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A Streetcar Named Desire Study Guide

by Tennessee Williams

A Streetcar Named Desire study guide contains a biography of Tennessee Williams, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

The play takes place right after World War II, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Kowalski apartment is in a poor but charming neighborhood in the French Quarter. Stella, twenty-five years old and pregnant, lives with her blue collar husband Stanley Kowalski. It is summertime, and the heat is oppressive. Blanche Dubois, Stella's older sister, arrives unexpectedly, carrying all that she owns. Blanche and Stella have a warm reunion, but Blanche has some bad news: Belle Reve, the family mansion, has been lost. Blanche stayed behind to care for their dying family while Stella left to make a new life for herself, and Blanche is clearly resentful by her sister's abandonment of the family. Blanche meets her sister's husband, Stanley, for the first…

Read the full A Streetcar Named Desire Summary

• A Streetcar Named Desire Summary
• About A Streetcar Named Desire
• Character List
• Glossary of Terms
• Major Themes
• Quotes and Analysis
• Summary and Analysis of Scene 1
• Summary and Analysis of Scene 2
• Summary and Analysis of Scene 3
• Summary and Analysis of Scene 4
• Summary and Analysis of Scene 5
• Summary and Analysis of Scene 6
• Summary and Analysis of Scenes 7 and 8
• Summary and Analysis of Scene 9
• Summary and Analysis of Scene 10
• Summary and Analysis of Scene 11
• Music and Streetcar
• Related Links on A Streetcar Named Desire
• Suggested Essay Questions
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 3
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 4
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• A Streetcar Named Desire: Major Themes
• A Streetcar Named Desire: Essays
• A Streetcar Named Desire: Lesson Plan
• A Streetcar Named Desire: Questions
• A Streetcar Named Desire: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Tennessee Williams: Biography