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 Customer Reviews
Fantastic., 08 Jan 2008
Arguably Tennessee Williams' best loved and most popular play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is guaranteed to grip you from start to finish.
Set in 1950s New Orleans, the highly pretentious Miss Blanche Dubois visits her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche, "virtuous", sensitive and 'moth-like' is a cultured antithesis of Stanley with his overt sensuality and primal behaviour, providing the audience with a wonderful drama of emotions.
Williams cleverly unravels Blanche's shocking history through Stanley, whose determined investigations reveal her past mistakes from her inability to receive closure from her young husband's death. The delightful use of explicit and precise stage directions results in a fantastic array of tension-building music, dramatic irony and intricately inter-woven symbolism.
The eleven scenes span over a long period of time, condensing the play into major dramatic events which intensify the emotions of both the characters and the audience. This is futher affirmed by the small set - the tiny apartment bespeaks confinement, accentuating the emotional density and the power and menace of Stanley's physical presence.
As the loss of literature, language, music and culture (everything that Blanche epitomises) is replaced with desire and lust, Blanche slowly 'fades' into her illusions; unable to cope with a changing world and ultimately losing her grip on sanity altogether.
Peter Shaffer wrote of Williams: "He could not write a dull scene." I could not agree more; 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is rightfully one of the best pieces of modern American literature as it will undoubtably be remembered, discussed and enjoyed for years to come.
Emma Stimson, A-level student. Moving stuff, 28 Oct 2007
I studied the play, 'A streetcar named Desire' for A level and found it to be devastatingly truthful about human nature. It shows the profound effect that desire and the need to feel desirable can have.
One of the main characters, 'Stanley' is one of those men that women hate to love, yet feel instictively drawn to, he's strong, masculine and sexy, yet at the same time he is overly opinionated, violent and dominating.
Not the kind of man you 'should' be attracted to, yet so many women find themselves in the position that they are! Why is this? Williams explores the complexities of issues such as this. Loved it!
Entertainingly Educational!, 02 Aug 2002
This book provides readers with a very accessible introduction to the works of Tennessee Williams. Not only does it include the very well know plays "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie" but also "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "A play of four parts". The fact that there are four plays means that the reader can gain not only a knowledge of the individual plays, but also a feel for Williams' style of writing. This makes it an indispensible tool for anybody studying Tennessee Williams' work as part of their studies or indeed recreationally. A good feature of the book is the way it introduces each play to the reader. By including detailed forewards and background information (including details of the authors personal life at the time of writing) the first reading of the play becomes much more rewarding. The plays themselves are entertaining and insightful. In Each play Williams' tells a story of seemingly ordinary folk, and then introduces the reader/audience to whats going on in their minds. By the clever use of different stage techniques and sharp observations Tennessee Williams presents us with a collection of wonderfully enjoyable and atmostpheric plays. Very highly recommended.
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Customer Reviews
Fantastic., 08 Jan 2008
Arguably Tennessee Williams' best loved and most popular play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is guaranteed to grip you from start to finish.
Set in 1950s New Orleans, the highly pretentious Miss Blanche Dubois visits her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche, "virtuous", sensitive and 'moth-like' is a cultured antithesis of Stanley with his overt sensuality and primal behaviour, providing the audience with a wonderful drama of emotions.
Williams cleverly unravels Blanche's shocking history through Stanley, whose determined investigations reveal her past mistakes from her inability to receive closure from her young husband's death. The delightful use of explicit and precise stage directions results in a fantastic array of tension-building music, dramatic irony and intricately inter-woven symbolism.
The eleven scenes span over a long period of time, condensing the play into major dramatic events which intensify the emotions of both the characters and the audience. This is futher affirmed by the small set - the tiny apartment bespeaks confinement, accentuating the emotional density and the power and menace of Stanley's physical presence.
As the loss of literature, language, music and culture (everything that Blanche epitomises) is replaced with desire and lust, Blanche slowly 'fades' into her illusions; unable to cope with a changing world and ultimately losing her grip on sanity altogether.
Peter Shaffer wrote of Williams: "He could not write a dull scene." I could not agree more; 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is rightfully one of the best pieces of modern American literature as it will undoubtably be remembered, discussed and enjoyed for years to come.
Emma Stimson, A-level student. Moving stuff, 28 Oct 2007
I studied the play, 'A streetcar named Desire' for A level and found it to be devastatingly truthful about human nature. It shows the profound effect that desire and the need to feel desirable can have.
One of the main characters, 'Stanley' is one of those men that women hate to love, yet feel instictively drawn to, he's strong, masculine and sexy, yet at the same time he is overly opinionated, violent and dominating.
Not the kind of man you 'should' be attracted to, yet so many women find themselves in the position that they are! Why is this? Williams explores the complexities of issues such as this. Loved it!
Entertainingly Educational!, 02 Aug 2002
This book provides readers with a very accessible introduction to the works of Tennessee Williams. Not only does it include the very well know plays "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie" but also "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "A play of four parts". The fact that there are four plays means that the reader can gain not only a knowledge of the individual plays, but also a feel for Williams' style of writing. This makes it an indispensible tool for anybody studying Tennessee Williams' work as part of their studies or indeed recreationally. A good feature of the book is the way it introduces each play to the reader. By including detailed forewards and background information (including details of the authors personal life at the time of writing) the first reading of the play becomes much more rewarding. The plays themselves are entertaining and insightful. In Each play Williams' tells a story of seemingly ordinary folk, and then introduces the reader/audience to whats going on in their minds. By the clever use of different stage techniques and sharp observations Tennessee Williams presents us with a collection of wonderfully enjoyable and atmostpheric plays. Very highly recommended.
AS Level Functionality; second to none!, 19 Jan 2005
In ordering this copy of 'A Streetcar Named Desire,'i was primarily expecting this book to be purely a textual dialogue of the play. Although after recieving the book (with haste- i don't hesitate to add), i was pleasantly surprised to encounter aids and prompts explaining in detail the situations and literary devices used to create such an effect. I totally believe that this book is a must have for those studying the american book at AS Level, or at any level for that matter!
Entirely powerful., 22 Oct 2003
Even though this is a play, it is still highly enjoyable to read. There are so many hidden meanings, layers, imagery and symbolism in this play, every time you read it something new is revealed. Best to read the play first, as the film with Marlon Brando portrays Stanley is a slightly different light to what I think Williams had intended.
Fantastic.
Haunting, 26 Nov 2000
A Streetcar Named Desire is rightly seen by many as Tennessee Williams's best play. The least that can be said is that along with The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof it counts among his most haunting work. No-one can emerge unscathed from the New Orleans abode of Stella and Stanley, and Blanche surely remains the most pathetic - in the best sense of the word - theatrical character in the twentieth century. Complete with well-chosen pictures, Patricia Hern's 1984 Methuen student edition of A Streetcar Named Desire is ideal for secondary school and undergraduate students; the notes in particular are very useful for students of American Literature in non English-speaking countries. This edition will also please the non academic admirers of Williams's plays, as it provides an unpretentious and enlightening commentary, which is short enough not to bore. Curiously, Hern refrained from mentioning the playwright's love life in the chronology, which is rather infrequent when it comes to Williams. Most of her colleagues would have at least offered the dates of the beginnings and ends of the now extremely notorious principal affairs. That is not to say, however, that she shied away from Williams's homosexuality; she dealt with it in the commentary. There are one or two passages there that one might find debatable, as when Hern sees Williams's father as "a Stanley Kowalski in middle age", or when she wonders about the depiction of gender roles in the play; but Williams is the kind of writer who cannot generate a consensus, and one can only be grateful for that.
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Customer Reviews
Fantastic., 08 Jan 2008
Arguably Tennessee Williams' best loved and most popular play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is guaranteed to grip you from start to finish.
Set in 1950s New Orleans, the highly pretentious Miss Blanche Dubois visits her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche, "virtuous", sensitive and 'moth-like' is a cultured antithesis of Stanley with his overt sensuality and primal behaviour, providing the audience with a wonderful drama of emotions.
Williams cleverly unravels Blanche's shocking history through Stanley, whose determined investigations reveal her past mistakes from her inability to receive closure from her young husband's death. The delightful use of explicit and precise stage directions results in a fantastic array of tension-building music, dramatic irony and intricately inter-woven symbolism.
