Streetcar Named Desire 2 Essay Research Paper

The main character, Blanche from the play A Streetcar Named Desire witnesses many tragedies. These incidents are forever etched in her memory. She comes to stay with her sister Stella thinking she is running away from her past but instead her past catches up with her and from depression gradually turns insane. Blanche s pathetic disintegration begins with the loss of her loved ones, the abandonment of Mitch and getting raped by Stanley.

The unfortunate incidents of death that Blanche witness begin with the death of her late husband Allan. She was married with Allan at the age of sixteen where she made the discovery- love (Williams 1.94). She then goes on to explain to Mitch that she found her husband in bed with another a man who had been his friend for years. She was shocked but did not say anything. Later that day they went to a casino, she was drunk and told him how disgusted she was by his behavior. Hearing this by her caused him to feel ashamed and unwanted. So he went outside and committed suicide. Following this incident Blanche feels guilty for telling him that she saw him with his friend in bed because she feels responsible for his death. A couple years later as Blanche was recovering the guilt and death of her husband she experiences a few more tragedies of death. Blanche is again distressed about the past; she feels that her role was too much for her to have played alone. Blanche tells Stella, funerals are pretty compared to deaths. (Williams 1.19-20) She explains to Stella that what people saw was the pretty part, however what she had to do alone was face the hard path. Blanche was forced to face with and deal with death. The funerals were easy to handle but death was not, it was gruesome. She is talking about the death of her father, mother and Margaret who died in front of her eyes. She also states in her conversation with Stella I, I, I took the blows in my face and my body! All of those deaths Sometimes their breathing is hoarse and sometimes it rattles, and sometimes they even cry out to you, Don t let me go. As if you were able to stop them but I saw! Saw! Saw! (Williams 1.26-27) Deaths of her loved ones are the one of the things that begins her wearing down and insanity.

It then just goes down hill for Ms. Blanche Dubois as she now found love once again and because of the lack of truth in the relationship on her part she is torn away from her new special someone. We find this out when Mitch visits Blanche to tell her that there relationship cannot continue. He has come to tell her that he wants to find out the truth about her. Mitch wants to know if the accusations are true. And if they are he wants to end their relationship. However it takes him sometime as he has to muster up the courage to tell her what is on his mind. He finds it hard at first but when she asks him what was on his mind. He gets the courage and asks her to let him see her face in the light, so that all of her masquerades or curtains of deceit could be removed to reveal the true woman, behind the mask. When the light falls on Blanche face, her fantasy dies. She can no longer hide her face from Mitch. When Mitch tells her that she is not clean enough to bring in the house (Williams 9.121), to bring with his mother. This statement destroys Blanche as it adds to her inferiority complex. The man she loves sees her as being filthy and unfit to be shown to his mother. This kills what little was remaining of the fragile Blanche Dubois. Blanche descends further into madness as she tells Mitch that if he does leave she will scream fire. Upon hearing that her relationship with Mitch cannot continue she goes more in the road of insanity. She cannot handle the pain and suffering once again. Her world is being torn apart again. She is being destroyed and there is nothing that she can do.

To further her insanity Blanche is dressed in an evening gown because she feels that Shep will come and take her on a Caribbean cruise. She is awaiting his arrival, ready to leave. Her clothes are packed and ready for departure. She breaks the mirror because she sees her reflection and it bothers her. She probably feels that Mitch did not continue the relationship because he felt that she was ugly. This bothered her and when she saw her image she was disgusted and in a fit of rage shattered the mirror. Then Stanley enters the room; he just comes home from the hospital where his wife is delivering. He tells her that there is no Shep he is just a person in her imagination. Stanley puts on his silk pajamas and is approaching towards Blanche as she breaks the bottle and clutching the broken top she threatens him that she would twist the broken end of the bottle in his face. He springs towards her overturning the table and she takes a swing at him and he catches her wrist telling her Tiger- tiger! Drop the bottle top! Drop it! We ve had this date with each other from the beginning! (Williams 9.130) These words by Stanley telling her to drop the bottle just shock the audience and keep them at the edge of their seats for Stanley s next move. Blanche then drops the bottle top and drops to her knees. He picks up her inert figure and carries her to the bed and rapes her. Stanley feel that at first she will resist but she will give in and enjoy it as the whore which she really is. Blanche instead goes into more depression than she is and goes insane.

Blanche goes through situations that she will never be able to forget. She experiences a great deal of tragedies as the play goes on. Since then Blanche has psychological problems, which leads her into insanity. She also loses her sister, as Stella believes her husband over Blanche telling her that he raped her. Stella stays with Stanley and sends Blanche to a mental asylum.