A Streetcar Named Desire

The American plays A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams and Desire Under The Elms, by Eugene O’Neill both use expressionist and symbolist techniques in order to change people’s perceptions of the world. Different dramatic techniques might be used to produce these plays in order to create relevant and challenging theatrical experiences.

A Streetcar Named Desire, written in 1947, shows the emergence of a New America after World War Two, and the collapse of the Old America, or the old South. It is a memory play about a disturbed and deprived Southern woman, Blanche who fights to maintain her illusions of good and innocence when forced to confront the truth about her life by her sister, Stella’s, working-class, animalistic and attractive husband, Stanley.

The central idea or theme of the play is one of desire. Hence the symbolic technique of Blanche arriving to Elysian Fields on a Streetcar named Desire. This desire was also expressed by the technique of using the m...