A Streetcar Named Desire

A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams’s, A Streetcar Named Desire discusses the different stages of life in several different ways. He uses three main characters to demonstrate the obstacles in each of these fazes. The first character being Blanche she is cultivated; fantasy seeking, and a southern bell that has a hard time grasping reality. Ronald Hayman states that,”Blanche is a faded beauty who affects a greater gentility than she has ever had”. (Hayman 101) She lives in her head and remembers situations the way she wanted them to happen. Stanley on the other hand lives life day to day, he is very realistic and compared to Blanche he is very primitive. Stanley is called a “different species” when described to Blanche by his wife Stella. Stella is the third character she is the navigator, the author uses her to calm the other characters when they are worried. Her focus is to please both characters by avoiding the truth. She does not tell Stanley how Belle Rive was lost nor does she seem to care. Stella calms Blanche by treating her like royalty. Since these characters are not similar and have unique roles they adapt to the changes life throws at them in different ways. Thus making the cycle of life is a very important aspect when comparing these characters.

The play starts with the reference to the cycle of life. Tennessee Williams later states in, Conversations with Tennessee Williams,”I have always had a deep feeling for the mystery in life and essentially my plays have been an effort to explore the beauty and meaning in the confusion of living.” (p.28) This explains the continuous references of the life cycle and the importance it plays in the script. Through out Blanches’ destination she has completed the life cycle. First upon the streetcar named Desire (life on Earth); then she was transferred to Cemeteries (end of life). From there she ends up on Elysian Fields (which meant afterlife in ancient Greek) which conclude her trip. Once arriving to Stanley and Stella’s her first remark was disapproving of her sisters living situation. Her judgment right off and her drinking give some indication she is unsatisfied with her life. She puts down Stella’s house, her attire, her husband and everything else she can think of belittling. When she is done she goes on to announce all of the hardships she has faced with no one to comfort or care for her. She desired some comfort but was given none. Thus starting the unfolding of the problems she has that associate with her breakdown.

Blanche begins to name all the “deaths” that have brought her to where she is now, at the end of her life. Her husband killed himself because he was unhappy and his desire for the same sex relationship was denied in her world. The death of her parents which left her alone and in charge of much more than she could handle. Soon after Belle Rive "died" and she was left with the blame not only from herself but from others which she felt closes too. Her career was the next “death” in her life and from that she transferred to New Orleans to make a new beginning. She realized that with the passing of time the “death” of her youth had approached. Death is Blanches’ biggest fear but it tends to surround her life.

The arrival to Stella’s place was Blanches last hope she wanted a restart in life. A clean slate, no one knew of the many men she had in Belle Rive but Stanley knew something was not right. He wanted the truth he wanted reality not the fantasy talk she told Stella and Mitch. Blanche tried to start a new relationship with Mitch. She was not honest with him and Stanley told Mitch the truth. He can not imagine this delicate