The eleven scenes span over a long period of time, condensing the play into major dramatic events which intensify the emotions of both the characters and the audience. This is futher affirmed by the small set - the tiny apartment bespeaks confinement, accentuating the emotional density and the power and menace of Stanley's physical presence.
As the loss of literature, language, music and culture (everything that Blanche epitomises) is replaced with desire and lust, Blanche slowly 'fades' into her illusions; unable to cope with a changing world and ultimately losing her grip on sanity altogether.
Peter Shaffer wrote of Williams: "He could not write a dull scene." I could not agree more; 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is rightfully one of the best pieces of modern American literature as it will undoubtably be remembered, discussed and enjoyed for years to come.
Emma Stimson, A-level student. Moving stuff, 28 Oct 2007
I studied the play, 'A streetcar named Desire' for A level and found it to be devastatingly truthful about human nature. It shows the profound effect that desire and the need to feel desirable can have.
One of the main characters, 'Stanley' is one of those men that women hate to love, yet feel instictively drawn to, he's strong, masculine and sexy, yet at the same time he is overly opinionated, violent and dominating.
Not the kind of man you 'should' be attracted to, yet so many women find themselves in the position that they are! Why is this? Williams explores the complexities of issues such as this. Loved it!
Entertainingly Educational!, 02 Aug 2002
This book provides readers with a very accessible introduction to the works of Tennessee Williams. Not only does it include the very well know plays "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie" but also "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "A play of four parts". The fact that there are four plays means that the reader can gain not only a knowledge of the individual plays, but also a feel for Williams' style of writing. This makes it an indispensible tool for anybody studying Tennessee Williams' work as part of their studies or indeed recreationally. A good feature of the book is the way it introduces each play to the reader. By including detailed forewards and background information (including details of the authors personal life at the time of writing) the first reading of the play becomes much more rewarding. The plays themselves are entertaining and insightful. In Each play Williams' tells a story of seemingly ordinary folk, and then introduces the reader/audience to whats going on in their minds. By the clever use of different stage techniques and sharp observations Tennessee Williams presents us with a collection of wonderfully enjoyable and atmostpheric plays. Very highly recommended.
AS Level Functionality; second to none!, 19 Jan 2005
In ordering this copy of 'A Streetcar Named Desire,'i was primarily expecting this book to be purely a textual dialogue of the play. Although after recieving the book (with haste- i don't hesitate to add), i was pleasantly surprised to encounter aids and prompts explaining in detail the situations and literary devices used to create such an effect. I totally believe that this book is a must have for those studying the american book at AS Level, or at any level for that matter!
Entirely powerful., 22 Oct 2003
Even though this is a play, it is still highly enjoyable to read. There are so many hidden meanings, layers, imagery and symbolism in this play, every time you read it something new is revealed. Best to read the play first, as the film with Marlon Brando portrays Stanley is a slightly different light to what I think Williams had intended.
Fantastic.
Haunting, 26 Nov 2000
A Streetcar Named Desire is rightly seen by many as Tennessee Williams's best play. The least that can be said is that along with The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof it counts among his most haunting work. No-one can emerge unscathed from the New Orleans abode of Stella and Stanley, and Blanche surely remains the most pathetic - in the best sense of the word - theatrical character in the twentieth century. Complete with well-chosen pictures, Patricia Hern's 1984 Methuen student edition of A Streetcar Named Desire is ideal for secondary school and undergraduate students; the notes in particular are very useful for students of American Literature in non English-speaking countries. This edition will also please the non academic admirers of Williams's plays, as it provides an unpretentious and enlightening commentary, which is short enough not to bore. Curiously, Hern refrained from mentioning the playwright's love life in the chronology, which is rather infrequent when it comes to Williams. Most of her colleagues would have at least offered the dates of the beginnings and ends of the now extremely notorious principal affairs. That is not to say, however, that she shied away from Williams's homosexuality; she dealt with it in the commentary. There are one or two passages there that one might find debatable, as when Hern sees Williams's father as "a Stanley Kowalski in middle age", or when she wonders about the depiction of gender roles in the play; but Williams is the kind of writer who cannot generate a consensus, and one can only be grateful for that.
The best play I ever read - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 21 Jun 2008
One of the things I am most grateful for from my education is that at A-Level we were made to study 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'. It totally changed my perceptions of how a play could be written and how it could prevoke thoughts in the viewer/reader with such subtlety and charm.
T. Williams is now and I hope will always be my favourite play-write. Although as another review of this play states - the film does not do this play justice, I would still give the film (with Paul Newman and Liz Taylor) huge credit for adapting it sympathetically at a time when hollywood just didn't do a film showcasing this type of drama with ambiguous endings.
T Willaims himself was asked to rewrite parts to make them more audiance friendly. While the changes between the versions are not earth shatteringly different I find that depending on my mood I will read different versions at different times.
For anyone who wants to emmerse themselves in a play and be tempted by flawed and beautiful characters I would whole-heartedly recommend this play to anyone.
3 Excellent American Plays, 31 May 2001
Though I'm not a fan of American culture Williams takes the top prize: all 3 are excellent. The tension is perfect and the atmosphere steamy (that word seems to fit so well). I would also recommend the films but of course plays first! You will be gripped!
Compelling, 16 Apr 2001
The film does not do the book Justice. The book is extremely well written. A classic
My favourite play, 05 Sep 2000
I saw the movie (in Spanish version), I saw the play and read the play (in Spanish version also) but to read it in original version was a gratifying experience. Tennessee Williams is the greatest playwright of this century. He knews the human soul.
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Customer Reviews
Fantastic., 08 Jan 2008
Arguably Tennessee Williams' best loved and most popular play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is guaranteed to grip you from start to finish.
Set in 1950s New Orleans, the highly pretentious Miss Blanche Dubois visits her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche, "virtuous", sensitive and 'moth-like' is a cultured antithesis of Stanley with his overt sensuality and primal behaviour, providing the audience with a wonderful drama of emotions.
Williams cleverly unravels Blanche's shocking history through Stanley, whose determined investigations reveal her past mistakes from her inability to receive closure from her young husband's death. The delightful use of explicit and precise stage directions results in a fantastic array of tension-building music, dramatic irony and intricately inter-woven symbolism.
The eleven scenes span over a long period of time, condensing the play into major dramatic events which intensify the emotions of both the characters and the audience. This is futher affirmed by the small set - the tiny apartment bespeaks confinement, accentuating the emotional density and the power and menace of Stanley's physical presence.
As the loss of literature, language, music and culture (everything that Blanche epitomises) is replaced with desire and lust, Blanche slowly 'fades' into her illusions; unable to cope with a changing world and ultimately losing her grip on sanity altogether.
Peter Shaffer wrote of Williams: "He could not write a dull scene." I could not agree more; 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is rightfully one of the best pieces of modern American literature as it will undoubtably be remembered, discussed and enjoyed for years to come.
Emma Stimson, A-level student. Moving stuff, 28 Oct 2007
I studied the play, 'A streetcar named Desire' for A level and found it to be devastatingly truthful about human nature. It shows the profound effect that desire and the need to feel desirable can have.
One of the main characters, 'Stanley' is one of those men that women hate to love, yet feel instictively drawn to, he's strong, masculine and sexy, yet at the same time he is overly opinionated, violent and dominating.
Not the kind of man you 'should' be attracted to, yet so many women find themselves in the position that they are! Why is this? Williams explores the complexities of issues such as this. Loved it!
Entertainingly Educational!, 02 Aug 2002
This book provides readers with a very accessible introduction to the works of Tennessee Williams. Not only does it include the very well know plays "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie" but also "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "A play of four parts". The fact that there are four plays means that the reader can gain not only a knowledge of the individual plays, but also a feel for Williams' style of writing. This makes it an indispensible tool for anybody studying Tennessee Williams' work as part of their studies or indeed recreationally. A good feature of the book is the way it introduces each play to the reader. By including detailed forewards and background information (including details of the authors personal life at the time of writing) the first reading of the play becomes much more rewarding. The plays themselves are entertaining and insightful. In Each play Williams' tells a story of seemingly ordinary folk, and then introduces the reader/audience to whats going on in their minds. By the clever use of different stage techniques and sharp observations Tennessee Williams presents us with a collection of wonderfully enjoyable and atmostpheric plays. Very highly recommended.
