A Streetcar Named Desire

Thomas Lanier Williams, known as Tennessee Williams, the author of A Street Car Named Desire presents the contradiction and paradox that real human life could offer. It is a play with elements of tragedy and pathos that was published and staged in 1947. The theme of the story presents conflicts that the central character, Blanche Dubois, has to live with. The theme is not dramatic or out of life as most of us live in our illusory world which can be very far from reality. While most of us deal with our delusions and distinguish between reality and fantasy, others, like Blanche Dubois, become victims of overwhelming delusion. And she knows it: “Blanche explains to Mitch that she lies because she refuses to accept the hand that fate has dealt her. Lying to herself and to others allows her to make life seem as it should be and not as it is.” “.

The plot of the story is beautifully crafted and continues to highlight a number of emotional traits that are put to the test during the time of human tragedy. Most human beings are weak because of their inescapable need to cry over the shoulder of someone close. Sometimes this dependency takes a severe form, as in Stella’s dependency on Stanley for love and support; Mitch, an otherwise sober character, is also not without the need for companionship that he finds in Blanche, following the death of his mother. White also needs support. Whether Stanley offers the support or not is an issue that needs analysis. Money is important, as it is to Blanche, while Stanley, a down-to-earth worker proud of his masculinity, must make sure Blanche doesn’t cheat on him. The drama shows that as life moves from the past to the present, the lingering past simply cannot be erased, whether it be Stella trying to move on after leaving Belle Reve, or Blanche trying to find a man in her life after her husband left. suicidal, or Stanley apologizes for his abrupt actions. The past continues to haunt them in the present. Death is shocking, and it is especially so if it involves someone close and close. It can often involve a sudden change in one’s outlook and personality. The death of Blanche’s husband has a profound impact on her, even as it has on the other members of the Dubois family. Mitch is faced with the death of his only love, as well as his dying mother, who ultimately dies.

There are several other characteristic themes that are fused into the single plot. One such theme is the loss of a world that meant status and class, and consequently a downward spiral into working-class ghetto life. The impact of this social issue translates into loneliness, insecurity and having to endure cruelty. Stella and Blanche, the two sisters, originally belong to a world that no longer exists for them. His family’s ancestral plantation, Belle Reve, is lost. His world is also lost along with him. The two sisters are the only living symbols of the old world. In the second scene, Blanche makes a comment to Stella about Stanley that says it all: “Oh, I guess he’s not the type to wear jasmine perfume, but maybe it’s what we need to mix with our blood now that we’ve lost Belle.” Reve”.
They are left with two options: face reality and accept it, or live in an imaginary fantasy world to which Blanche succumbs; Stella accepts reality. The real world is now the harsh world of hardship, cruelty, working-class culture, and life symbolized by Stanley. Stanley embodies raw masculinity that intrigues and repulses at the same time. He and her world stand in stark contrast to the aristocratic world of Blanche Dubois, to which she is no longer heir, but he persists with her illusions even when they remain together, allowing readers to contrast what might be the symbols of the real and the illusion.

Let’s look at the paradox in Blanche’s life: Blanche’s illusory world offers her solace, since it is in fact her main means of self-defense. Her delusions do not arise from malicious intent, but are an extreme reflection of her fragility in coping with the misery of real life. She seems extremely reluctant to face the truth head on. “For her, the fantasy has a liberating magic that protects her from the tragedies she has endured. Unfortunately, this defense is fragile and will be shattered by Stanley.”

Blanche makes a dramatic entrance onstage looking for her sister’s house. She looks at the apartment building in disbelief as she checks the address. She seems to take pity on Stella, since her sister has to live in such a dilapidated building. Blache, in her 30s, elegant and attractive, a little emaciated and weak, is in her white suit with pearl earrings and white gloves. She seems lost and out of place in the ghetto populated by blue collar workers. Blanche tells Eunice when she asked if she was lost: “I was told to take a streetcar called Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries, walk six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields.”

From here, the cocoon of unreality that Blanche lives in to protect herself from her weaknesses, including her inability to suppress her sexual desires, becomes apparent. She refuses to acknowledge and lies about her promiscuous behavior on Laurel. “She avoids bright light, lest it reveal her physical imperfections; and refuses to acknowledge her alcohol problem. Stanley effectively penetrates his cocoon verbally with his rude insults and physically with his sexual coup near the end of the construction site”. Unlike Blanche, Stanley is rude, rude and domineering ruled by primal instincts. His opinion of him can be seen as what he says about Stanley in the course of a conversation with Stella: “He acts like an animal, he has habits like an animal. He eats like one, moves like one, talks like one.” He’s a man who calls a shovel, a damn shovel. His manner is rough and slang, working class. He is hell-bent on destroying every fabric of facade that is Blanche Dubois’s protective armor.

That is what reality does to illusion. Recklessly tear the wrapper of falsehood. However, we see Blanche not entirely deceitful with herself. She realizes that they have no choice but to mix her superior blood with the working class, as she sympathizes with the fate of Stella’s son, who will not enjoy any of the privileges that she and her sister had. . However, Blanche simply fails to accept the terms of reality. In fact, it is this failure that has serious consequences for her. There comes a point towards the end of the drama when she completely loses her mental proportions.