Character Analysis Sample Answers

Name: __________________________________ Date: ___________________ Period: ______
Blanche DuBois Sample Answers

Evidence and Analysis
Directions: Gather quotes and other examples from the text to use as evidence
that provides insight into Blanche DuBois. Then write a paragraph that describes
and analyzes Blanche DuBois, including relationships, traits, motivations, fears, and
how (or if) they develop over the course of the text.
Evidence
1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
Character Description and Analysis

Stella’s older sister, about thirty years old, was a high school English teacher in Laurel, Mississippi
until recently forced to leave her position. Blanche is nervous and appears constantly on edge, as
though any slight disturbance could shatter her sanity. As a young woman, she married a man she
later discovered to be homosexual, and who committed suicide after that discovery. When Blanche
arrives at the Kowalskis’ apartment, she is at the end of her rope: she has spiraled into a pattern of
notorious promiscuity and alcoholism, and she has lost Belle Reve, the family plantation, due to a
string of mortgages. But she clings desperately to the trappings of her fading Southern belle self:
“Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light. There is something about her uncertain manner, as
well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth.” Blanche loves Stella and tries to get her sister to
escape New Orleans. Blanche is repulsed by Stanley, yet finds herself almost hypnotically attracted
by his physical power, like a moth to the flame.
1
Name: __________________________________ Date: ___________________ Period: ______
Stanley Kowalski Sample Answers

that provides insight into Stanley Kowalski. Then write a paragraph that describes
and analyzes Stanley Kowalski, including relationships, traits, motivations, fears,
and how (or if) they develop over the course of the text.
Evidence
1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.

Stella’s husband, is full of raw strength, ferocity, violent masculinity, and animal magnetism. He
wears lurid colors and parades his physicality, stripping off sweaty shirts and smashing objects
throughout the play. His extreme virility is a direct contrast to Blanche’s homosexual husband who
committed suicide. Stanley loves Stella––she is the soft, feminine foil to his violent ways. Their
connection is indeed, as Blanche says derisively, “sub-human”: their physical relationship creates a
deep bond between them. However, Stanley is drawn to Blanche, and in the play’s climax, he rapes
her while Stella is in the hospital having the baby.
2
Name: __________________________________ Date: ___________________ Period: ______
Stella Kowalski Sample Answers

that provides insight into Stella Kowalski. Then write a paragraph that describes
and analyzes Stella Kowalski, including relationships, traits, motivations, fears, and
how (or if) they develop over the course of the text.
Evidence
1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.

Stella is Blanche DuBois’s younger sister and Stanley Kowalski’s wife. She is the emotional
center of the play. Stella is the calm, reasonable foil to Blanche’s frenetic hysteria, and she is the
soothing, feminine voice that counteracts Stanley’s violence. Although she loves Blanche and is hurt
when Blanche is hurt, and although she is wistful, Stella has no desire to return to her past: she has
chosen her present circumstances willingly, and she has made her life in New Orleans with Stanley.
Stella’s pregnancy underscores her commitment to her Kowalski future, not her DuBois past. Stanley
dominates Stella: she is drawn into the magnetic pull of his powerful physical presence. By modern-
day standards, Stella is the victim of domestic violence, but in the play, her decision to return to
Stanley even after he hits her is not judged as definitively right or wrong.
3
Name: __________________________________ Date: ___________________ Period: ______
Harold Mitchell (Mitch) Sample Answers

that provides insight into Harold Mitchell (Mitch). Then write a paragraph that
describes and analyzes Harold Mitchell (Mitch), including relationships, traits,
motivations, fears, and how (or if) they develop over the course of the text.
Evidence
1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.

The “gentleman” of Stanley’s poker-playing friends. Much more genteel and mannered than the
animalistic Stanley, though still a man with physical desires. He and Blanche develop a relationship,
but Blanche pretends to be much more naïve and innocent than she actually is, and Mitch is
ultimately driven away when he learns of her sordid recent past.

Character Analysis Sample Answers

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Character Analysis Sample Answers

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Name: ______________________ Date: _ Period:

Blanche DuBois Sample Answers

Character Description and Analysis

Stanley Kowalski Sample Answers

Character Description and Analysis

Stella Kowalski Sample Answers

Character Description and Analysis

Harold Mitchell (Mitch) Sample Answers

Character Description and Analysis

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