AS Level Functionality; second to none!, 19 Jan 2005
In ordering this copy of 'A Streetcar Named Desire,'i was primarily expecting this book to be purely a textual dialogue of the play. Although after recieving the book (with haste- i don't hesitate to add), i was pleasantly surprised to encounter aids and prompts explaining in detail the situations and literary devices used to create such an effect. I totally believe that this book is a must have for those studying the american book at AS Level, or at any level for that matter!
Entirely powerful., 22 Oct 2003
Even though this is a play, it is still highly enjoyable to read. There are so many hidden meanings, layers, imagery and symbolism in this play, every time you read it something new is revealed. Best to read the play first, as the film with Marlon Brando portrays Stanley is a slightly different light to what I think Williams had intended.
Fantastic.
Haunting, 26 Nov 2000
A Streetcar Named Desire is rightly seen by many as Tennessee Williams's best play. The least that can be said is that along with The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof it counts among his most haunting work. No-one can emerge unscathed from the New Orleans abode of Stella and Stanley, and Blanche surely remains the most pathetic - in the best sense of the word - theatrical character in the twentieth century. Complete with well-chosen pictures, Patricia Hern's 1984 Methuen student edition of A Streetcar Named Desire is ideal for secondary school and undergraduate students; the notes in particular are very useful for students of American Literature in non English-speaking countries. This edition will also please the non academic admirers of Williams's plays, as it provides an unpretentious and enlightening commentary, which is short enough not to bore. Curiously, Hern refrained from mentioning the playwright's love life in the chronology, which is rather infrequent when it comes to Williams. Most of her colleagues would have at least offered the dates of the beginnings and ends of the now extremely notorious principal affairs. That is not to say, however, that she shied away from Williams's homosexuality; she dealt with it in the commentary. There are one or two passages there that one might find debatable, as when Hern sees Williams's father as "a Stanley Kowalski in middle age", or when she wonders about the depiction of gender roles in the play; but Williams is the kind of writer who cannot generate a consensus, and one can only be grateful for that.
The best play I ever read - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 21 Jun 2008
One of the things I am most grateful for from my education is that at A-Level we were made to study 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'. It totally changed my perceptions of how a play could be written and how it could prevoke thoughts in the viewer/reader with such subtlety and charm.
T. Williams is now and I hope will always be my favourite play-write. Although as another review of this play states - the film does not do this play justice, I would still give the film (with Paul Newman and Liz Taylor) huge credit for adapting it sympathetically at a time when hollywood just didn't do a film showcasing this type of drama with ambiguous endings.
T Willaims himself was asked to rewrite parts to make them more audiance friendly. While the changes between the versions are not earth shatteringly different I find that depending on my mood I will read different versions at different times.
For anyone who wants to emmerse themselves in a play and be tempted by flawed and beautiful characters I would whole-heartedly recommend this play to anyone.
3 Excellent American Plays, 31 May 2001
Though I'm not a fan of American culture Williams takes the top prize: all 3 are excellent. The tension is perfect and the atmosphere steamy (that word seems to fit so well). I would also recommend the films but of course plays first! You will be gripped!
Compelling, 16 Apr 2001
The film does not do the book Justice. The book is extremely well written. A classic
My favourite play, 05 Sep 2000
I saw the movie (in Spanish version), I saw the play and read the play (in Spanish version also) but to read it in original version was a gratifying experience. Tennessee Williams is the greatest playwright of this century. He knews the human soul.
Everything alright, 30 Dec 2008
As expected, it arrived before the estimated date. Though the cover looks different,I am convinced its the same book and can't wait to go through it at the college.Nice packaging too!
"Talking about His Desire! His Brutal Desire! The name of that rattle trap streetcar that bangs throught the quater.", 19 May 2006
This play is amazing, Tennesse Williams best by far! The contrast of Stanley and Blanche show the failings of American society, a fight of past and present, the old fashioned virtues and propriety of Blanche, versus the new modern animalistic nature of Stanley. Played out in bluesy New Orleans in the 1950's, the events lead to a hot bed of brutality and desire. Blanche's secrets are reveiled by an uncompromising Stanley, and Stella and Mitch can only look on. Alienated from society, and unable to adapt Blanche hangs on the edge of Lunacy, her only refuse is Mitch, and Stanley brutally destroys it, He destroys everything Blanche is, He destroys Mitch's chance at happiness, and he Destroys Stella's relationship with her sister. he gets off scott free.
A true classic, classic dialogue and some of the most realistic characters ever seen in modern drama. It shows a thriving post war America, empitomised by Stanley, and shows all the decadence and charm of New Orleans a great read!!! Watch the film with Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando, its a great adaptation. Or watch it on stage, whatever you do, you will not be dissapointed! if i could give it 10 stars i would!!!!!!!!!!!
Tennessee Williams at his best, 14 Jan 2006
"Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers". Blanche DuBois' immortal words sum up the dramtic tale at the heart of this play. Blanche is the traditional American "Southern Belle", having grown up into wealth and luxury on her family's plantation, "Belle Reve". Having lost the family fortune after her relatives die and leave her with nothing but debt, Blanche goes to visit her sister Stella, who is living in New Orleans with her husband, Stanley, a Polish immigrant. From the outset, there is a power struggle between Blanche (who believes Stella has married beneath her) and Stanley (who sees through Blanche's act). It later transpires that Blanche married very young but caught her new husband in bed with a man. Her husband then shot himself after Blanche told him that he was repulsive. Blanche then became a prostitute in order to pay off her family's debt. At the climax of the play, Stanley finally overpowers Blanche when he rapes her, and the story ends with Blanche succumbing to insanity and being taken away by a doctor. "A Streetcar Named Desire" is an amazing play that certainly makes us question the reasons for society's tendency to ignore the taboo that is madness.
A glimpse into the darker side of society., 09 Apr 2001
Williams' brilliant skill illustrates the decay of morality and the resulting insanity which follows. Set in 1940s America, the effects of the war and depression have taken their toll on Stella and Stanley Powalski and matters on proceed to become more unstable with the arrival of the melodramatic, wonderful, tragic Blance DuBois. Williams offers his audience a glimpse into the darker side of society - sexual abuse, drinking, gambling, swearing, wife-beating - and introduces characters who are brilliantly colourful bold and intriguing throughout. An excellent play by an excellent writer.
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Customer Reviews
Fantastic., 08 Jan 2008
Arguably Tennessee Williams' best loved and most popular play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is guaranteed to grip you from start to finish.
Set in 1950s New Orleans, the highly pretentious Miss Blanche Dubois visits her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche, "virtuous", sensitive and 'moth-like' is a cultured antithesis of Stanley with his overt sensuality and primal behaviour, providing the audience with a wonderful drama of emotions.
Williams cleverly unravels Blanche's shocking history through Stanley, whose determined investigations reveal her past mistakes from her inability to receive closure from her young husband's death. The delightful use of explicit and precise stage directions results in a fantastic array of tension-building music, dramatic irony and intricately inter-woven symbolism.
The eleven scenes span over a long period of time, condensing the play into major dramatic events which intensify the emotions of both the characters and the audience. This is futher affirmed by the small set - the tiny apartment bespeaks confinement, accentuating the emotional density and the power and menace of Stanley's physical presence.
As the loss of literature, language, music and culture (everything that Blanche epitomises) is replaced with desire and lust, Blanche slowly 'fades' into her illusions; unable to cope with a changing world and ultimately losing her grip on sanity altogether.
Peter Shaffer wrote of Williams: "He could not write a dull scene." I could not agree more; 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is rightfully one of the best pieces of modern American literature as it will undoubtably be remembered, discussed and enjoyed for years to come.
Emma Stimson, A-level student. Moving stuff, 28 Oct 2007
I studied the play, 'A streetcar named Desire' for A level and found it to be devastatingly truthful about human nature. It shows the profound effect that desire and the need to feel desirable can have.
One of the main characters, 'Stanley' is one of those men that women hate to love, yet feel instictively drawn to, he's strong, masculine and sexy, yet at the same time he is overly opinionated, violent and dominating.
Not the kind of man you 'should' be attracted to, yet so many women find themselves in the position that they are! Why is this? Williams explores the complexities of issues such as this. Loved it!
