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A Streetcar Named Desire tells the
tale where a the main character, Blanche De’Bois, is caught in a fatal inner contradiction,
implying that she is not compatible with the ‘New South’. William’s makes it
evident that the demise of Blanche Dubois is a consequence of numerous important
actions in her life as one learns as the play develops; however the demise of
the main character is caused by the failure to develop and accept the post-war
America – one which is liberal, male-dominated and far less aristocratic. It is
this which escalates the whole tragic process and it can be argued that the
males of the play, in particular Stanley Kowalski, represent New America.
Primarily, William’s lengthy use of
stage directions to introduce Blanche to the audience, present her being
‘shocked’ and in ‘disbelief’ when she discovers where her married sister lives;
William’s describes Blanche’s appearance as being ‘incongruous to this
setting’. Clearly, Blanche is unfamiliar with the buzzing, lively setting of
New Orleans where there is ‘intermingling’ of different races; it will
certainly be a dramatic change for Blanche, a typical Southern Belle with ‘a
flirtatious yet chaste demeanour’ and more refined tastes. New Orleans is a
perfect example of the changing face of America, a province with a ‘variant way
of life’, a city with its ‘bawdy’ delights or its ‘proud free black and slave
inhabitants’ – this above all would have alienated Blanche from her
surroundings, and William’s lexis choice of ‘incongruous’ is the perfect
adjective which describes Blanche’s discord in this new setting, whose
‘uncertain manner’ hints and foreshadows her nature which brings about her
demise – of course this ‘uncertain manner’ may not draw the attention of the
audience because her arrival to a
foreign place shrouds her peculiar state.
Blanche is presented as being a
sensitive and unpredictable character and William’s portrays this through her
responses in dialogue; she shouts at her sister to ‘Turn that off! I won’t be
looked at in that merciless glare’. This erratic and rather aggressive response
to a light being switched on already
indicates that there is something wrong with Blanche because of her inability
to look at herself in light; she is clearly sensitive about her age and her appearance.
Perhaps this is a satirical comment about the pressures placed on women at the
time, in a heavily male dominated society that subdued women and prevented them
from being liberated; perhaps Blanche is afraid and therefore refuses to look
at the world in a harsh light herself. The adjective ‘merciless’ could reflect
how in society, women like Blanche, widows who became spinsters were shunned,
particularly in the deep South, judging by the rigid and innate values that a
lady was supposed to be the embodiment of – Blanche is quite the opposite; the
audience later learns that her husband’s suicide, a man who is described as
having a ‘tenderness’ and being ‘the least bit effeminate looking’ has had a profound effect on her life. The
playwright emphasises that Blanche’s behaviour has derived from a cluster of
events which severely impacted her; the suicide of her homosexual husband,
Allan Grey, was traumatic for Blanche and implicates that the overwhelming love
for her husband was perhaps the last wholesome emotion that she allowed herself
to succumb to. Clearly, Blanche has been heartbroken as she refers to her heart
as being ‘empty’ and this compels the audience to pity this creature, whom
William’s describes as ‘a person of intense loneliness’ and it is Blanche’s
demise at the end of the play which demonstrates that the gnawing power of loneliness can lead
to one’s self destruction; all she longs for is ‘warmth and protection’. Allan
Grey’s death was a pivotal moment in Blanche’s life because it was these losses
that drove her down and lead her to her sister’s doorsteps. Even with Mitch,
Blanche admits that after her husband’s death ‘intimacies with strangers was
all [she] seemed to be able to fill [her] empty heart’ – sleeping with other
men filled the void left by Allan Grey. William reminds the audience that
Blanche fell in love at a young age, she was still a child, with a child’s
naivety and vulnerability, her love was like a ‘blinding light’; therefore it
is no surprise that after the death of her husband she was lead to a sordid and
immoral path, where she was constantly ‘hunting for some protection’.
Ultimately, Blanche feels responsible for her husband’s death as she criticised
him for being a homosexual, claiming that he ‘disgust’ her. It is Blanche’s
first excruciatingly painful heartbreak which leads her to deteriorate –
through William’s use of expressionism, the playwright sheds light behind the
justifications for her ‘vice’ actions. Some critics have suggested that
William’s considers ‘Blanche guilty for not saving her husband from his
homosexuality’ because she did not show ‘more womanly support and compassion
for the young man’. To an extent, this statement is true – if Blanche had shown
her husband more support, perhaps her demise would have never come about.
However, it can be argued that this would never be possible in the prejudiced
society of the South – homosexuality was considered evil and non-existent;
people believed that it could be medically treated.
