Don’t believe us? Here are a few examples: Sex leads to death, or at least some heavy-duty wreckage. Desire, then Cemeteries, then Elysian Fields. In fact, go back to Blanche’s first reference to the streetcar that we opened this discussion with. Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen sex do destructive things in Williams’s play. Blanche is literally brought to the Kowalski place by “Desire,” but she is also brought there by desire her sexual escapades in Laurel ruined her reputation and drove her out of town. (4.104-106) Which brings us nicely into our discussion of the metaphorical meaning of the title. STELLA Haven’t you ever ridden on that street-car? BLANCHE It brought me here. Take a look: BLANCHE What you are talking about is brutal desire-just-Desire! The name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another… Later, she berates Stella for her obsession with Stanley and mentions the streetcar again. First, in Scene One, she tells Eunice that “they told to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at- Elysian Fields!” (1.16).
There is an actual streetcar named “Desire” that Blanche takes on her way to the Kowalskis’. Let’s start with the literal meaning of the title.
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