Entertainingly Educational!, 02 Aug 2002
This book provides readers with a very accessible introduction to the works of Tennessee Williams. Not only does it include the very well know plays "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie" but also "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "A play of four parts". The fact that there are four plays means that the reader can gain not only a knowledge of the individual plays, but also a feel for Williams' style of writing. This makes it an indispensible tool for anybody studying Tennessee Williams' work as part of their studies or indeed recreationally. A good feature of the book is the way it introduces each play to the reader. By including detailed forewards and background information (including details of the authors personal life at the time of writing) the first reading of the play becomes much more rewarding. The plays themselves are entertaining and insightful. In Each play Williams' tells a story of seemingly ordinary folk, and then introduces the reader/audience to whats going on in their minds. By the clever use of different stage techniques and sharp observations Tennessee Williams presents us with a collection of wonderfully enjoyable and atmostpheric plays. Very highly recommended.
AS Level Functionality; second to none!, 19 Jan 2005
In ordering this copy of 'A Streetcar Named Desire,'i was primarily expecting this book to be purely a textual dialogue of the play. Although after recieving the book (with haste- i don't hesitate to add), i was pleasantly surprised to encounter aids and prompts explaining in detail the situations and literary devices used to create such an effect. I totally believe that this book is a must have for those studying the american book at AS Level, or at any level for that matter!
Entirely powerful., 22 Oct 2003
Even though this is a play, it is still highly enjoyable to read. There are so many hidden meanings, layers, imagery and symbolism in this play, every time you read it something new is revealed. Best to read the play first, as the film with Marlon Brando portrays Stanley is a slightly different light to what I think Williams had intended.
Fantastic.
Haunting, 26 Nov 2000
A Streetcar Named Desire is rightly seen by many as Tennessee Williams's best play. The least that can be said is that along with The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof it counts among his most haunting work. No-one can emerge unscathed from the New Orleans abode of Stella and Stanley, and Blanche surely remains the most pathetic - in the best sense of the word - theatrical character in the twentieth century. Complete with well-chosen pictures, Patricia Hern's 1984 Methuen student edition of A Streetcar Named Desire is ideal for secondary school and undergraduate students; the notes in particular are very useful for students of American Literature in non English-speaking countries. This edition will also please the non academic admirers of Williams's plays, as it provides an unpretentious and enlightening commentary, which is short enough not to bore. Curiously, Hern refrained from mentioning the playwright's love life in the chronology, which is rather infrequent when it comes to Williams. Most of her colleagues would have at least offered the dates of the beginnings and ends of the now extremely notorious principal affairs. That is not to say, however, that she shied away from Williams's homosexuality; she dealt with it in the commentary. There are one or two passages there that one might find debatable, as when Hern sees Williams's father as "a Stanley Kowalski in middle age", or when she wonders about the depiction of gender roles in the play; but Williams is the kind of writer who cannot generate a consensus, and one can only be grateful for that.
The best play I ever read - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 21 Jun 2008
One of the things I am most grateful for from my education is that at A-Level we were made to study 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'. It totally changed my perceptions of how a play could be written and how it could prevoke thoughts in the viewer/reader with such subtlety and charm.
T. Williams is now and I hope will always be my favourite play-write. Although as another review of this play states - the film does not do this play justice, I would still give the film (with Paul Newman and Liz Taylor) huge credit for adapting it sympathetically at a time when hollywood just didn't do a film showcasing this type of drama with ambiguous endings.
T Willaims himself was asked to rewrite parts to make them more audiance friendly. While the changes between the versions are not earth shatteringly different I find that depending on my mood I will read different versions at different times.
For anyone who wants to emmerse themselves in a play and be tempted by flawed and beautiful characters I would whole-heartedly recommend this play to anyone.
3 Excellent American Plays, 31 May 2001
Though I'm not a fan of American culture Williams takes the top prize: all 3 are excellent. The tension is perfect and the atmosphere steamy (that word seems to fit so well). I would also recommend the films but of course plays first! You will be gripped!
Compelling, 16 Apr 2001
The film does not do the book Justice. The book is extremely well written. A classic
My favourite play, 05 Sep 2000
I saw the movie (in Spanish version), I saw the play and read the play (in Spanish version also) but to read it in original version was a gratifying experience. Tennessee Williams is the greatest playwright of this century. He knews the human soul.
Everything alright, 30 Dec 2008
As expected, it arrived before the estimated date. Though the cover looks different,I am convinced its the same book and can't wait to go through it at the college.Nice packaging too!
"Talking about His Desire! His Brutal Desire! The name of that rattle trap streetcar that bangs throught the quater.", 19 May 2006
This play is amazing, Tennesse Williams best by far! The contrast of Stanley and Blanche show the failings of American society, a fight of past and present, the old fashioned virtues and propriety of Blanche, versus the new modern animalistic nature of Stanley. Played out in bluesy New Orleans in the 1950's, the events lead to a hot bed of brutality and desire. Blanche's secrets are reveiled by an uncompromising Stanley, and Stella and Mitch can only look on. Alienated from society, and unable to adapt Blanche hangs on the edge of Lunacy, her only refuse is Mitch, and Stanley brutally destroys it, He destroys everything Blanche is, He destroys Mitch's chance at happiness, and he Destroys Stella's relationship with her sister. he gets off scott free.
A true classic, classic dialogue and some of the most realistic characters ever seen in modern drama. It shows a thriving post war America, empitomised by Stanley, and shows all the decadence and charm of New Orleans a great read!!! Watch the film with Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando, its a great adaptation. Or watch it on stage, whatever you do, you will not be dissapointed! if i could give it 10 stars i would!!!!!!!!!!!
Tennessee Williams at his best, 14 Jan 2006
"Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers". Blanche DuBois' immortal words sum up the dramtic tale at the heart of this play. Blanche is the traditional American "Southern Belle", having grown up into wealth and luxury on her family's plantation, "Belle Reve". Having lost the family fortune after her relatives die and leave her with nothing but debt, Blanche goes to visit her sister Stella, who is living in New Orleans with her husband, Stanley, a Polish immigrant. From the outset, there is a power struggle between Blanche (who believes Stella has married beneath her) and Stanley (who sees through Blanche's act). It later transpires that Blanche married very young but caught her new husband in bed with a man. Her husband then shot himself after Blanche told him that he was repulsive. Blanche then became a prostitute in order to pay off her family's debt. At the climax of the play, Stanley finally overpowers Blanche when he rapes her, and the story ends with Blanche succumbing to insanity and being taken away by a doctor. "A Streetcar Named Desire" is an amazing play that certainly makes us question the reasons for society's tendency to ignore the taboo that is madness.
A glimpse into the darker side of society., 09 Apr 2001
Williams' brilliant skill illustrates the decay of morality and the resulting insanity which follows. Set in 1940s America, the effects of the war and depression have taken their toll on Stella and Stanley Powalski and matters on proceed to become more unstable with the arrival of the melodramatic, wonderful, tragic Blance DuBois. Williams offers his audience a glimpse into the darker side of society - sexual abuse, drinking, gambling, swearing, wife-beating - and introduces characters who are brilliantly colourful bold and intriguing throughout. An excellent play by an excellent writer.
A typical York Notes, 23 Jun 2005
Entirely worth buying if you are studying this superb play for A-level but so very typically York Notes! Rather restrained and not always as clear as it ought to be.
To quote Simon Cowell: 'Distinctly Average', 22 Feb 2002
I am currently studying this for AS English Lit and I find it quite boring. There is quite a lot of symbolism which is also interesting if you read about how Williams' characters are based on his family. The only other thing I like is the way the family are trapped, in every sense of the word. Apart from that, I find the entire play a little short and even though it reaches a conclusion, we never find out what happens to Amanda and Laura after Tom has left- only that their world is shattered like the glass unicorn Lura gave to Jim. If I were you I'd skip this one.
Short drama, kind of boring, 02 May 2001
I read this in my intro to literature class. I think it's a great intro to drama and to Arthur Miller, but not sure if I would consider it significant when compared to other works that I have studied since.
A stunning play...wot are the others on about?!!!, 28 Mar 2001
...The number of levels included within the characters is incredible, as one is made to feel hope, pity AND frustration all at once with regard to Laura in Scene Seven. I do not see how anyone in their right mind could describe the characters as "2-d", when Williams has so accurately portrayed the complexity and fragile beauty of the human spirit. I am also an A-level student and I can only compel my fellow reviewers to study this MASTERFUL, human drama more closely, before they sit the exams. This truly is one of the GREATS of modern drama!
