Major Project

Kara Freeman

Dr.Murdock

American Literature

4/29/20

  “A streetcar named Desire” is written in the historical context of post world war two. This is a time period that is still recovering from the Great Depression. Almost every relationship in this play has some kind of tension. This is because there is an explosive collision of people coming from different worlds in this pinnacle time of tension   in America. Stanley is still exerting his masculinity in the home because that is what he had grown used to being in the war. Men who were coming back from the war were ready to settle down and start their lives. There is one character who particularly has a lot to be dissected. I am going to dig deeper into the character of Blanche; her character development and her significance to the plot. The character Blanche is built on an entire illusion. She does not just have charm, elegance, and femininity. In essence, her charm and prestige is who she is. Throughout the play she progresses from being portrayed as a judgemental upper class person to a narcissist to a full blown basket case who has lost all grip on reality. Out of any other character in the play, she is the one who most represents this important theme of desire. That being said, I’d like to be doing a deep analysis of her flashy outward appearance, what shaped her to be like that, and finally an analysis of Tennessee Williams.

One can observe from the start that she does not get any deeper than the surface level and she can only appeal to men’s attention on the basis of her charming schemes. It is striking and uncanny to watch her unnatural ways; as she moves around and functions. She seems to be entirely wrapped up in her materialism, as it literally embodies who she is. Ultimately, she is nothing without it. She says, “After all, fifty % of a woman’s charm is an illusion”. On top of this, she manipulates people in order to maintain and sustain this image she has of herself. She disguises the fact that she is an alcoholic because it would not align with her prim and proper character. Truly, charm is not the formation of her character, lies are. This goes deeper than just charming men; she is formally mentally manipulating and draining. She even takes advantage of Stella, whom she has already lied to about why she has visited. When she mentions Belle Reve, she is already in a state of defense because she assumes that Stella is going to get defensive. She explains, “The burden did fall on my shoulders” to try and guilt trip her, when Stella was not even going to be defensive in the first place. She views everything through this lense of how it can benefit her and she can not understand anyone else’s perspective. The world is forced to conform to her ways because she is unaccommodating. She is in fact quite the enigma, but there is an explanation for this character and her illusion is not as much of an enigma as it seems. 

 Blanche finally admits in one scene that she doesn’t want realism; she wants magic. It is relieving as an audience who is trying to investigate her to hear this, because at least we now know that she is somewhat aware of the illusion and she clearly states in her own words that she wants something that does not exist. She just lives as if it does exist. Another unsettling thing as that throughout the play she refuses to be seen in the light and this is no doubt metaphorical. The truth is that when her charm is taken away, there is not just air there; there is still something that exists underneath it. When she is forced into the light, we see her shattered brokenness. She did not just wake up one day with her manipulative lying nature; she was built that way.  I’d imagine that she started uninentionally builidng herself this way after the suicide of her first husband. Already that is intolerable pain; but for it to be the man who you shared your life with and adored? Of course it would be hard not to develop defense mechanisms. The further time went on, the stronger that she had built these mechanisms and they simply evolved and became their own monsters. Stanley’s cruel treatment to her in the play breaks her down to a point where the audience does see the pain that she carries. She is so withdrawn that it truly took the power of wrath from a terrifying man like Stanley to feel the pain that she has. She is so detached from her inner self that she barely knows how to express the pain of Mitch ditching her, explaining that she has never had a man stand her up. In a broken down moment in one scene she explains that,  ”Relations with strangers is what she filled up her empty heart with”. She no longer has an understanding of what she truly desires, so she started to develop sexual desires even if it means having the attention of a man for just one night. We see this crumble and fall apart near the end when she gets taken advantage of and she has this shattered epiphany that she has been used. In the beginning of the play it bothered me that she said to Stella,”You’re all I’ve got in the world but you’re not glad to see me” because she was accusing her but now I understand in full where this sentence comes from and I have empathy for her. There is truth behind every illusion. 

No doubt that the creator of this character deserves to be dissected as well. For one could only create this kind of character, who truly understands the depths of this kind of person. Tenesee Williams stretched where no one else was comfortable to stretch. He was willing to go outside of the box regardless if it scared people. In his interview he said, ”I have never cared if I shock people because people who are shocked with the truth are not deserving of the truth,”. This is a bold statement claiming that he has revealed the realities of humanity and that it is up to people if they are ready for the truth or not. If they decide that it’s just too uncomfortable, then they themselves are living in an illusion. When asked how he would like to be remembered he said “I’m not sure. I have not given it that much thought”.  He seemed to be indifferent to it. Leaving a legacy behind is a desire that many folks have, but his indifference to it proves the authenticity of his work. He also explained that he wrote out of “an intense personal need” which also takes the authenticity to a whole other level. Not only did he not write for admiration, but he wrote out of a deep need. That means that the intensity of this character did not appear out of midair but it came from deep within another human.

In conclusion, “A Streetcar Named Desire” is a staple of its time and represents so much more than life in the South. Tenesee Williams was willing to talk about the untalked about; violence, insanity, patriarchal madness, and the pain behind materialistic masks. It can be concluded that what one desires is what will drive them in life and decide all of their actions. Whether that’s Stanley who desires power, Stella who desires keeping the peace, or Blanche who desires magic, their desires are at the core of their entire life and pour out all around them. Out of all the characters, Blanche is the only one that desires something that does not exist. From watching the torment that she went through, we can conclude at the very least, to desire what is real.