A Streetcar Named Desire Sex Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Scene.Line). Every time a character talks counts as one line, even if what they say turns into a long monologue.

Quote #1

… but contains a folding bed to be used by Blanche. The room beyond is a bedroom. (1.40)

Notice the immediate and obvious presence of Stanley and Stella’s bed? Blanche finds herself right on the edge of their sex life – in more ways than one.

Quote #2

Animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes. Since earliest manhood the center of his life has been pleasure with women, the giving and taking of it, not with weak indulgence, dependently, but with the power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens. […] He sizes women up with a glance, with sexual clarifications, crude images flashing into his mind and determining the way he smiles at them. (1.205)

After this description of Stanley, we expect him to view Blanche in an overtly sexual way. Look at the dialogue that follows – does he view her as a sexual object? Why or why not?

Quote #3

STANLEY
My clothes are stickin’ to me. Do you mind if I make myself comfortable? [He starts to remove his shirt.]
[…]
STANLEY
Be comfortable is my motto. (1.219-21)

Stanley’s ease and comfort contrast sharply with Blanche’s rigid sense of sexual propriety and the hidden shame she harbors.