Abstract

A Streetcar Named Desire deals with cultural clashes between two iconic characters, Blanche Dubois, a fading relic of the Old South, and Stanley Kowalski, a rising member of the industrial, urban working class. This essay analyzes three kinds of symbols in A Streetcar Named Desire. The three kinds of symbols are those in portraying the well-rounded characters, in deepening the stage effect and in strengthening the tragic theme. This thesis intends to analyze how the symbols in the play strengthen the dramatic effects in terms of characterization, stage effect and tragic theme.

Key words: symbols, characterization, stage effect, tragic theme

摘    要

《欲望号街车》呈现了两个主角之间的文化冲突，来自南方没落贵族的布兰奇•杜波依斯和新起的工业下层阶级的斯坦利•科瓦尔斯基。本文将分析剧中的三类象征，分别对刻画人物、加深舞台效果和增强悲剧主题起到重要的作用。本论文试图探讨象征意象是如何从人物性格，舞台效果和悲剧主题这三个方面来增强戏剧效果。

关键词：象征；人物性格；舞台效果；悲剧主题

1.    Introduction
Tennessee Williams was born in a common family which had come down in the world. Williams’ father maltreated him and badly hurt him which affected his later writing. His mother was a typical northern woman with a kind character. The most important family member to Williams was his sister—Rose who had a similar personality—sensitive, nervous and delicate. It was Rose that made Williams taste love, nurturance and caring. But Rose got a serious disease. Her later disease and surgical operation strongly influenced him, foreshadowing the troubled life he would lead until his death.
Tennessee Williams became an American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards for his works of drama. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948. Widely considered a landmark play, .A Streetcar Named Desire is a stage play with elements of tragedy and pathos. The story takes place after World War Ⅱ, in New Orleans. It deals with a cultural clash between two iconic characters, Blanche Dubois, a fading relic of the Old South, and Stanley Kowalski, a rising member of the industrial, urban working class in the north. Blanche goes to a poor neighborhood of “charm” (Williams, 204) in the French Quarter in New Orleans to ask for help from Stella, her sister. Then she moves to live with Stella and Stanley, her sister’s husband. There are a series of conflicts between Blanche and Stanley because they treat each other unfriendly. Stanley tries his best to figure out what has happened to Blanche and prevents Mitch, Stanley’s good friend, from marrying her. Finally, Mitch refuses Blanche and all the people there know what kind of person Blanche is. The climax of the play is that Stanley rapes Blanche and then she finally goes mad. As a result, Blanche is sent to a mental hospital. This is a tragic ending.