A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, is a very worldly play thatcontains issues from life; a guilty feeling of abandonment, the anger andfrustration between two complete opposites, and the violation of a rape. Ithappens in New Orleans where there are many different races.
Blanche DuBois,loses her ancestral home, Belle Reve, and her teaching position as a result ofpromiscuity. With expectations for the new life, she moves in with her pregnantsister Stella and her brutish husband, Stanley Kowalski. Throughout the play, wecan distinguish many difference between Blanche and Stella. Although they comefrom the same noble and aristocratic family,their philosophies of life aredistinct and lead them to different roads.
Blanche is a highly vulnerable, aswell as neurotic, woman living in a world of boozy self deception. She isintelligent, yet prefers magic over realism. She puts too much emphasis on hermanners and appearance. She demands to be seen for what she wished to be, ratherthan what she really is.
This is the reason for the paper lanterns and constantbathing – she is creating her world of illusion. A complite opposite of Blanchis Stella. Unlike her sister, she is a passive and gentle woman. She is fiveyears younger than Blanche, about 25, and has been submissive to her for herentire life. After marrying Stanley, she is forced to join the lower class,endure her husband’s bad temper, and be obedient to him.
Blanche is not acompromising person who can adapt to changes. Moreover, I think she is afraid ofalterations and denies facing the reality (ex. she is afraid of losing herproperties, her youth and beauty, etc. ). She feels very uncertain about the newworld and tries to persist in her own way of behavior and thinking, since thatis how she has been educated: to be a lady. Stella is the connecting figure totwo different worlds- the supposed royalty world of Blanche DuBois and the morecommon world of Stanley Kowalski.
Blanche and Stanley both attempt to influenceher, and they succeed to a degree. Stella still has many of the qualitiesinstilled in her at Belle Reve, yet she does not let that get in the way of herhaving some fun. As she is so entangled between two completely opposite worlds,she is stuck and eventually forced to side with one of the two. Both sistersstand in the opposite positions to Stanley. Blanche is more sensible about hisviolence than Stella is. We can distinguish this difference in the late of Scene3.
When Stanley beats Stella, she returnes to him soon. In the next morning,Blanche has a quarrel with Stella. She thinks Stanley’s behavior can’t be put upwith, and she suggests Stella to find another man who could suit her. However,Blanche does not take into consideration that Stella loves Stanley anddoesn’t mind his violence at all.
From the beginning Stanley has a deepprejudice against Blanche and everything associated with her. He has the reasonsto think that she is not a completely honest person. He gets suspicious of howBlanche obtained all of her clothes, furs, and jewelry. Things get worse when sherefuses to reveal why she left her small Louisiana home. Stanley believes she’sconned his wife out of the family mansion, therefore, he starts looking into herpast.
He discovers that Blanche has been swindle them since the day she came. After she lost Belle Reve, she moved to the Hotel Flamingo and became DameBlanche. She became extremely promiscuous and the hotel eventually threw herout. A nearby army camp referred to her place as “Out of Bounds. ” Shewas regarded as being crazy. Blanche did not resign from teaching.
She lost herjob after it was discovered that she was having relations with aseventeen-year-old boy. Blanche’s world of fantasy has been created by the liesthat she cannot seem to stop telling. Stanley knows her tricks, therefore hisattitude toward her is very immodest. Blanche pretends to be a fair lady but inreality, she is not. She wants to cover her scandals, and to further a romancewith lonely Mitch.
In her opinion, lies are necessary to conceal her “unladyor uncharming” features such as drinking alcohol, her age, and hersickness(ex. “No one is my limit” “Yes, Stella is my preciouslittle sister. I call her little in spite of the fact she’s somewhat older thanI. Just slightly.
Less than a year. ” “Stella hasn’t been so welllately, and I came down to help her for a while. She’s very run down. “).
However, she is somehow conscious of this falsity (ex. “I don’t tell truth,I tell what ought to be truth”). As her true past comes out, Blanchebecomes the only person who believes her lies. The ending of the play shocks mevery much!! When Stella is at the hospital for delivering a baby, Stanleyviolates Blanche in the most personal way which is rape.
After this accident,Blanche loses whatever little sense she has left. Her world becomes a world ofalmost complete fantasy. As a result of her insanity, she is send to a mentalinstitution. As Blanche is taken away, her sister is overcome with feelings ofguilt, loss, and betrayal. Perhaps Stella knows she has made a mistake when shechose not to belive Blanche’s story about the rape.
However, it’s too late fordeliberation. Blanche is gone, Stanley has won,things will be back to normalagain.English Essays
