Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, dir. Elia Kazan) “The thing about the ‘tradition’ in the 19th century was that it worked then. It made a woman feel important, with her own secure positions and functions, her own special worth. It also made a woman at that time one with her society. But today it is an anachronism. So Blanche requires protection - a haven, a harbor. She is a refugee, punch drunk and on the ropes, making her last stand, trying to keep up a gallant front, because she is a proud person. But still - she’s also a misfit, a liar, her ‘airs’ alienate people…She doesn’t know how to make a living. She doesn’t know to work…She’s a last dying relic of the last century now adrift in our unfriendly day.” -Elia Kazan on Blanche

Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, dir. Elia Kazan)

“The thing about the ‘tradition’ in the 19th century was that it worked then. It made a woman feel important, with her own secure positions and functions, her own special worth. It also made a woman at that time one with her society. But today it is an anachronism. So Blanche requires protection - a haven, a harbor. She is a refugee, punch drunk and on the ropes, making her last stand, trying to keep up a gallant front, because she is a proud person. But still - she’s also a misfit, a liar, her ‘airs’ alienate people…She doesn’t know how to make a living. She doesn’t know to work…She’s a last dying relic of the last century now adrift in our unfriendly day.”

-Elia Kazan on Blanche