Glass Menagerie, lifeless?!, 13 Feb 2001
If this book had not been set for my course I would not have finished it as it not captivate me enough to keep me interested. The characters seemed flat and I could not imagine them in person as they would be 2D!! The only character which I could relate any life-like characteristics to was Tom. The play was not all bad though as the general framework of it appealed to me it was just the detail inside which put me off.
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Customer Reviews
Fantastic., 08 Jan 2008
Arguably Tennessee Williams' best loved and most popular play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is guaranteed to grip you from start to finish.
Set in 1950s New Orleans, the highly pretentious Miss Blanche Dubois visits her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche, "virtuous", sensitive and 'moth-like' is a cultured antithesis of Stanley with his overt sensuality and primal behaviour, providing the audience with a wonderful drama of emotions.
Williams cleverly unravels Blanche's shocking history through Stanley, whose determined investigations reveal her past mistakes from her inability to receive closure from her young husband's death. The delightful use of explicit and precise stage directions results in a fantastic array of tension-building music, dramatic irony and intricately inter-woven symbolism.
The eleven scenes span over a long period of time, condensing the play into major dramatic events which intensify the emotions of both the characters and the audience. This is futher affirmed by the small set - the tiny apartment bespeaks confinement, accentuating the emotional density and the power and menace of Stanley's physical presence.
As the loss of literature, language, music and culture (everything that Blanche epitomises) is replaced with desire and lust, Blanche slowly 'fades' into her illusions; unable to cope with a changing world and ultimately losing her grip on sanity altogether.
Peter Shaffer wrote of Williams: "He could not write a dull scene." I could not agree more; 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is rightfully one of the best pieces of modern American literature as it will undoubtably be remembered, discussed and enjoyed for years to come.
Emma Stimson, A-level student. Moving stuff, 28 Oct 2007
I studied the play, 'A streetcar named Desire' for A level and found it to be devastatingly truthful about human nature. It shows the profound effect that desire and the need to feel desirable can have.
One of the main characters, 'Stanley' is one of those men that women hate to love, yet feel instictively drawn to, he's strong, masculine and sexy, yet at the same time he is overly opinionated, violent and dominating.
Not the kind of man you 'should' be attracted to, yet so many women find themselves in the position that they are! Why is this? Williams explores the complexities of issues such as this. Loved it!
Entertainingly Educational!, 02 Aug 2002
This book provides readers with a very accessible introduction to the works of Tennessee Williams. Not only does it include the very well know plays "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie" but also "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "A play of four parts". The fact that there are four plays means that the reader can gain not only a knowledge of the individual plays, but also a feel for Williams' style of writing. This makes it an indispensible tool for anybody studying Tennessee Williams' work as part of their studies or indeed recreationally. A good feature of the book is the way it introduces each play to the reader. By including detailed forewards and background information (including details of the authors personal life at the time of writing) the first reading of the play becomes much more rewarding. The plays themselves are entertaining and insightful. In Each play Williams' tells a story of seemingly ordinary folk, and then introduces the reader/audience to whats going on in their minds. By the clever use of different stage techniques and sharp observations Tennessee Williams presents us with a collection of wonderfully enjoyable and atmostpheric plays. Very highly recommended.
AS Level Functionality; second to none!, 19 Jan 2005
In ordering this copy of 'A Streetcar Named Desire,'i was primarily expecting this book to be purely a textual dialogue of the play. Although after recieving the book (with haste- i don't hesitate to add), i was pleasantly surprised to encounter aids and prompts explaining in detail the situations and literary devices used to create such an effect. I totally believe that this book is a must have for those studying the american book at AS Level, or at any level for that matter!
Entirely powerful., 22 Oct 2003
Even though this is a play, it is still highly enjoyable to read. There are so many hidden meanings, layers, imagery and symbolism in this play, every time you read it something new is revealed. Best to read the play first, as the film with Marlon Brando portrays Stanley is a slightly different light to what I think Williams had intended.
Fantastic.
Haunting, 26 Nov 2000
A Streetcar Named Desire is rightly seen by many as Tennessee Williams's best play. The least that can be said is that along with The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof it counts among his most haunting work. No-one can emerge unscathed from the New Orleans abode of Stella and Stanley, and Blanche surely remains the most pathetic - in the best sense of the word - theatrical character in the twentieth century. Complete with well-chosen pictures, Patricia Hern's 1984 Methuen student edition of A Streetcar Named Desire is ideal for secondary school and undergraduate students; the notes in particular are very useful for students of American Literature in non English-speaking countries. This edition will also please the non academic admirers of Williams's plays, as it provides an unpretentious and enlightening commentary, which is short enough not to bore. Curiously, Hern refrained from mentioning the playwright's love life in the chronology, which is rather infrequent when it comes to Williams. Most of her colleagues would have at least offered the dates of the beginnings and ends of the now extremely notorious principal affairs. That is not to say, however, that she shied away from Williams's homosexuality; she dealt with it in the commentary. There are one or two passages there that one might find debatable, as when Hern sees Williams's father as "a Stanley Kowalski in middle age", or when she wonders about the depiction of gender roles in the play; but Williams is the kind of writer who cannot generate a consensus, and one can only be grateful for that.
The best play I ever read - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 21 Jun 2008
One of the things I am most grateful for from my education is that at A-Level we were made to study 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'. It totally changed my perceptions of how a play could be written and how it could prevoke thoughts in the viewer/reader with such subtlety and charm.
T. Williams is now and I hope will always be my favourite play-write. Although as another review of this play states - the film does not do this play justice, I would still give the film (with Paul Newman and Liz Taylor) huge credit for adapting it sympathetically at a time when hollywood just didn't do a film showcasing this type of drama with ambiguous endings.
T Willaims himself was asked to rewrite parts to make them more audiance friendly. While the changes between the versions are not earth shatteringly different I find that depending on my mood I will read different versions at different times.
For anyone who wants to emmerse themselves in a play and be tempted by flawed and beautiful characters I would whole-heartedly recommend this play to anyone.
3 Excellent American Plays, 31 May 2001
Though I'm not a fan of American culture Williams takes the top prize: all 3 are excellent. The tension is perfect and the atmosphere steamy (that word seems to fit so well). I would also recommend the films but of course plays first! You will be gripped!
Compelling, 16 Apr 2001
The film does not do the book Justice. The book is extremely well written. A classic
My favourite play, 05 Sep 2000
I saw the movie (in Spanish version), I saw the play and read the play (in Spanish version also) but to read it in original version was a gratifying experience. Tennessee Williams is the greatest playwright of this century. He knews the human soul.
Everything alright, 30 Dec 2008
As expected, it arrived before the estimated date. Though the cover looks different,I am convinced its the same book and can't wait to go through it at the college.Nice packaging too!
"Talking about His Desire! His Brutal Desire! The name of that rattle trap streetcar that bangs throught the quater.", 19 May 2006
This play is amazing, Tennesse Williams best by far! The contrast of Stanley and Blanche show the failings of American society, a fight of past and present, the old fashioned virtues and propriety of Blanche, versus the new modern animalistic nature of Stanley. Played out in bluesy New Orleans in the 1950's, the events lead to a hot bed of brutality and desire. Blanche's secrets are reveiled by an uncompromising Stanley, and Stella and Mitch can only look on. Alienated from society, and unable to adapt Blanche hangs on the edge of Lunacy, her only refuse is Mitch, and Stanley brutally destroys it, He destroys everything Blanche is, He destroys Mitch's chance at happiness, and he Destroys Stella's relationship with her sister. he gets off scott free.
A true classic, classic dialogue and some of the most realistic characters ever seen in modern drama. It shows a thriving post war America, empitomised by Stanley, and shows all the decadence and charm of New Orleans a great read!!! Watch the film with Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando, its a great adaptation. Or watch it on stage, whatever you do, you will not be dissapointed! if i could give it 10 stars i would!!!!!!!!!!!
