A Streetcar Named Desire

In A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, Blanche is one of the most annoying characters anyone could meet. Blanche married at a very young age, and soon after, she caught her husband with another man. Blanche expressed her hatred for him, he could not take the pressure, and he killed himself. Sexuality is one of the structures of life that can truly destroy a person’s life. Blanche’s husband was one of those persons who just happened to cave. Numerous people keep their sexuality bottled up their entire life which leads them to a whole lot of stress and pressure, worrying if someone will find out. Not only is it devastating to the person if his or her sexuality is unintentionally leaked out, but it greatly affects those around them as well. Blanche seeing her husband express his homosexuality right in front of her, unintentionally, lead to his death and her psychosis. Blanche began to try and help “save” other men from their homosexuality in order to dissolve her husband’s death from her mind. She did not succeed. All she accomplished was the brandishing of her reputation.

Reputations also can help in making or breaking a person’s life. In this case, reputation destroyed Blanche. When Blanche first arrived at Stella’s home, she came off as a pleasant, well off girl who was very stable. Stanley’s drunkenness and his jealousy of Blanche’s beautiful things began to make a crack in Blanche’s mind. Blanche tried to patch the crack with lies and acting important, but Stanley saw through it and constantly attacked her. The attacks caused the crack to get bigger. One night, Blanche put on a $.50 costume dress claiming that she was going on a yacht with a rich gentleman. Stanley noticed a break in her story where she did not know what Stanley was talking about when he brought back the subject of the gentleman. This was where the crack begins to widen the most. Blanche threatens Stanley with a broken bottle, but Stanley takes control of Blanche and rapes her. Stanley’s actions totally destroyed Blanche mentally, leading to her being taken away the next day. Her true reputation being brought out by Stanley is what caused Blanche to completely lose it.

Stanley makes the connection that Blanche is trying to draw Stella away from him. He sees that Blanche is making him appear to be a mediocre and rabid being who will not listen to anyone else’s opinion but his own. Stanley’s drunkenness embellishes this trait proving Blanche right, and thus causing Stella to temporarily leave Stanley. This is where Stanley suddenly realizes the error of his ways and changes. He then gets in a fight with Eunice to get his wife to come back to him:

Stanley: Stell-lahhhhh!
Eunice: Quit that howling out there an’ go back to bed!
Stanley: I want my baby down here. Stella, Stella!…

[Stella slips down the rickety stairs in her robe.... They stare at each other. Then, they come together with low, animal moans. He falls to his knees on the steps and presses his face to her belly, curving a little with maternity....]

Change is one of the many things that form the structure of life. Without change, the world would be in a shambles with mass hysteria everywhere. Change is motivated by numerous things, one being that which influenced Stanley to change, love, and or the fear of losing the one who is most dear to him. Stanley overcame his drunkenness and went after Stella. His perseverance led to her returning to him. Blanche however cannot bring herself to change and thus, she descended down a path towards her own dissolution.

Blanche returns the next morning to speak Stella and constantly asks her, “How could you come back in this place last night?” The conversation goes deeper to further reveal Blanches disapproval of Stanley when she says, “In my opinion? You’re married to a madman!” Blanche absolutely abhors Stanley, and since she cannot see around his bad features, she is not able to avoid insanity. Blanche’s life experience has been all about changing the way the men she meets are, but when she enters Stella’s life again, she tries to change Stella. Blanche could not make the connections in life that if she just accepted people for who they are, then she would be able to live an affable life. However, for her to achieve this, Blanche would first have to learn to accept herself.

Blanche exhibits all throughout the play a state of denial. Although she tries hard not to reveal that she is in denial, she unknowingly hints at it when she reveals her denial through her words. Prior to Blanche’s arrival, she lost the family estate at Belle Reeve. Not to mention, she lost her husband at a young age. Blanche tries to perceive herself as rich, eloquent, and formal, when she is really not. Blanche’s denial shows itself at numerous occasions, the most prominent being the scene prior to Blanche’s rape.

Blanche is in what she is pretending to be, an expensive and elegant dress for a yacht party. Stanley knows that she is lying right through her teeth, about the dress and about her millionaire friend. Stanley bashes Blanche saying:

“As a matter of fact there wasn’t no wire at all!…There isn’t no millionaire! And Mitch didn’t come back with roses ’cause I know where he is-…There isn’t a goddam thing but imagination!…And lies and conceit and tricks!…And look at yourself! Take a look at yourself in that worn-out Mardi Gras outfit, rented for fifty cents from some rag-picker! And with the crazy crown on! What queen do you think you are?”

Stanley noticed Blanche’s denial and used it against her to ultimately destroy her. Her denial is one of the major factors that led to her life crumbling into pieces. Stanley was just the person who actually had the nerve to bring it out and expose her for who she really was. As Blanche leaves the next morning, she is still in denial and still cannot accept herself, keeping her from the life she wanted to live!

Another factor can be taken into account as well for why Blanche just totally lost it. Blanche spent a lot of her life searching for that someone special and trying to fix some guys’ homosexuality. While Blanche is a Stella’s humble abode, she makes the acquaintance of Mitch, one of Stanley’s poker buddies. She starts to fall in love with Mitch and gets the feeling that he might ask her to marry him. However, Stanley, being the controlling nuisance that he is, sees it necessary to keep Mitch from loving Blanche. He disrupts Blanche’s love feelings inconspicuously revealing in numerous situations that Mitch feels sorry for her and that he does not really lover her. On the night of the rape, he makes it clear that Mitch does not love her when he makes it noticed to her that Mitch has not come to see her. Blanche’s potential relationship was destroyed by Stanley and could have saved her from the life that she was living if Stanley had not stuck his head in on the situation. Stanley is the match that lights Blanche’s flame. Stanley is the cause for all of Blanche’s breakdowns while at Stella’s home. He is also the pale of water that put out Blanche’s flame when he destroys the relationship that Blanche was building with Mitch. Stanley is one of those people in life who only see people for their negative qualities. He is one of those people who try to bring out a person’s negativity to get them out of the picture. Stanley brought out the negative energy bottled up in Blanche which in the end led to her complete psychotic breakdown.