A Streetcar Named Desire Appearances Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Scene.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.

Quote #4

STANLEY
Compliments to women about their looks. 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. I once went out with a doll who said to me, "I am the glamorous type, I am the glamorous type!" I said. "So what?" (2.103)

This is where the conflict in Streetcar really rises to the surface – from what we know about their characters, it’s basically impossible for these two to coexist.

Quote #5

BLANCHE
…After all, a woman’s charm is fifty percent illusion… (2.129)

As is Blanche’s self-image and her veneer of innocent charm. What’s so interesting is that she KNOWS she’s full of it, but continues to operate on a level of fantasy anyway. Or, as she later says to Mitch, "I don’t want realism — I want magic!"

Quote #6

STANLEY
Well this somebody named Shaw is under the impression he met you in Laurel, but I figure he must have got you mixed up with some other party because this other party is someone he met at a hotel called the Flamingo.
[…]
BLANCHE
I’m afraid he does have me mixed up with this "other party." The Hotel Flamingo is not the sort of establishment I would dare to be seen in! (5.38-9)

Now we know that Blanche isn’t just suffering from self-image issues – her reputation has in fact been completely destroyed since the days of her youth.