William’s dramatization of Blanche
depicts as her a ‘moth-like’ creature that doesn’t ‘want realism’, but would
much rather prefer ‘magic’ and does not tell the whole truth, instead what she
thinks ‘ought to be truth’. Blanche’s personal desires for all things
beautiful, a rose tinted world where what ‘ought to be truth’ was in fact the
truth, such as her claims of having an incredibly wealthy friend, who she
intended to travel with, after being told by Stanley that she must leave
Elysian fields. Her reluctance to face reality is an indication of her mental
stability; she continues to maintain the facade that she thinks is reality.
Through this, William’s demonstrates how easy it is for one to distort reality
from the surreal; another example of how Blanche’s demise can be explained. In
addition to this, compared to any other characters in the play, for example
Stella Dubois, Blanche’s actions are far more melodramatic as she is described
as giving a ‘piercing cry’ as a locomotive ‘thunders past’. Blanche’s
overreactions towards everyday life highlight the fragility of her mental
state. This is evident through her hyperbolic actions – William’s hints that
once a major event occurs, Blanche’s hold of sanity will be completely lost.
The most poignant moment of the
play, where William’s induces a huge amount of sympathy for Blanche is during
the her victimisation: her rape. Here, the audience witnesses Blanche at her
weakest point as her vulnerability is clearly demonstrated through William’s
use of plastic theatre; he describes her ‘clutching the broken top’ of a glass
bottle, in an attempt to defend herself against the violent, aggressive and
incredibly animalistic Stanley. Clearly, Blanche is non compliant in the rape;
however, Lant believe that ‘William’s harbours false notions about rape’ and
that Blanche was a promiscuous woman who deserve everything she got. Of course,
this viewpoint is incredibly narrow-minded and is identical to many of the
opinions expressed at the time about the sensitive topic of rape. However, it
is evident that William’s believes that the rape scene is a metaphor and holds
deeper meaning; he believed that the rape scene contained ‘some very important
truths about the world we live in’ and in many ways this view is correct. In
essence, Stanley’s rape of Blanche represents and reflects the harsh, brutal
forces of the world and in a sense, it could be viewed as the New America
(being Stanley) taking hold of the Old America (being Blanche), in particular
the Old South’s traditions that Stanley undoubtedly feels threatened by. This
is how the changing face of America takes control of Blanche and breaks her
soul; she ‘moans’ and is portrayed as reluctantly giving in, as ‘she sinks to
her knees’; Blanche is forced to submit to Stanley, who describes them both
having ‘this date with each other from the beginning!’. Stanley’s final comment
closes the scene as he carries Blanche’s ‘inert figure’ to the bed, a clear
indication that she is about to be raped. From this final comment, William’s
suggests to the audience that in a world like this, women like Blanche stand no
chance against men like Stanley and this is again emphasised through the
sinister and vile mood of the rape scene that demonstrates how Blanche is in no
way compliant; William’s does not wish to compel the audience into believing
that the rape was in any way just. One may also see this as a fact that there
is no room in the New America for the narrow-minded, often racist and discriminatory
behaviour of the Old south. In the end, it is not a person that destroys
Blanche, it is not Stanley, it is simply a thing and it was those who Blanche
exploited that were unwilling to try and comprehend her need for a facade and
illusion. Elia Kazan, the man responsible for the dramatic adaptation of the
play understood that it was Blanche’s ‘inner sickness’ that pursued her like
‘doom’ and made it ‘impossible for her to attain the one thing she needs’, in
fact the only thing she needs, ‘a safe place’.
William’s decision to end the play
with Blanche being taken away provides no sense of resolution or closure, with
Blanche’s last remarks, when leaving with the doctor that she has ‘always
depended on the kindness of strangers’ and hence her life ends with her handing
herself to a stranger. William’s use of dramatic irony highlights Blanche’s
greatest flaw that was the cause for her plight; she is too trusting of people.
Unfortunately, everything about Blanche meant that it was impossible for a
woman as delicate, refined and beautiful as her to survive in the real world,
especially in New America – her illusions are destroyed, as is she. Perhaps,
the most agonising part of the ending, is that life continues to go on as
Eunice reminds Stella, that ‘life must go on’ and everyone resumes to their
lives; the women with their turbulent marriages and the men with their poker
game. William’s final comment is harrowing as it is a clear example of how society is cruel and will continue to go
on and move on without giving a second thought to those who are damaged –
sometimes carrying on in life is the hardest thing of all.
Ultimately, Blanche’s demise was
simply inevitable; what makes it particularly poignant is the amount of truth
that is captured – society’s refusal to attempt and comprehend the reason for
this woman’s erratic behaviour makes her downfall all the more tragic. Blanche
Dubois has been fabricated by William’s in such a way that she reflects how
modern society at the time could be incredibly merciless towards the weak and
the vulnerable. She functions to evoke emotions of empathy in the audience;
they are compelled to become more aware of this flaw in society that has
damaged the many who simply want ‘warmth and protection’ but are denied it by
the brutality of the realistic world.
