Analyse af 'A Streetcar Named Desire', scener I-II

The play takes place in a quite poor section of New Orleans. Even though the section is poor, it has a raffish charm. The region is very lively and colourful, one can smell coffee and bananas in the air and the region is also very loud. We can hear music being played from the bar around the corner. The title is involved in the setting, because Blanche arrives on a streetcar named Desire. It is ironic that Blanche is brought there by a streetcar named Desire, because she clearly does not desire to be there. Another ironic thing is that desire is literally what has brought her to where she is in life now, as we find out later.

The music in the play is important to create and establish the atmosphere of the play. The music (blue piano etc.) is of African-American origin and Tennessee Williams lets us know what type of music it is because he believes we need to know it to fully understand the setting of the play. We can also hear the voices of people, this section is never quiet. We can almost constantly hear the murmur of people’s conversation in the streets. It is a cosmopolitan city and we can hear the traffic, cats and vendors are often walking around the streets selling various things.