Stella is submissive and Stanley is domineering, in traditional male/female roles, but the roles reverse at times, particularly at moments of conflict. The most notable example is seen during the first major moment of dramatic conflict, during the fight between Stella and Stanley during the poker game. The conflict is largely instigated by Blanche, yet the various elements of the male/female relationship lead to open conflict between husband and wife. Stella defends Blanche against her husband's callous words, and Stanley becomes infuriated - he feels a loss of control, and to reassert that control he assaults her physically. The assault is a dramatic moment in the play; Stanley has seized control through an overly masculine exertion of force. Yet when the immediate conflict is ended, it is Stella who regains the power to accept or reject Stanley's tearful apologies. This moment of conflict is fueled by contradictory emotions and motivations in both characters, primarily a mutual love and a mutual need for autonomy and control.
The most intense drama of the play if found in the conflicts between Stanley and Blanche; this conflict is characterized by a volatile mix of territorial possessiveness, sexual advance and withdrawal, and ultimately a quest for control over Stella's heart and mind. Much of the conflict is specifically sexual in nature: it is Blanche's sexual past that Stanley reveals to Mitch, precisely because the sexual component of Blanche's character must he dominated if she is to be controlled. This sexual aspect of the conflict becomes brutally evident after Stanley's cruelty during Blanche's birthday party. After rejecting Mitch's sexual advances, Blanche is raped by Stanley - a man that professed no attraction for her. The rape is intended to dominate and control, and in this Stanley succeeds; his violence leaves Blanche mentally incapacitated and ultimately incarcerated.
