The Savage Brutality of Stanley Kowalski: Violence, Arrogance, and Rape in A Streetcar Named Desire

In the Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, Stanley Kowalski displays his brutality in many ways. This classical play is about Blanche Dubois's visit to Elysian Fields and her encounters with her sister's brutal and arrogant husband, Stanley Kowalski, and the reveling truth of why Blanche really came. Stanley Kowalski is a very brutal and barbaric person who always has to feel that no one is better than him. His brutish and ferocious actions during the play leave the reader with a bad taste in their mouths. Stanley's brutality is shown in several places during the duration of The Streetcar Named Desire.

For example, his first array of brutality is evident at the poker night when he gets so angry and throws the radio out the window. Another example of his brutality is displayed when he beats his wife, Stella. Lastly, his arrogance and ferocious actions are most apparent when he rapes Blanche, while his wife is in labor in the hospital.

Stanley Kowalski's first exhibition of his brutal actions occurs at poker night. Blanche turns on the radio, but Stanley demands her to turn it off. Blanche refuses and so Stanley gets up himself and turns it off himself. When Stanley's friend, Mitch, drops out of the game to talk to Blanche, Stanley gets upset and he even gets more upset when Blanche flicks on the radio. Due to the music being on, Stanley, in a rage, stalks in the room and grabs the radio and throws it out the window. His friends immediately jump up, and then they drag him to the shower to try to sober him up. This is the first example of Stanley's rage and brutality.

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Not only does throwing the radio out the window represent an impure demeanor, but so does beating your wife. During his entire rage during poker night he is not sober which leads to another problem. When he threw the radio out the window, he then immediately charged right at his wife, Stella. He was in such rage and he was so drunk that when he reached her, he hit her in the face. Luckily, before he can get another blow off his friends grabbed him and pinned him to the floor. This action leads the reader to believe that he is a very brutal person and needs some psychological help to aid him to control his temper. This is another example of why Stanley is so brutal.

Lastly, and the most evident action that leads the reader to believe that Stanley is very ferocious and rapacious is when he rapes Blanche Dubois. When Blanche finds out that Stanley must spend the night at home because Stella did not give birth yet, she becomes wary and is alarmed at the thought that of being alone in the house alone with him is a scary thought. When Blanche tells Stanley that she has put Mitch in his place for being mean to her, Stanley explodes in terror.

Then Stanley retreats to the bathroom to put on his silk pajamas. When he comes out of the bathroom, Blanche is threatened by his words and she smashes a bottle on the table to use the sharp edge to fend him off. Stanley approaches her carefully, but Blanche swings at him and Stanley catches her arm and forces her to drop the weapon. She then collapses at his feet and he picks her up and carries her to the bedroom and rapes her. This event shows that Stanley is very brutal and avaricious because it shows that he was greedy to the fact that he could not just have one woman, and it also showed that he is very arrogant because he feels that now because he "conquered" Blanche and he has won.

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