Blanche in "Streetcar Named Desire"

I really sympathised with the character of Blanche after reading the play "A Street Car Named Desire". Blanche is really the victim of her fate and the victim of brutal realism represented by Stanley. Her inability to let go of her past makes her suffers a lot.

Blanche has the illusions towards almost everything in life, for example, she hides her real age from Mitch and does not admit that she has a drinking problem. She pretends that she is an old schoolmate who never married. She consistently pushes everything that is the "ugly and not beautiful truth" under the carpet. Yet, these illusions towards life and the inability to see the truth only shows that she is a weak character, who does not have the courage to accept fate and life as it is. She is a pitiful character in some ways or another.

We should not take advantages on people's weaknesses, but people around Blanche such as Stanley always take advantages on her. It is partly her undeniable fault that she is willing to have free sex with strangers, yet, all these men are not willing to take up the responsibilities to take care of her after having sex with her. They treat her as an object which do not worth thier respect and love. All these men only want her body to satisfy their animal desires. They take her for granted. She is merely a victim of men's sexual desire.

In fact, Stanley is the most typical example who takes advantages on Blanche. Though Blanche is not as good as the way she tries to present herself, this does not mean that Stanley can rape her and uses her body to satisfy his animal desires. In fact, Stanley should give Blanche much more respect compared to other men, since Stanley is Blanche's brother-in-law. It is an act of infidelity towards Stella in raping Blanche. Blanche is mistreated by Stanley.

By: Chuah Kar Wooi
134185
B. Ed. (TESL)
Group 21