A STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE: CHARACTER ANALYSIS OF STANLEY KOWALSKI Yasmim Mahmud Kader INTRODRUCTION Tennessee Williams wrote the play 'A Street Car Named Desire' in late twentieth century. He wrote about a conflict between two kinds of ideology present in the characters: the north and south ideology. This confrontation happened between the main character, Blanche Dubois, a schoolteacher who has a heritage from the old south culture, and Stanley Kowalski, a man who has the north stereotype. OBJECTIVE This work aims to analyze Tennessee Williams’ character: Stanley Kowalski in the role play “A Street Car named Desire” published in 1948 and his characterization throughout the narrative. STANLEY KOWALSKI IN THE ROLE PLAY Stanley Kowalski is the husband of Blanche younger sister, Stella. He is a polish man who has around thirty years and fought in World War II. Stanley is also proud of who he is and of what he has. In the beginning of the play, we can see him as a rough hero: he is loyal to his friends and has a deeply passion for his wife, Stella. Stanlay has also an animalistic behavior in the way he act and speak. Stanley has some friends that usually visits his house to play poker and drink, but the most important is Mitch – who is deeply close to our character. STANLEY KOWALSKI CHARACTERIZATION Stanley Kowalski is a man with no refinements. He is a brute and behaves like a cave man, but we can't deny that he is an interesting character since his first appearance in the role play. Blanche describes him once as a "survivor of the stone age! Bearing the raw meat home from the kill in the jungle", whereas his wife is fragile and submissive. He is not frightened in fighting for what he thinks that belongs to him. So when Blanche starts to affect his marriage with Stella, he became a fighter and goes against everything. By the very end of the role play, even when he destroys Blanche psychologically, Stanley does not feel remorse for what he has done. He remains victorious. “ It is the survival of the fittest, and Stanley is the strongest.” REFERENCES WILLIAMS, Tennessee. A Street Car Named Desire. http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/s/a- streetcar-named-desire/character-analysis/ stanley-kowalski