Friendship between Stanley Kowalski and Harold Mitchell
The friendship between Stanley Kowalski and Harold Mitchell (Mitch) is one of the most consequential relationships in A Streetcar Named Desire, binding two men whose bond is forged in shared labor, military service, and masculine ritual, yet whose loyalty is tested and ultimately broken by the arrival of Blanche DuBois. Stanley and Mitch are not merely casual acquaintances; they are comrades from the Two-forty-first Engineers, coworkers at the same plant, and teammates on the same bowling team. Their friendship is enacted through the rough, ritualized camaraderie of poker nights, where Stanley dominates the table and Mitch, though often the butt of Stanley's jokes, remains a steady presence. This bond, however, proves fragile when Stanley's antagonism toward Blanche forces Mitch to choose between his friend's version of the truth and his own romantic hopes, a choice that leaves Mitch isolated and Stanley's victory hollow.
Shared History and Everyday Camaraderie
Stanley and Mitch's friendship is built on a foundation of shared experience. They served together in the Two-forty-first Engineers, a fact Stanley invokes to underscore their closeness: "Mitch is a buddy of mine. We were in the same outfit together—Two-forty-first Engineers. We work in the same plant and now on the same bowling team." This triple bond—military, occupational, and recreational—gives their relationship a dense, everyday texture. They appear together from the play's opening moments, when they come around the corner of Elysian Fields, Stanley carrying a red-stained package from the butcher's and his bowling jacket, and Mitch at his side. Their interactions are marked by a casual, often crude intimacy: Stanley calls out to Stella, bellowing "Hey, there! Stella, Baby!" while Mitch stands by, and later, during the poker night, Stanley orders Mitch around with a mix of affection and contempt, telling him to "Shut up" and mocking his concern for his sick mother. Yet Mitch tolerates this, even laughing uncomfortably at Stanley's jibes, because their friendship is a given, a structure of male belonging in the French Quarter.
The Poker Night and the Fracture
The poker night in Scene Three is the crucible of their friendship. The game is played in a lurid, nocturnal brilliance, with the men in colored shirts, "as coarse and direct and powerful as the primary colors." Stanley is the alpha, slapping Stella's thigh, throwing watermelon rinds to the floor, and snarling at Mitch to "Get y'r ass off the table." Mitch, however, is distracted by Blanche, whom he meets for the first time that night. He lingers in the bedroom, talking to her, and Stanley's irritation grows. When Stanley catches Mitch "looking through them drapes" at Blanche, he jerks the curtains shut and yells, "Now deal the hand over again and let's play cards or quit." The tension erupts when Stanley, drunk, strikes Stella and throws the radio out the window. Mitch, appalled, declares, "Poker shouldn't be played in a house with women," a line that signals his discomfort with Stanley's violence. Yet he helps restrain Stanley, and afterward, when Stanley stumbles out into the street bellowing for Stella, Mitch is the one who finds Blanche on the steps and reassures her: "There's nothing to be scared of. They're crazy about each other." At this point, Mitch still stands by Stanley, even as he disapproves of his behavior.
Stanley's Betrayal and the End of Trust
The friendship's true rupture comes when Stanley decides to expose Blanche's past to Mitch. In Scene Seven, Stanley tells Stella, "Mitch is a buddy of mine. ... You think I could face him if—" and then admits, "You're goddam right I told him! I'd have that on my conscience the rest of my life if I knew all that stuff and let my best friend get caught!" Stanley frames his disclosure as an act of loyalty to Mitch, protecting him from a woman he believes to be a liar and a "school of sharks." But the effect is devastating. Mitch, who had been falling in love with Blanche and had even spoken to his mother about marrying her, is crushed. He confronts Blanche in Scene Nine, tearing the paper lantern off the light bulb and saying, "I don't mind you being older than what I thought. But all the rest of it—Christ!" He tells her, "You're not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother," and leaves her sobbing. Stanley's intervention has destroyed Mitch's romantic hopes, but it has also poisoned the trust between the two men. In the final scene, during the poker game that coincides with Blanche's removal, Mitch is a broken figure. He sits at the table, staring down at his hands, unable to play. When Stanley boasts about his luck, Mitch mutters, "You ... you ... you. .... Brag ... brag ... bull ... bull." When the Matron comes for Blanche, Mitch tries to go to her, but Stanley blocks him, and Mitch collapses at the table, sobbing. The friendship that once seemed unbreakable has been reduced to a hollow ritual, with Stanley triumphant and Mitch undone.
Thematic Significance
The friendship between Stanley and Mitch embodies the play's larger conflict between loyalty and self-interest, truth and illusion. Stanley's decision to expose Blanche is not merely an act of cruelty toward her but a betrayal of Mitch's trust in him as a friend. By revealing the secrets he has gathered, Stanley asserts his dominance over both Blanche and Mitch, ensuring that Mitch will never marry Blanche and that the Kowalski household will return to its former state. Yet the cost is high: Mitch loses his chance at love and his respect for Stanley, while Stanley loses a friend who once stood by him. The friendship, like so much in the play, is sacrificed to Stanley's need to control and to Blanche's need to escape. In the end, the poker game continues, but the bond that once gave it meaning is gone.
