Topic summary

A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire is a play written by Tennessee Williams which was first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her once-prosperous situation to move into a shabby apartment in the French Quarter of New Orleans rented by her younger sister Stella Kowalski and brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski.

A Streetcar Named Desire is one of Williams' most influential plays. It still ranks among his most performed and has inspired many adaptations in other forms, most notably a 1951 film adaptation directed by Elia Kazan.