A Streetcar Named Desire

by

Tennessee Williams

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on A Streetcar Named Desire makes teaching easy.

Femininity and Dependence Theme Analysis

Themes and Colors
Sexual Desire Theme Icon
Fantasy and Delusion Theme Icon
Interior and Exterior Appearance Theme Icon
Masculinity and Physicality Theme Icon
Femininity and Dependence Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Streetcar Named Desire, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Femininity and Dependence Theme Icon

Blanche and Stella demonstrate two different types of femininity in the play, yet both find themselves dependent on men. Both Blanche and Stella define themselves in terms of the men in their lives, and they see relationships with men as the only avenue for happiness and fulfillment. Blanche is a fading Southern belle who clings to coquettish trappings, preferring “magic” and the night to reality and the light of day. She performs a delicate, innocent version of femininity because she believes that this makes her most attractive to men. Blanche insists that Stella should attempt to get away from the physically abusive Stanley, but her solution also involves dependence on men, as she proposes that they contact the Dallas millionaire Shep Huntleigh for financial assistance. Blanche’s tragic marriage in her youth has led her to seek emotional fulfillment through relationships with men, and men have taken advantage of her nervous, fragile state. Even though Blanche’s first marriage ended disastrously, she sees marriage as her only path. Blanche views Mitch as a refuge and a way to rejuvenate her shattered life. Although Blanche’s sexual exploits make the other characters perceive her as a shameful, fallen woman, these same characteristics are seen as conferring strength and power in Stanley.

Stella’s femininity is based not on illusions and tricks but on reality. She does not try to hide who she is nor hide from her present circumstances. Stella’s pregnancy asserts the real, physical, unmasked nature of her conception of herself as a woman. Stella chooses her physical love for and dependence on Stanley over Blanche’s schemes. Even though Stanley hits her, she is not in something she wants to get out of, as she explains to Blanche. Eunice demonstrates a similar, practical reliance on men, and she convinces Stella that she has made the right decision by staying with Stanley rather than believing Blanche’s story about the rape.

Related Themes from Other Texts
Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme…

Femininity and Dependence ThemeTracker

The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Femininity and Dependence appears in each scene of A Streetcar Named Desire. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
How often theme appears:
scene length:
Get the entire A Streetcar Named Desire LitChart as a printable PDF.
A Streetcar Named Desire PDF

Femininity and Dependence Quotes in A Streetcar Named Desire

Below you will find the important quotes in A Streetcar Named Desire related to the theme of Femininity and Dependence.
Scene 1 Quotes

Stella, oh, Stella, Stella! Stella for Star!

Related Characters: Blanche DuBois (speaker), Stella Kowalski
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:

Sit there and stare at me, thinking I let the place go? I let the place go? Where were you! In bed with your–Polack!

Related Characters: Blanche DuBois (speaker), Stanley Kowalski, Stella Kowalski
Page Number: 22
Explanation and Analysis:

Since earliest manhood the center of [Stanley’s] life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it, not with weak indulgence, dependently, but with the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens.

Related Characters: Stanley Kowalski
Page Number: 24
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 2 Quotes

I never met a woman that didn’t know if she was good-looking or not without being told, and some of them give themselves credit for more than they’ve got.

Related Characters: Stanley Kowalski (speaker)
Related Symbols: Bathing
Page Number: 38
Explanation and Analysis:

Now let’s cut the re-bop!

Related Characters: Stanley Kowalski (speaker)
Page Number: 40
Explanation and Analysis:

After all, a woman’s charm is fifty percent illusion.

Related Characters: Blanche DuBois (speaker)
Page Number: 41
Explanation and Analysis:

Oh, I guess he’s just not the type that goes for jasmine perfume, but maybe he’s what we need to mix with our blood now that we’ve lost Belle Reve.

Related Characters: Blanche DuBois (speaker), Stanley Kowalski
Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:

Red-hot!

Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 3 Quotes

I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action.

Related Characters: Blanche DuBois (speaker)
Related Symbols: Paper Lantern and Paper Moon, Shadows
Page Number: 60
Explanation and Analysis:

STELL-LAHHHHH!

Related Characters: Stanley Kowalski (speaker), Stella Kowalski
Related Symbols: Alcohol and Drunkenness
Page Number: 67
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 4 Quotes

There are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark–that sort of make everything else seem–unimportant.

Related Characters: Stella Kowalski (speaker), Stanley Kowalski
Related Symbols: Shadows
Page Number: 81
Explanation and Analysis:

What you are talking about is brutal desire–just–Desire!–the name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through the Quarter.

Related Characters: Blanche DuBois (speaker), Stella Kowalski
Related Symbols: The Streetcar
Page Number: 81
Explanation and Analysis:

Don’t–don’t hang back with the brutes!

Related Characters: Blanche DuBois (speaker), Stanley Kowalski, Stella Kowalski
Page Number: 83
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 6 Quotes

Sometimes–there’s God–so quickly!

Related Characters: Blanche DuBois (speaker)
Page Number: 116
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 9 Quotes

I don’t want realism. I want magic!

Related Characters: Blanche DuBois (speaker)
Related Symbols: Paper Lantern and Paper Moon
Page Number: 145
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 10 Quotes

Tiger–tiger! Drop the bottle-top! Drop it! We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!

Related Characters: Stanley Kowalski (speaker), Blanche DuBois
Related Symbols: Alcohol and Drunkenness
Page Number: 162
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 11 Quotes

Please don’t get up. I’m only passing through.

Related Characters: Blanche DuBois (speaker)
Related Symbols: Varsouviana Polka
Page Number: 173
Explanation and Analysis:

You left nothing here but spilt talcum and old empty perfume bottles–unless it’s the paper lantern you want to take with you. You want the lantern?

Related Characters: Stanley Kowalski (speaker), Blanche DuBois
Related Symbols: Paper Lantern and Paper Moon
Page Number: 176
Explanation and Analysis: