All this week, we’re featuring Want by Stephanie Lawton, the debut novel from our very own Novel Novice contributor. To help delve into the awesomeness of Steph’s book, she’s here to talk about how the classic movie “A Streetcar Named Desire” plays into Want:
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About halfway through Want, the main character, Juli, watches the 1951 movie version of “A Streetcar Named Desire” with Dave. Without being too spoilery, Dave compares Juli, Isaac and himself to three of the characters in the movie. Juli admits she’s read the play by Tennessee Williams in school, but never seen the movie version with Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh and Karl Malden.
She swoons over a young Marlon Brando and his character, which does a lot to reveal hers.
“Streetcar” was originally written by Tennessee Williams in 1947; it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama the following year and enjoyed stage success on Broadway and in London. Williams helped write the movie screenplay, which was released in 1951, starring most of the original stage actors. (Read the basic plot here.)
Stanley: At that time, Marlon Brando was practically unknown, but he took the world by storm with his hot and heavy portrayal of primitive and dominant Stanley. His performance is notable because he makes an otherwise unlikable character sympathetic–he brings out the vulnerable side of Stanley. Like his wife Stella says, we are “sort of thrilled by it.” Until the end, that is.
Mitch: Stanley’s foil is “Mitch” Mitchell, a consummate nice guy and mama’s boy. He courts the disturbed Blanche, and sees himself as her protector and savior. They both confess to losing someone they love and feel the need to love and be loved. He acts as a buffer between Stanley and Blanche, and he seems to truly suffer when Blanche loses touch with reality, even though Blanche wasn’t what she claimed to be. He blames Stanley, but we don’t know if he ever forgives him for his behavior.
Stella: Like Juli, Stella is a peacemaker. She wants everyone to get along, even as she’s the center of much of the conflict. Both characters also fall for hard-to-please, moody but thrilling men. Even though in modern terms, the relationships may not be “healthy” or stable, both can’t help going back for more. In the play, Stella stays with Stanley. In the movie, there’s the insinuation that she leaves.
As for Juli in Want, well … you’ll be guessing until the last page.
Below is a telling scene that has echoes in Want. It’s funny, because I didn’t write the scenes with “Streetcar” in mind, but realized later how much they had in common.
(Unfortunately, almost every “Streetcar” video has embedding disabled. Please click through to watch the video on YouTube.)
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