Tennessee Williams at his best, 14 Jan 2006
"Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers". Blanche DuBois' immortal words sum up the dramtic tale at the heart of this play. Blanche is the traditional American "Southern Belle", having grown up into wealth and luxury on her family's plantation, "Belle Reve". Having lost the family fortune after her relatives die and leave her with nothing but debt, Blanche goes to visit her sister Stella, who is living in New Orleans with her husband, Stanley, a Polish immigrant. From the outset, there is a power struggle between Blanche (who believes Stella has married beneath her) and Stanley (who sees through Blanche's act). It later transpires that Blanche married very young but caught her new husband in bed with a man. Her husband then shot himself after Blanche told him that he was repulsive. Blanche then became a prostitute in order to pay off her family's debt. At the climax of the play, Stanley finally overpowers Blanche when he rapes her, and the story ends with Blanche succumbing to insanity and being taken away by a doctor. "A Streetcar Named Desire" is an amazing play that certainly makes us question the reasons for society's tendency to ignore the taboo that is madness.
A glimpse into the darker side of society., 09 Apr 2001
Williams' brilliant skill illustrates the decay of morality and the resulting insanity which follows. Set in 1940s America, the effects of the war and depression have taken their toll on Stella and Stanley Powalski and matters on proceed to become more unstable with the arrival of the melodramatic, wonderful, tragic Blance DuBois. Williams offers his audience a glimpse into the darker side of society - sexual abuse, drinking, gambling, swearing, wife-beating - and introduces characters who are brilliantly colourful bold and intriguing throughout. An excellent play by an excellent writer.
A typical York Notes, 23 Jun 2005
Entirely worth buying if you are studying this superb play for A-level but so very typically York Notes! Rather restrained and not always as clear as it ought to be.
To quote Simon Cowell: 'Distinctly Average', 22 Feb 2002
I am currently studying this for AS English Lit and I find it quite boring. There is quite a lot of symbolism which is also interesting if you read about how Williams' characters are based on his family. The only other thing I like is the way the family are trapped, in every sense of the word. Apart from that, I find the entire play a little short and even though it reaches a conclusion, we never find out what happens to Amanda and Laura after Tom has left- only that their world is shattered like the glass unicorn Lura gave to Jim. If I were you I'd skip this one.
Short drama, kind of boring, 02 May 2001
I read this in my intro to literature class. I think it's a great intro to drama and to Arthur Miller, but not sure if I would consider it significant when compared to other works that I have studied since.
A stunning play...wot are the others on about?!!!, 28 Mar 2001
...The number of levels included within the characters is incredible, as one is made to feel hope, pity AND frustration all at once with regard to Laura in Scene Seven. I do not see how anyone in their right mind could describe the characters as "2-d", when Williams has so accurately portrayed the complexity and fragile beauty of the human spirit. I am also an A-level student and I can only compel my fellow reviewers to study this MASTERFUL, human drama more closely, before they sit the exams. This truly is one of the GREATS of modern drama!
Glass Menagerie, lifeless?!, 13 Feb 2001
If this book had not been set for my course I would not have finished it as it not captivate me enough to keep me interested. The characters seemed flat and I could not imagine them in person as they would be 2D!! The only character which I could relate any life-like characteristics to was Tom. The play was not all bad though as the general framework of it appealed to me it was just the detail inside which put me off.
Stay Away From This Book!!!, 06 Jun 2005
This book (sorry play!) is the worst play I have ever read. It is absolutely awful. It is boring, repetitive and has no plot whatsoever. I recently read this play for an exam and found that it was not helpful at all in prepearing me for my exam. The only humerous thing I thought about this play was that it was similar to a person's life that I know. The best part of the book was the end and I will NEVER read it again.
Williams Most Autobiographical Work, 21 Feb 2003
There are few American playwrights who rank as highly in the Pantheon as Tennessee Williams. He is up there with O'Neill, Miller and Albee as amongst the quintessential dramatists of the 20th century. This is one of his earliest, and in some respects his most timeless, of his scripts. No one can argue that it his most autobiographical, as it portrays a cloyingly suffocating matriarch, Amanda, and a younger sister, Laura, who are both interchangable characters for Williams' own little St Louis family. Actually, in real life, the outcome was much more tragic, as Williams' mother had a frontal lobotomy performed on his actual sister. One can see how Williams may have harbored some deep resentments towards his mother, and he spends most of his time getting even with her in this Euripidean play.
Though recent adaptations of this play have emphasized the "touchy-feely" aspects of the relationship between brother and sister (Why does Treat Williams come to mind?), the actual script lends itself to a much darker, Medea-like interpretation, which I believe Williams originally intended. This is Williams way of getting back at the evil Witch of the West who dominated his youth and who would exert her influence upon him for the rest of his life. It doesn't take a Freud to untangle this thread If you want to watch a great performnace of this play, try to track down the "Broadway Theater Archive" 1973 version with Katherine Hepburn as Amanda, Sam Waterston as Tom, Michael Moriarity as "The Gentleman Caller," and Joanna Miles as an unforgettably vulnerable and poignant Laura. The Paul Newman 1987 theatrical release had a strong cast as well, but can't compete.
plain and simple, 26 Feb 2001
The layout of the play is easy to read and make notes on. There are useful notes at the front of the book to help understand the performance of the play. A perfect version if you are studying the play in school.
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Customer Reviews
Fantastic., 08 Jan 2008
Arguably Tennessee Williams' best loved and most popular play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is guaranteed to grip you from start to finish.
Set in 1950s New Orleans, the highly pretentious Miss Blanche Dubois visits her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche, "virtuous", sensitive and 'moth-like' is a cultured antithesis of Stanley with his overt sensuality and primal behaviour, providing the audience with a wonderful drama of emotions.
Williams cleverly unravels Blanche's shocking history through Stanley, whose determined investigations reveal her past mistakes from her inability to receive closure from her young husband's death. The delightful use of explicit and precise stage directions results in a fantastic array of tension-building music, dramatic irony and intricately inter-woven symbolism.
The eleven scenes span over a long period of time, condensing the play into major dramatic events which intensify the emotions of both the characters and the audience. This is futher affirmed by the small set - the tiny apartment bespeaks confinement, accentuating the emotional density and the power and menace of Stanley's physical presence.
As the loss of literature, language, music and culture (everything that Blanche epitomises) is replaced with desire and lust, Blanche slowly 'fades' into her illusions; unable to cope with a changing world and ultimately losing her grip on sanity altogether.
Peter Shaffer wrote of Williams: "He could not write a dull scene." I could not agree more; 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is rightfully one of the best pieces of modern American literature as it will undoubtably be remembered, discussed and enjoyed for years to come.
Emma Stimson, A-level student. Moving stuff, 28 Oct 2007
I studied the play, 'A streetcar named Desire' for A level and found it to be devastatingly truthful about human nature. It shows the profound effect that desire and the need to feel desirable can have.
One of the main characters, 'Stanley' is one of those men that women hate to love, yet feel instictively drawn to, he's strong, masculine and sexy, yet at the same time he is overly opinionated, violent and dominating.
Not the kind of man you 'should' be attracted to, yet so many women find themselves in the position that they are! Why is this? Williams explores the complexities of issues such as this. Loved it!
Entertainingly Educational!, 02 Aug 2002
This book provides readers with a very accessible introduction to the works of Tennessee Williams. Not only does it include the very well know plays "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie" but also "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "A play of four parts". The fact that there are four plays means that the reader can gain not only a knowledge of the individual plays, but also a feel for Williams' style of writing. This makes it an indispensible tool for anybody studying Tennessee Williams' work as part of their studies or indeed recreationally. A good feature of the book is the way it introduces each play to the reader. By including detailed forewards and background information (including details of the authors personal life at the time of writing) the first reading of the play becomes much more rewarding. The plays themselves are entertaining and insightful. In Each play Williams' tells a story of seemingly ordinary folk, and then introduces the reader/audience to whats going on in their minds. By the clever use of different stage techniques and sharp observations Tennessee Williams presents us with a collection of wonderfully enjoyable and atmostpheric plays. Very highly recommended.
AS Level Functionality; second to none!, 19 Jan 2005
In ordering this copy of 'A Streetcar Named Desire,'i was primarily expecting this book to be purely a textual dialogue of the play. Although after recieving the book (with haste- i don't hesitate to add), i was pleasantly surprised to encounter aids and prompts explaining in detail the situations and literary devices used to create such an effect. I totally believe that this book is a must have for those studying the american book at AS Level, or at any level for that matter!
