Throughout Blanche’s stay at his house, he feels that she has drunk his liquor, eaten his food, used his house, but still has belittled him and has opposed him. She has never conceded to him his right to be the “king” in his own house. Thus, he must sit idly by and see his marriage and home destroyed, and himself belittled, or else he must strike back.
　　1.2 Stanley’s Struggle for Equality and His initiative in Winning Competitions.
　　In the USA, the value of equality is prevalent in both primary (within a family) and secondary (between friendship and coworkers) relationships. They think no one should belittle or feel superior to others. In an American family, even children are treated as adults, needless to say the host. Then, just imagine that when a man who values materials and vulgar amusements confronts with a gentle woman who comes from a degenerated middle-classed southern family that values refinements, charms, traditional culture, a certain balance will be broken. Blanche’s assuming of setting herself high above Stanley wins her attacks. Stanley revenged himself on her for his right of equality.
　　His attack is slow and calculated. He begins to compile information about Blanche’s past life. He must present her past life to his wife so that she can determine who on earth is the superior person. When he has his information accumulated, he is convinced that however common he is, his life and his past are far superior to Blanche’s. Now that he feels his superiority again, he begins to act. He feels that having proved how degenerate Blanche actually is, he is now justified in punishing her directly for all the indirect insults he has had to suffer from her. Thus he buys her the bus ticket back to Laurel and reveals her past to Mitch.
　　Consequently, when we approach the rape scene, we must understand that Blanche has made Stanley endure quite a bit. She has never been sympathetic toward him. She has ridiculed him. From what Stanley has done to Blanche, it is not difficult for us to see that he is a down-right materialist and sexist, he uses extreme means to protect himself and his properties, to seek equality, to carry on sex as a way of relaxation or leisure and to value the importance of winning of competition between himself and Blanche.
　　1.3 Stanley’s attitudes towards work and leisure.
　　For most Americans, work is a desired and desirable expenditure of energy, a means of controlling and expressing strong affective states, and an avenue of recognition, money or power. On the other hand, they value relief from the regularity of work, it is in play that they find real joy. Knowing this can help us have a better understanding of the state of Stanley’s life and the significance of the poker scene. Stanley, one of the blue collars in the competitive society, is proud of his pole and his controlling power of his own life. He is satisfied with his living state but lacks ideals and imaginations. Stanley’s chief amusements are gambling, bowling, sex, and drinking, he regards leisure as a reward of his work and doesn’t allow anyone(his wife and Blanche) to deprive his right to it. He will become extremely irritated if anyone dares to do so.
Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) was one of the greatest playwrights in American history. In his play A Streetcar Named Desire, he blazed a trail of expressing the theme of sexuality when it is forbidden by law and social modes and portrayed two fascinating characters——Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski who have always been at the top of a large number of literary critics.
　　Individualism, equality, materialism, striking a balance between work and leisure and being enthusiastic about competition are believed to be the dominant American cultural patterns. That Americans people are more aggressive than people in other cultures is known not strange to all of us. These cultural patterns are very clearly shown by many great images in American literature works. Stanley Kowalski is one of these fascinating characters.
　　Stanley Kowalski, the man protagonist of the film, who has always been the focus of many critics and scholars of all over the world, is thought as a very complicated character in most viewers’ eyes.
　　1. A representative of the culture that stresses equality, materialism, importance of work and leisure and importance of competition
　　1.1 Materialism that Stanley displays
　　For most Americans, materialism has always been an integral part of life. They consider it almost a right to be materially well off and physically comfortable. As the philosopher Lionel Trilling observed, “In the American metaphysic, reality is always material reality.”
　　Stanley first feels his properties threatened when he finds out that Belle Reve has been lost. He does not care for Belle Reve as a bit of ancestral property, but, instead, he feels that a part of it is his. If his wife has been swindled, he has been swindled. He has lost property, something that belonged to him. He probes into the problem without tact or diplomacy. He goes straight to the truth without any shortcuts. His only concern is to discover whether he has been cheated. He does not concern himself with the feelings of Blanche. He wants only to force the issue to its completion. (责任编辑：南粤论文中心)转贴于南粤论文中心: http://www.nylw.net(代写代发论文_毕业论文带写_广州职称论文代发_广州论文网）