A Streetcar Named Desire

by Tennessee Williams

A Streetcar Named Desire: Style 1 key example

Style
Explanation and Analysis:

The pacing of A Streetcar Named Desire is famously slow and deliberate. Because the plot relies on the gradual crumbling of Blanche’s castle of lies, its approach is also gradual and somewhat measured until it suddenly careens into its climax. This approach allows the audience to really feel the growing unease that’s rotting away the bonds between Williams’s characters. Each scene incrementally intensifies the conflicts and the frustrations Stella, Blanche, and Stanley harbor. Eventually, the combination of repression and 100% humidity becomes too much to bear.