Entirely powerful., 22 Oct 2003
Even though this is a play, it is still highly enjoyable to read. There are so many hidden meanings, layers, imagery and symbolism in this play, every time you read it something new is revealed. Best to read the play first, as the film with Marlon Brando portrays Stanley is a slightly different light to what I think Williams had intended.
Fantastic.
Haunting, 26 Nov 2000
A Streetcar Named Desire is rightly seen by many as Tennessee Williams's best play. The least that can be said is that along with The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof it counts among his most haunting work. No-one can emerge unscathed from the New Orleans abode of Stella and Stanley, and Blanche surely remains the most pathetic - in the best sense of the word - theatrical character in the twentieth century. Complete with well-chosen pictures, Patricia Hern's 1984 Methuen student edition of A Streetcar Named Desire is ideal for secondary school and undergraduate students; the notes in particular are very useful for students of American Literature in non English-speaking countries. This edition will also please the non academic admirers of Williams's plays, as it provides an unpretentious and enlightening commentary, which is short enough not to bore. Curiously, Hern refrained from mentioning the playwright's love life in the chronology, which is rather infrequent when it comes to Williams. Most of her colleagues would have at least offered the dates of the beginnings and ends of the now extremely notorious principal affairs. That is not to say, however, that she shied away from Williams's homosexuality; she dealt with it in the commentary. There are one or two passages there that one might find debatable, as when Hern sees Williams's father as "a Stanley Kowalski in middle age", or when she wonders about the depiction of gender roles in the play; but Williams is the kind of writer who cannot generate a consensus, and one can only be grateful for that.
The best play I ever read - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 21 Jun 2008
One of the things I am most grateful for from my education is that at A-Level we were made to study 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'. It totally changed my perceptions of how a play could be written and how it could prevoke thoughts in the viewer/reader with such subtlety and charm.
T. Williams is now and I hope will always be my favourite play-write. Although as another review of this play states - the film does not do this play justice, I would still give the film (with Paul Newman and Liz Taylor) huge credit for adapting it sympathetically at a time when hollywood just didn't do a film showcasing this type of drama with ambiguous endings.
T Willaims himself was asked to rewrite parts to make them more audiance friendly. While the changes between the versions are not earth shatteringly different I find that depending on my mood I will read different versions at different times.
For anyone who wants to emmerse themselves in a play and be tempted by flawed and beautiful characters I would whole-heartedly recommend this play to anyone.
3 Excellent American Plays, 31 May 2001
Though I'm not a fan of American culture Williams takes the top prize: all 3 are excellent. The tension is perfect and the atmosphere steamy (that word seems to fit so well). I would also recommend the films but of course plays first! You will be gripped!
Compelling, 16 Apr 2001
The film does not do the book Justice. The book is extremely well written. A classic
My favourite play, 05 Sep 2000
I saw the movie (in Spanish version), I saw the play and read the play (in Spanish version also) but to read it in original version was a gratifying experience. Tennessee Williams is the greatest playwright of this century. He knews the human soul.
Everything alright, 30 Dec 2008
As expected, it arrived before the estimated date. Though the cover looks different,I am convinced its the same book and can't wait to go through it at the college.Nice packaging too!
"Talking about His Desire! His Brutal Desire! The name of that rattle trap streetcar that bangs throught the quater.", 19 May 2006
This play is amazing, Tennesse Williams best by far! The contrast of Stanley and Blanche show the failings of American society, a fight of past and present, the old fashioned virtues and propriety of Blanche, versus the new modern animalistic nature of Stanley. Played out in bluesy New Orleans in the 1950's, the events lead to a hot bed of brutality and desire. Blanche's secrets are reveiled by an uncompromising Stanley, and Stella and Mitch can only look on. Alienated from society, and unable to adapt Blanche hangs on the edge of Lunacy, her only refuse is Mitch, and Stanley brutally destroys it, He destroys everything Blanche is, He destroys Mitch's chance at happiness, and he Destroys Stella's relationship with her sister. he gets off scott free.
A true classic, classic dialogue and some of the most realistic characters ever seen in modern drama. It shows a thriving post war America, empitomised by Stanley, and shows all the decadence and charm of New Orleans a great read!!! Watch the film with Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando, its a great adaptation. Or watch it on stage, whatever you do, you will not be dissapointed! if i could give it 10 stars i would!!!!!!!!!!!
Tennessee Williams at his best, 14 Jan 2006
"Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers". Blanche DuBois' immortal words sum up the dramtic tale at the heart of this play. Blanche is the traditional American "Southern Belle", having grown up into wealth and luxury on her family's plantation, "Belle Reve". Having lost the family fortune after her relatives die and leave her with nothing but debt, Blanche goes to visit her sister Stella, who is living in New Orleans with her husband, Stanley, a Polish immigrant. From the outset, there is a power struggle between Blanche (who believes Stella has married beneath her) and Stanley (who sees through Blanche's act). It later transpires that Blanche married very young but caught her new husband in bed with a man. Her husband then shot himself after Blanche told him that he was repulsive. Blanche then became a prostitute in order to pay off her family's debt. At the climax of the play, Stanley finally overpowers Blanche when he rapes her, and the story ends with Blanche succumbing to insanity and being taken away by a doctor. "A Streetcar Named Desire" is an amazing play that certainly makes us question the reasons for society's tendency to ignore the taboo that is madness.
A glimpse into the darker side of society., 09 Apr 2001
Williams' brilliant skill illustrates the decay of morality and the resulting insanity which follows. Set in 1940s America, the effects of the war and depression have taken their toll on Stella and Stanley Powalski and matters on proceed to become more unstable with the arrival of the melodramatic, wonderful, tragic Blance DuBois. Williams offers his audience a glimpse into the darker side of society - sexual abuse, drinking, gambling, swearing, wife-beating - and introduces characters who are brilliantly colourful bold and intriguing throughout. An excellent play by an excellent writer.
A typical York Notes, 23 Jun 2005
Entirely worth buying if you are studying this superb play for A-level but so very typically York Notes! Rather restrained and not always as clear as it ought to be.
To quote Simon Cowell: 'Distinctly Average', 22 Feb 2002
I am currently studying this for AS English Lit and I find it quite boring. There is quite a lot of symbolism which is also interesting if you read about how Williams' characters are based on his family. The only other thing I like is the way the family are trapped, in every sense of the word. Apart from that, I find the entire play a little short and even though it reaches a conclusion, we never find out what happens to Amanda and Laura after Tom has left- only that their world is shattered like the glass unicorn Lura gave to Jim. If I were you I'd skip this one.
Short drama, kind of boring, 02 May 2001
I read this in my intro to literature class. I think it's a great intro to drama and to Arthur Miller, but not sure if I would consider it significant when compared to other works that I have studied since.
A stunning play...wot are the others on about?!!!, 28 Mar 2001
...The number of levels included within the characters is incredible, as one is made to feel hope, pity AND frustration all at once with regard to Laura in Scene Seven. I do not see how anyone in their right mind could describe the characters as "2-d", when Williams has so accurately portrayed the complexity and fragile beauty of the human spirit. I am also an A-level student and I can only compel my fellow reviewers to study this MASTERFUL, human drama more closely, before they sit the exams. This truly is one of the GREATS of modern drama!
Glass Menagerie, lifeless?!, 13 Feb 2001
If this book had not been set for my course I would not have finished it as it not captivate me enough to keep me interested. The characters seemed flat and I could not imagine them in person as they would be 2D!! The only character which I could relate any life-like characteristics to was Tom. The play was not all bad though as the general framework of it appealed to me it was just the detail inside which put me off.
Stay Away From This Book!!!, 06 Jun 2005
This book (sorry play!) is the worst play I have ever read. It is absolutely awful. It is boring, repetitive and has no plot whatsoever. I recently read this play for an exam and found that it was not helpful at all in prepearing me for my exam. The only humerous thing I thought about this play was that it was similar to a person's life that I know. The best part of the book was the end and I will NEVER read it again.
Williams Most Autobiographical Work, 21 Feb 2003
There are few American playwrights who rank as highly in the Pantheon as Tennessee Williams. He is up there with O'Neill, Miller and Albee as amongst the quintessential dramatists of the 20th century. This is one of his earliest, and in some respects his most timeless, of his scripts. No one can argue that it his most autobiographical, as it portrays a cloyingly suffocating matriarch, Amanda, and a younger sister, Laura, who are both interchangable characters for Williams' own little St Louis family. Actually, in real life, the outcome was much more tragic, as Williams' mother had a frontal lobotomy performed on his actual sister. One can see how Williams may have harbored some deep resentments towards his mother, and he spends most of his time getting even with her in this Euripidean play.
