The character of Stanley can be seen as a man of unrelenting brutishness who always gets his way. Women, and even some of his male friends, don’t stand a chance to overpower him whenever he’s around. In Elia Kazan’s film, "A Streetcar Named Desire," based on the 1947 play of the same name by Tennessee Williams, the narrative emphasizes the control that Stanley Kowalski has on his wife, Stella, and her sister, Blanche DuBois.
According to “Beyond Fidelity: The Dialogics of Adaptation,” an essay by Robert Stam, “Cinema has available to it the visuals of photography and painting, the movement of dance, the décor of architecture, and the performance of theater,” (Stam, 61). Cinema is very much related to theater, because they are both visual mediums of storytelling and have set designs. The film version of "A Streetcar Named Desire" is very much like the play, so the viewer gets the feeling of also watching a theatrical performance as they are watching Kazan’s film adaptation of the literary piece.
Since the play and film are almost the same, it relates to what Dudley Andrew detailed about “narrative codes” in his essay, “Adaptation.” He says, “Narrative codes, then, always function at the level of implication or connotation. Hence they are potentially comparable in a novel and a film. The story can be the same if the narrative units (characters, events, motivations, consequences, context, viewpoint, imagery, and so on) are produced equally in two works,” (Andrew, 34). Also, both the play and film have some of the same actors and actresses play the leads, such as Marlon Brando for Stanley, Kim Hunter for Stella and Karl Malden for Mitch. Since the film remains very faithful to the source material, we are given a faithful look at Stanley of how he was in the play, and we see all of his brutality and masculinity that he expresses towards those around him.
One of the first scenes of the film that portrays Stanley’s jurisdiction over the female characters of the film is when he’s describing the Napoleonic Code to Stella. He does this as he’s rummaging through Blanche’s belongings: “In the state of Louisiana we have the Napoleonic code according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice verse…It looks to me like you have been swindled, baby, and when you’re swindled under the Napoleonic code I’m swindled too. And I don’t like to be swindled,” (Williams 34-35). Although this policy seems to be equal for both the husband and wife, it seems as though Stanley is more concerned with how the Napoleonic code will affect only him. Whenever Stella tries to look through Blanche’s trunk, Stanley tries to take Blanche’s stuff from her so he can inspect it himself. So it seems as though he wants to have the final word on the matter, since he’s the man of the family. Even when Stella tells Stanley not to look through Blanche’s trunk, he does so anyway against her wishes. This is an example of the man disregarding his wife.
In this scene, Stanley also doesn’t take too kindly to orders. When Stella tells Stanley to leave the bedroom while Blanche gets dressed, he responds with, “Since when do you give me orders?” (Williams, 37). This is ironic because Stanley just discussed the Napoleonic code to Stella, which expresses some equality between a husband and wife. But in this verbal exchange, we revert back to Stanley being in control of himself, and refusing to be given commands by a woman.
Another scene that asserts the man’s power over the women of the family is when Stanley presents the bus tickets to Blanche. Before Blanche comes into the scene, Stanley reveals to Stella that he knows some of Blanche’s secrets. This is an example of a man being more informed than a woman. He tries to influence his wife to side with him and make Blanche leave. For a little bit, we see a somewhat gentler side to Stanley that’s out of his normal character; but this will be followed by an act of cruelty towards Blanche when she is given the tickets. Stella continues to face away from Stanley, as though she’s trying to avoid being submissive to the truth, to the man’s word. Stanley quickly returns to his roughness when he’s irritated by Blanche and angrily throws his coat down on the kitchen floor. He reveals to Stella that he has told Mitch about Blanche. In a way, Stanley is controlling Blanche’s destiny; because if he tells Mitch about Blanche’s secrets, he won’t want to be with her.
While at the dinner table, Blanche is seated in between Stanley and Stella. This could emphasize the fact that Blanche is the center of the problems that are occurring in the apartment. In this scene, we’re shown again that Stanley doesn’t like being given orders by a woman. He slams his fist on the table and shoves his place settings off the table when Stella tells him to help her clear the table and wash up. The women cower in fear as he says, “That’s how I’m going to clear the table. Don’t ever talk that way to me!...Remember what Huey Long said – ‘Every Man is a King!’ And I’m the king around here, so don’t forget it!” (Williams, 107). There is then a low angle shot of the women as they cower in fear. The several shots of the table show it being crowded with dinner items. This reflects the dinner with Stanley, Stella and Blanche. Three is a crowd. Stanley shows his compassionate side a little more as Stella tells him that everything will be alright when Blanche leaves them.
He then asserts his power over the women again when the phone rings. Blanche says that she’s expecting a call, but Stanley tells her to stay in her seat. When the women talk during Stanley’s phone conversation, he says, “QUIET IN THERE – We’ve got a noisy woman on the place. – Go on, Mac. At Riley’s? No, I don’t wanta bowl at Riley’s. I had a little trouble with Riley last week. I’m the team-captain, ain’t I? All right, then, we’re not gonna bowl at Riley’s, we’re gonna bowl at the West Side or the Gala! All right, Mac. See you!” (Williams, 110). In this bit of dialogue, we see that Stanley even has control over his male friends. Stanley then gives Blanche the bus tickets. Again, this shows a man trying to control a woman’s destiny. He’s telling Blanche to leave.
Stanley exhibits his brutality the most when he rapes Blanche towards the end of the play/film. While Blanche continues to go along with her delusion, Stanley plays around with it and tries to get in her head. At one point, he tells her, “It goes to show, you never know what is coming,” (Williams, 124). This line could be a foreshadowing to Blanche unexpectedly getting raped. He then starts to yell at her again when he knows she’s lying when he finds inconsistencies in her stories. This leads into a physical struggle between the two. The film cuts back and forth from high-angle shots of Stanley leaning over Blanche, where we get a sense of her helplessness, and low-angle shots of Blanche under Stanley, where we get a sense of Stanley’s brutality and power. Blanche then takes the phone and calls for help, referring to herself as “caught in a trap.” Here, the female is trapped by the male.
As the fight continues, Blanche breaks a beer bottle and looks as though she’s trying to tame a lion, who is Stanley in this case. Stanley slowly approaches her, like a predator to its prey. Stanley creepily smiles as he nears Blanche. He will have his fun because since he’s the man, he’s in control of the situation. He knows that she won’t hurt him because she’s weak; and when she threatens to injure him with the beer bottle, he says, “I bet you would do that!” (Williams, 130). As he finally grabs her, the mirror cracks, symbolizing that Blanche’s life is officially fractured. Her “death” is predicted earlier in the scene, when Blanche sees the woman in the street selling flowers for the dead.
The power of men over women is a recurring theme in A Streetcar Named Desire. It shows the control that men had over women back then, and how both sides managed it. Stanley gets whatever he wants, no matter what. This is pivotal in him expressing his masculinity throughout the play and film.
Works Cited
Andrew, Dudley. “Adaptation.” Film Adaptation. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2000. 28-37.
Stam, Robert. “Beyond Fidelity: The Dialogics of Adaptation.” Film Adaptation. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2000. 54-76.
Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: Signet, 1947.
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