MovieChat Forums > A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Discussion > Do you think the play's original ending ...

Do you think the play's original ending is happier?

posted 10 years ago by Rex16
3 replies | jump to latest

I am not referring to Blanche's fate, which is the same in both, the play and the film. I am interested in your views about how the ending treats Stanley and Stella's relationship in each version.

The play: Stella deludes herself into staying with a brutish wife-beater and rapist.
The film: Stella and Stanley break up despite the fact that they really loved each other in their own way.

Do you think that the play's ending is happier, although the film is more in keeping with Hollywood morality?

[–] q_leo_rahman 10 years ago

Not really, because it's implied Stella did not have anywhere else to go. And delusions can only keep you happy for so long.

07/08/06... 786... the sentinel of Allah has arrived.

[–] yusef-ghanima 9 years ago

my version is better, stanly enjoyed being with stella the sister focker.

i mostly will not be able to answer your reply, since marissa mayer hacked my email, no notification

[–] HarlowMGM 9 years ago

The play has of course a more honest and believable ending. I don't think either ending however is "happy". Stella is a bit of a birdbrain and one of those women that needs a man for her own self-worth so she's going to hold on no matter how awful he is. You see scores of women like this even today and especially in the South. The marriage breakup on film is only because the censor boards of the time would have demanded some sort of comeuppance for Stanley's raping character, as it is it's surprisingly mild.