A Streetcar Named Desire's Struggle for Power

Tennessee Williams adds the racial backdrop of the poles to create a sense of inferiority, which provokes Stanley to overexert his power, as Blanche uses it to raise herself above him. The inferiority related to race and Stanley’s sense of dominance is shown to be social fabrications, which they use to in order to delude themselves from their own vulnerability.

               The racial backdrop is apparent through the dialogue between Blanche and Stella, long with the sense of inferiority that associate with race. When Blanche is discussing Stanley with Stella, one of the first things that comes up is Stanley’s race. When Blanche asks about Stanley, Stella replies, “Stanley is Polish, you know” (23). It is especially interesting that uses the phrase “you know,” which highlights that Stella is hinting at implications that are associated with being Polish. It is clear that both Stella and Blanche are conscious of his race and use it as a way to categorize his character and actions. If we continue to follow their conversion, Blanche states, “Oh, yes. They're something like Irish, aren't they?” (23). Blanches transitions from talking about Stanley to talking about the poles as an umbrella of people, which she then fits Stanley into. This transition is able to highlight the loss of focus on who Stanley really is as an individual. This can be seen with the use of the word “they,” as the word shows the focus on the group rather than the individual. Blanche also categorizes the people to be not “highbrow” (23). Through this categorization of the poles we can already see how Blanche and Stella seem to be placing Stanley below them purely because of his race. The sense of inferiority is heighted even more by the use of the word “Polack,” which Blanche uses throughout the play in reference to Stanley. This ethnic slur is another way that Blanche is able to put Stanley down and establish her superiority.

               The sense of inferiority that is pushed on Stanley by Stella and Blanche causes him to overexert his dominance and not only reveal how this creation of classes based on race is only an illusion that gives them power, but also how Stanley is also clinging to this false sense of superiority. After Stella tells Stanley to wash up he states, “Remember what Huey Long said-Every Man is a King And I am the king around here, so don't forget it! [He hurls a cup and saucer to the floor) My place is cleared!” (107-8). In these lines we can see Stanley lash out against this establishment of classes through race. His establishment of his dominance is seen through the destruction of the plate and saucer, both of which Stella is unable to do anything about. Stella lack of real action shows just how superficial the hierarchy of class really is. Stanley also appeals to this idea of inherit worth in all men. He describes this idea of every man being a king. This idea of inherit worth and control is very important because it is actually not any different from the fabrication of classes. In both they seem to suggest this inherit worth in a particular group of people and both seem lack any real evidence. Just as Blanche use their higher class to gain power over Stanley, Stanley uses his idea of this inherit worth in men to be like a king to have control over Stella and Blanche. Stanley idea that gives men control over his life resembles the idea of the American Dream. This can be see very clearly when he states that he “is a one hundred percent American” (110). In response to sense of inferiority due to his race, Stanley leans on his being an American to once again establish his control and worth. We can see how Stanley’s idea of this inherit worth is, like the idea of classes, a mere social fabrication by looking at the reality. Despite this idea that all men are kings, we already learn that Stanely “is the only one of his crowd that’s likely to get anywhere” (50). As we can see not everyone actually has the ability to be a “king” and Stanley is just clinging to another social fabrication to give him a false sense of power.

               We can see that both Stanley and Blanche offer a different, but similar approach to their understanding of the world around them. Both cling to values that only delude them from the reality of their own powerlessness. Stella is seen to be caught in between the two of them, as she has ties to them both through blood and the other through marriage. She is also pregnant with the upcoming generation, which can be linked closely with the future. We are able to see through Stella’s struggle and ultimate choice to side with Stanley, how instead of actually facing any sort of reality people will cling to a new set of values that while different really leave them still lost in an illusion of power. The fact that Stella will raise her child with this different but similar false sense of power highlights that lack of progress that is actually being achieved over generations.