Introduction to 'A Streetcar Named Desire'

Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire

In this course, we explore Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. The first module provides some historical and literary context for the play; we introduce Tennessee Williams himself, and think about what kind of person he was, before focusing on what life was like in the South United States in the late 1940s, when the play was written. In the remaining modules, we go through each of the play’s eleven scenes one-by-one, providing close reading of key moments throughout the play.

Introduction to 'A Streetcar Named Desire'

In this module, we provide some literary and historical context for the play. Having introduced Tennessee Williams himself, we think about the United States of the late 1940s, a country that was in many ways still coming to terms with the impact of the US Civil War, and one which was to yet to experience the US Civil Rights movement of the mid-1950s and 1960s.