At the end of scene three in Tennessee Williams play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” we see Stanley, the stereotypical 1940s manly character, showing remorse for his actions because the love he has for Stella prevails over the angry person that his character is.
Scene three takes place in Stella and Stanley’s apartment where Stanley and his friends are having their weekly Saturday night poker game. The game seems to have gone on till two thirty in the morning and both Stella and Blanche have recently come back from their night on the town seeing a show. After some time back home, Blanche turns on a radio that Stanley had already said once to keep off. This puts Stanley over the edge. He throws the radio out the window, and, after Stella yells at him for being a “drunk animal,” he charges at Stella and strikes her (1561). This is the macho character that we have seen from Stanley all play but now in a very extreme state. He shows his male dominance by striking Stella and letting her know he is the head of the household. (As a side note I don’t in anyway believe in this activity. I am simply reading it from Stanley’s point of view). At this point Stella runs out of the apartment, and Stanley, after he has sobered up a little bit, realizes what he has done and runs after her. So far all we have seen is Stanley being his normal testosterone fueled self, but I feel the following sequence of events proves that Stanley, the stereotypical macho man, is nothing without the love of Stella.
When Stanley realizes that his “baby doll” had left him, he begins to “sob” and calls the apartment where he believes she has run off to (1562). This is the first time in the play that we see Stanley cry, it is also the first time in the play we see Stanley show any form of love towards his wife Stella. Although one could argue that Stanley might only be feeling sorry for his actions just to have Stella come back to him, I believe that Stanley shows legitimate remorse and his character changes slightly into a more loving husband. After some time yelling “Stella” into the quiet night, Stella comes down from the apartment, and without words, forgives him as he carries her like a newlywed back into their apartment (1562). This remorseful and loving side of Stanley shows that he truly cares about Stella, and that he wants his love for her to be stronger than the innate anger that runs through his Polish blood.
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I can see how Stanley, though mainly portrayed as an unloving selfish violent husband, also has a gentler, more sensual characteristic. The textual reference to his reaction when his "baby doll" leaves initiates this characteristic. He cries out, and when someone cries, I find it difficult to veiw him or her as a brutal character. Crying shows his remorse for his violent outburst, though you could also veiw this moment as a selfish moment. I agree with your agrument and you do introduce some text to support the agrument. I felt that you could do less summarization, assume that your readers all have read it, but beside this, your character analysis of Stanley answers the prompt.
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