Though recent adaptations of this play have emphasized the "touchy-feely" aspects of the relationship between brother and sister (Why does Treat Williams come to mind?), the actual script lends itself to a much darker, Medea-like interpretation, which I believe Williams originally intended. This is Williams way of getting back at the evil Witch of the West who dominated his youth and who would exert her influence upon him for the rest of his life. It doesn't take a Freud to untangle this thread If you want to watch a great performnace of this play, try to track down the "Broadway Theater Archive" 1973 version with Katherine Hepburn as Amanda, Sam Waterston as Tom, Michael Moriarity as "The Gentleman Caller," and Joanna Miles as an unforgettably vulnerable and poignant Laura. The Paul Newman 1987 theatrical release had a strong cast as well, but can't compete.
plain and simple, 26 Feb 2001
The layout of the play is easy to read and make notes on. There are useful notes at the front of the book to help understand the performance of the play. A perfect version if you are studying the play in school.
Absolutely Brilliant, 08 Jan 2008
Arguably Tennessee Williams' best loved and most popular play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is guaranteed to grip you from start to finish.
Set in 1950s New Orleans, the highly pretentious Miss Blanche Dubois visits her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche, "virtuous", sensitive and 'moth-like' is a cultured antithesis of Stanley with his overt sensuality and primal behaviour, providing the audience with a wonderful drama of emotions.
Williams cleverly unravels Blanche's shocking history through Stanley, whose determined investigations reveal her past mistakes from her inability to receive closure from her young husband's death. The delightful use of explicit and precise stage directions results in a fantastic array of tension-building music, dramatic irony and intricately inter-woven symbolism.
The eleven scenes span over a long period of time, condensing the play into major dramatic events which intensify the emotions of both the characters and the audience. This is futher affirmed by the small set - the tiny apartment bespeaks confinement, accentuating the emotional density and the power and menace of Stanley's physical presence.
As the loss of literature, language, music and culture (everything that Blanche epitomises) is replaced with desire and lust, Blanche slowly 'fades' into her illusions; unable to cope with a changing world and ultimately losing her grip on sanity altogether.
Peter Shaffer wrote of Williams: "He could not write a dull scene." I could not agree more; 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is rightfully one of the best pieces of modern American literature as it will undoubtably be remembered, discussed and enjoyed for years to come.
Emma Stimson, A-level student.
Beautiful and gripping tragedy set in heady New Orleans, 11 Dec 2000
A Streetcar Named Desire is a tragic, poignant and beautiful play written by the famous American playwright Tennenessee Williams. The play is set in New Orleans and revolves around the central character Blanche Dubois who is an insecure,once rich, romantic, fading southern belle. She visits her sister Stella, who has married Stanley, a crude and sexually predatory immigrant, a total contrast in temproment and class, who immensly dislikes Blanche. As the play unfolds it is apparent that Blanche's past is not exatly what it seems and the play snowballs to a tragic climax. The vivid language and suggested music that is used in this play is what makes the action so intense and the story so gripping. The central characters are all so different and well drawn, each having different weaknesses and strengths that make them bith both likable and dislikable. The readers sympathy, as intended I feel, must lie with Blanche as it becomes apparent that despite all her coquettish boasting she is a victim of society's expectations. Her desperation to find love again to forget a tragic past and her insecurities about growing old are are very human emotions and make her a heroine to be empathized with. I find this play extremely moving but also enjoy the pace and drama of the play. Williams creates an atmosphere and characters that are disturbingly real on the page. This I feel is Williams finest play and i would recommend it to anyone.
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Customer Reviews
Fantastic., 08 Jan 2008
Arguably Tennessee Williams' best loved and most popular play, 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is guaranteed to grip you from start to finish.
Set in 1950s New Orleans, the highly pretentious Miss Blanche Dubois visits her sister and brother-in-law, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. Blanche, "virtuous", sensitive and 'moth-like' is a cultured antithesis of Stanley with his overt sensuality and primal behaviour, providing the audience with a wonderful drama of emotions.
Williams cleverly unravels Blanche's shocking history through Stanley, whose determined investigations reveal her past mistakes from her inability to receive closure from her young husband's death. The delightful use of explicit and precise stage directions results in a fantastic array of tension-building music, dramatic irony and intricately inter-woven symbolism.
The eleven scenes span over a long period of time, condensing the play into major dramatic events which intensify the emotions of both the characters and the audience. This is futher affirmed by the small set - the tiny apartment bespeaks confinement, accentuating the emotional density and the power and menace of Stanley's physical presence.
As the loss of literature, language, music and culture (everything that Blanche epitomises) is replaced with desire and lust, Blanche slowly 'fades' into her illusions; unable to cope with a changing world and ultimately losing her grip on sanity altogether.
Peter Shaffer wrote of Williams: "He could not write a dull scene." I could not agree more; 'A Streetcar Named Desire' is rightfully one of the best pieces of modern American literature as it will undoubtably be remembered, discussed and enjoyed for years to come.
Emma Stimson, A-level student. Moving stuff, 28 Oct 2007
I studied the play, 'A streetcar named Desire' for A level and found it to be devastatingly truthful about human nature. It shows the profound effect that desire and the need to feel desirable can have.
One of the main characters, 'Stanley' is one of those men that women hate to love, yet feel instictively drawn to, he's strong, masculine and sexy, yet at the same time he is overly opinionated, violent and dominating.
Not the kind of man you 'should' be attracted to, yet so many women find themselves in the position that they are! Why is this? Williams explores the complexities of issues such as this. Loved it!
Entertainingly Educational!, 02 Aug 2002
This book provides readers with a very accessible introduction to the works of Tennessee Williams. Not only does it include the very well know plays "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie" but also "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "A play of four parts". The fact that there are four plays means that the reader can gain not only a knowledge of the individual plays, but also a feel for Williams' style of writing. This makes it an indispensible tool for anybody studying Tennessee Williams' work as part of their studies or indeed recreationally. A good feature of the book is the way it introduces each play to the reader. By including detailed forewards and background information (including details of the authors personal life at the time of writing) the first reading of the play becomes much more rewarding. The plays themselves are entertaining and insightful. In Each play Williams' tells a story of seemingly ordinary folk, and then introduces the reader/audience to whats going on in their minds. By the clever use of different stage techniques and sharp observations Tennessee Williams presents us with a collection of wonderfully enjoyable and atmostpheric plays. Very highly recommended.
AS Level Functionality; second to none!, 19 Jan 2005
In ordering this copy of 'A Streetcar Named Desire,'i was primarily expecting this book to be purely a textual dialogue of the play. Although after recieving the book (with haste- i don't hesitate to add), i was pleasantly surprised to encounter aids and prompts explaining in detail the situations and literary devices used to create such an effect. I totally believe that this book is a must have for those studying the american book at AS Level, or at any level for that matter!
Entirely powerful., 22 Oct 2003
Even though this is a play, it is still highly enjoyable to read. There are so many hidden meanings, layers, imagery and symbolism in this play, every time you read it something new is revealed. Best to read the play first, as the film with Marlon Brando portrays Stanley is a slightly different light to what I think Williams had intended.
Fantastic.
Haunting, 26 Nov 2000
A Streetcar Named Desire is rightly seen by many as Tennessee Williams's best play. The least that can be said is that along with The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof it counts among his most haunting work. No-one can emerge unscathed from the New Orleans abode of Stella and Stanley, and Blanche surely remains the most pathetic - in the best sense of the word - theatrical character in the twentieth century. Complete with well-chosen pictures, Patricia Hern's 1984 Methuen student edition of A Streetcar Named Desire is ideal for secondary school and undergraduate students; the notes in particular are very useful for students of American Literature in non English-speaking countries. This edition will also please the non academic admirers of Williams's plays, as it provides an unpretentious and enlightening commentary, which is short enough not to bore. Curiously, Hern refrained from mentioning the playwright's love life in the chronology, which is rather infrequent when it comes to Williams. Most of her colleagues would have at least offered | | |