Tennessee Williams uses symbols to help communicate his ideas in A Streetcar Named Desire. ... Clothing is a recurring symbol in A Streetcar Named Desire. ... Death, as told by Blanche, is the opposite of Desire, and Blanche wishes to be desired. ... The streetcar named Desire leads to a streetcar named Cemeteries, and both of the most important characters suffer death in one way of another. Without this desire, this play would be completely different and have less meaning. ...

• Word Count: 1053
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The most obvious symbol used in A Streetcar Named Desire is its title and the actual reference, in the play, to the streetcars named Desire and Cemeteries. They not only are the means by which Blanche was brought to the home of Stanley and Stella; as the play unfolds, we realize the names of the streetcars have a greater significance. [Blanche says, " They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields"] (s.1, 6). Williams seems to be alluding to a belief that desire leads to death, even though it is not ...

• Word Count: 844
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Laura in The Glass Menagerie and Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire are the most outstanding examples. ... Blanche DuBois, in A Streetcar Named Desire, is one of Williams's heroines who live under a cover of illusion. ...

• Word Count: 1268
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School