Scene 1 opens with the description of a two-story building at the corner of the street Elysian Fields in New Orleans. Although the section looks poor, it has a raffish charm. Both whites and Afro-Americans live here side by side.

It's the early evening in May, and two women are sitting in front of the building. The one is white, her name is Eunice, and she occupies the upstairs flat. The other woman is colored, she is a neighbor. Two men come around the corner- Stanley Kowalski and Mitch. They are in late twenties and wear a blue denim work clothes. Stanley carries a package from butcher's and stops at the bottom of the stairs to summon his wife, Stella. She appears from the first floor flat. It's obvious immediately that her background is quite different from her husband's- she is gentle young woman, not older than twenty five.

He throws her a package to catch and informs her that he's about to go to bowling with his friends. She asks if she could go with them and he confirms. Just as Stella disappears around the corner, one young woman appears, wearing a valise. With a piece of paper in her hand, she seems confused, and her fine white dress, as well as her whole appearance, clearly show that she does not belong to this neighborhood, nor the social class generally. Eunice asks her if she's been lost, and the young woman replies, slightly upset, that she is looking for her sister, Stella. Although Eunice confirms that she has come to the right address, the young woman seems to be in disbelief. Slightly insecure she follows Eunice to the Stella's apartment. She's not interested in Eunice friendly chat, and as soon as he gets to Stella's apartment, she cuts the conversation and asks to be left alone. Questions that Eunice kindly ask, give this woman an identity. She is Blanche, Stella's sister. They two have grown in rich household named Belle Reve. She's a school teacher from Mississippi and this visit to her sister is unexpected.

Blanche sits on the chair, and remains still for some time. Her sitting position clearly denotes tension and discomfort, but as soon as she picks herself up a bit, she starts looking around and immediately notices a bottle of whiskey, sipping herself a half glass of it. Then she returns to the chair and waits.

Stella enters the room clearly happy to see her sister. Blanche hugs her firmly and starts chattering in somewhat unadvisedly manner about how happy she is to see her, although she never expected to see her in such a horrible place. Stella is not happy with Blanche's comments, but remains hospitable and hands Blanche a drink, which she takes without mentioning that she has already had a drink just a couple of minutes before.

Then the chat turns towards Stanley. Blanche wants to know what he's like. As Stella start describing Stanley and her feelings for him, Blanche seems to lose interest in the story as if she has something important to say. Hesitating to be direct, she mumbles about Stella leaving her all alone in her battle and efforts to keep the Belle Reve…until she finally admits that their house is gone. Stella is shaken and wants to know more details, but Blanche seems to be angry and accuses her sister of blaming her for the disaster, and goes on and on about having to take care of many family members who died.

Stella is upset with these though words and leaves the room to refresh herself. Meanwhile, Stanley enters the apartment and Blanche retreats deeper in the apartment as if trying to avoid him.

He is strong, compactly built and his masculinity is quite obvious. Blanche seems to be intimidated by his presence and introduces herself cautiously. Uninterested in politeness and social norms, Stanley immediately fires her with questions about her whereabouts. The Scene 1 closes with his question about her late husband, and Blanche feels sick after this.

The Scene 2 opens the following day in the evening. Blanche is taking a bath, while Stella is finishing her preparations for the girls night out. Stanley enters the room, unglad to learn that they are about to go out leaving him a cold dinner in the fridge. Stella explains that she wants to keep Blanche away from the house while his friends are in there playing poker. Then she reveals to him that Belle Reve was lost and he immediately rises brows at the lack of the information about what really happened. He demands to see the contract but Stella knows nothing about it, claiming that Blanche is very upset and that it would be better to leave her alone and be kind to her until she recovers. Meanwhile, Blanche sings in the bathroom. Infuriated by the whole Bella Reve thing, Stanley explains to Stella that there is a Napoleonic code, according to which what belongs to wife, also belongs to her husband. Concluding that he is being fooled, he enters the bedroom where Blanche keeps her stuff, and scour it in a search of evidences. He pulls put her finest costumes, pearls and jewerly, visibly angry with the sight of pure luxury, claiming that it's impossible that she bought all that with the money she made as a school teacher. Stella is upset with his reactions and tries to justify Blanche. Eventually, visibly aggravated, she goes to the balcony leaving him alone in the room.

Blanche finally appears in a robe. She is in a good mood and the sight of furious Stanley doesn't seem to upset her, nor does the sight of her upside-down luggage. She asks Stanley to help her with the buttons oh her dress. This sets off the conversation about a value of her dresses and goes on about the relations between men and women, which leads to the point- the importance of honesty. Stanley demands to know what happened with Belle Reve. Blanche is collected and calm, his fury doesn't seem to initimidate her. She says that she hasn't fooled anyone and everything she owns is in the trunk. He once again start digging through her stuff, and this act melts her confidence. Eventually, he learns that the company Ambler&Ambler made loans on the Belle Reve and that it was lost on the mortage. With loads of papers in his hands, Stanley informs Blanche that he's about to forward these to his lawyer, mentioning that he has to take care of his wife's bussiness, especially now that she's pregnant. Blanche is shocked by the news and visibly tired from the turmoil. When Stella finally returns and Stanley's friends start to gather for the poker party, Blanche says to Stella that everything went just fine with her and Stanley, that she laughed as everything was a joke, called him a little boy and even flirted with him. They two leave, while a tamale vendor is heard calling: "Red-hot!"