Other Characters

Literature in English: Cambridge International GCSE A Streetcar Named Desire, topic 3.3.2

Minor Characters

Other characters that feature in A Streetcar Named Desire are:

Pablo Gonzales does not play a huge role in the drama.
He is one of Stanley’s friends and is part of the poker game circle.
Pablo reflects the Mexican culture in New Orleans. He often uses Spanish phrases and language to comment on events.
He represents the multi-cultural aspect of New Orleans.
He may act as an ironic contrast to the supposed 'cleanliness' of Blanche.

The Doctor represents both hope and death for Blanche.
He might be able to bring her hope of coming to terms with what has happened to her and eventually moving her life on, but the audience knows that this is unlikely to be the case and that she will be incarcerated under his dictate for the rest of her life.
Blanche confuses him with Shep Huntleigh, which makes his arrival all the more heart rendering. He is another "stranger" offering her kindness and comfort.

The Nurse (also called Matron) is a person who has to deal with the practicalities of Blanche’s move to a mental institution.
She has to make sure that Blanche does not self-harm, but in so doing, destroys her beauty and femininity.
It is clear from the Matron’s actions that Blanche is going to lose her sense of self and become a number.

The Negro Woman gives a sense of the multi-cultural nature of the city but also shows the legacy of the slave trade in the South.
She shows an openness about her sexuality which is perhaps more repressed in the world of white, middle class culture of the other characters.
She tries to seduce the Young Man / Collector.

The Young Man is naive and innocent and finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Blanche remembers the sexuality she felt with her former young husband and the student and perhaps sees something of them in the Young Man.
If he had not run out, then Blanche might have repeated her earlier error with even more disastrous consequences.
The Young Man also shows how shallow Blanche is because once he leaves, she immediately turns her attention to Mitch.

This woman’s principle role is symbolic.
With her bouquets of flowers and her selling voice, she demonstrates that Blanche is heading towards her own funeral and that celebratory flowers for a wedding festival will not be purchased.
Again, she shows the multi-cultural nature of New Orleans.

Who does Blanche expect to arrive instead of the Doctor?
What does Pablo Gonzales represent?
Who does the Negro Woman try to seduce?
How is the Negro Woman presented?
Which character represents the fact that Blanche is heading towards her own funeral?