to scream. He leaves in a hurry.

Scene 10:

Several hours later, that very same night, Blanche has been drinking since Mitch left. She is dressed in some ridiculous clothes, as if preparing for a fashion show. She is packing to leave. Stanley comes home. The baby won't come until morning, so he has been sent home for some sleep. He asks why she's all dressed up; she tells him that while he was away a millionaire admirer called and invited her on vacation. Stanley plays along dryly.

Stanley takes out his silk pajamas, the pajamas he wore on his wedding night. He wears them on special occasions. He wants to be wearing them when the hospital calls to tell him he has a new son. They continue to talk about the millionaire, and Blanche speaks of how much this millionaire respects her. She has "beauty of the mind and richness of the spirit and tenderness of the heart." She says that she does not consider herself a poor woman; as she speaks, she fights hard to stifle her sobs.

She says that she has cast her pearls before swine, not only with Stanley, but with Mitch. She tells Stanley that Mitch came and repeated the stories he had heard from Stanley. She told him to leave, and rejected him even when he came back begging for forgiveness and bearing gifts. The only unforgivable crime, she says, is deliberate cruelty.

Stanley is merciless. He begins to tear down Blanche's illusions one by one, Blanche only able to cry out inarticulately as he does it. She goes to the phone and tries to wire Shep, the millionaire, with a desperate message begging for help. She never finishes: Stanley emerges from the bathroom, wearing his silk pajamas. As jungle noises build outside the apartment, Stanley begins to approach Blanche. Terrified, she tries to avoid him. She breaks a bottle, trying to use the top as a weapon, but she's no match for Stanley. He pulls the bottle out of her hands. He says to her, "We've had this date with each other from the beginning" (215). Blanche collapses, and Stanley carries her listless body to the bed.

Scene 11:

Several weeks later, the men are again playing poker. Stella is upset. Among the men, only Mitch seems to be ill at ease. Eunice, helping Stella, complains that men are heartless, cold things; it becomes clear that today is the day the doctors come to take Blanche to the asylum. She has not been well since the rape. Stella tells Eunice that Blanche's story is too wild to believe; Stella couldn't believe it and continue living with Stanley. Eunice tells her not to believe it, no matter what, because life has to go on.

Blanche comes out fresh from her bath. The polka music plays in the background. She is disturbed, though cheerful. The women are in the bedroom, while the men play poker in the kitchen. Stella and Eunice compliment her, and Blanche continues to make strange, ungrounded comments. Mitch is completely unnerved by Blanche's madness. Stanley tries to get Mitch to snap out of it; the sound of Stanley's voice frightens Blanche. She demands to know what's going on. The women assure her that everything is fine. They tell her that she is going to go on vacation in the country. Blanche speaks distantly about the sea, and living by the ocean until she dies.

The doctor and nurse arrive. Blanche goes out to greet them, thinking that it's Shep Huntleigh, her millionaire friend, arrived to pick her up. She sees the doctor and nurse and retreats back into the apartment, saying she's forgotten something. The polka music plays in the background, along with the animal noises that played during the end of Scene 10. Weird shadows dance around the walls. She grabs a chair, as if the defend herself. The nurse goes in to capture her. Stella cannot bear to watch the struggle between Blanche and the nurse. On the porch, Eunice comforts Stella, telling her not to go inside. The men call for the doctor as Blanche continues to fight the nurse. Mitch is furious; he tells Stanley that this tragedy is all due to Stanley and his interfering. Mitch hits Stanley, but the other men rush to restrain him; he breaks down into sobs. The Nurse has succeeded in pinning Blanche. The doctor enters, and at Blanche's plea, he commands the Nurse to release her. Blanche delivers her famous line: "Whoever you are ¬ I have always depended on the kindness of strangers" (225). As she is led out like a blind woman, Stella cries out her name, sobbing. Blanche walks by her and says nothing. Eunice gives Stella her baby, and Stella continues to sob. Stanley comes out onto the porch to comfort her. In the kitchen, the men have silently resumed their places at the card table. Steve deals a new hand.

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