"A Streetcar Named Desire," I think is a very interesting title first of all. The streetcar isn't really the important part though. I think that desire plays a big part in this play though for many characters. Blanche, being a main character that really sticks out. She is so needy and it's ridiculous. Blanche has lost everything that she knew and it seems that she really can't handle it. Having a rich upbringing really brought her down. When she goes to stay with Stella for a little while, it seems that it's more than just a visit. She ends up staying for a while, and the whole time it doesn't really seem like she grew as a person.
Blanche really couldn't believe that Stella lived in such a small place first of all. Both of them had such wealthy upbringings, but Stella had been able to get past that and live a happy life. Unfortunately Blanche couldn't, and she had such a strong desire to be how she used to be. The whole play she is critiquing things on and off, and trying to change things, and convince Stella that Stanley isn't up to her standards.
Although Blanche just wants to be back to Belle Reve there isn't any way, and she doesn't really seem to be trying either. She wants and wants but does nothing to get it. The only thing that she really seems to be good at is getting men. With her southern belle ideals in mind it is hard for her because she seems to have such a strong sexual desire. For example, although she never slept with Mitch it was defiantly in her mind. Their first date she asks him to sleep with her in French. Obviously Mitch didn't know what she said, and they didn't sleep together it is clear that she had that desire, and was fighting it.
All in all, I'm not really sure if I felt sorry for Blanche or if I even liked her as a character. She was very interesting and definitely was a big part of the play, but she was so needed that sometimes the reader/viewer seemed to get annoyed by her. she couldn't do anything for herself but wanted so much.
10 comments:
Hi Amanda,
I understand what you mean about Blanche. I sort of didn't feel sorry for her in the play. Actually I felt more sorry for myself because she was pretty annoying at times. It made me frustrated that she wasn't even attempting to get in touch with reality. Even when Stanley called her out, she still kept on lying without even trying to makeup an excuse for what she had perviously said. For example the telegram and Mitch coming back to apologize to her. Stanley TOLD her there was no telegram and she's like "what telegram?" so sad.
I am not sure if I feel sorry for Blanche. Watching part of the movie makes her seem even more itchy and crazy. I don't agree with how she lies to everyone even her sister. She lies so much I began to be annoyed with her. But what distrubed me is how Stanely delt with her. Attacking someone like that is not the way to handle anything, I feel like Stanely could of done something else to make her tell the truth or make her leave in a nicer way.
I think that the outcome of the story would be completely different if Blanche wasn't so into the idea of her living a rich life. If she didn't come off as a stuck up relative of Stella, I don't think that Stanley would have despised her from the second she arrived at their house. If Blanche wasn't so stereotypical of what a "lower class" family's lifestyle was like, and if she was more understanding, I think that things would have turned out different, and for the better.
I had not given much thought to how desire played a role in the play. But, after reading your blog, I realized that it is the prominent theme that dominates the play. I think that Blanche has the most desire. She desires a time gone by. She wants to relive another time. Belle Reve is her portal to such a time. And I think that the desire that she has is what keep her from experiencing reality. She cannot see the world as it is because her eyes are clouded by desire.
I agree with you that I couldn't figure out whether or not I felt bad for Blanche. In a way I did because after everything she's been through I can kind of see what she acts the way she does. On the other hand from what she shows the reader she doesn't seem to care about anyone including her sister Stella which makes me get upset. Blanche is one of those characters that only her family could love.
You brought up a great point about Stella escaping the wealth and aristocracy of the Old South to be happy, while Blanche, the Southern Belle, is unable to be happy. All Blanche has in this world is her name, her looks, and her material possessions. We can see by her quoting poetry and reciting French that she is book smart but clearly needs someone else (probably a man) to take care of matters of the estates and finances. I think Williams uses this to show how the Old South is a thing of the past and those that didn't get out at the right time missed the boat.
Amanda,
I am not quite sure myself why the play is named after this streetcar, for I could not make a strong enough connection to it for it to have any importance. Although Blanche talks about it in one of her final ranting and ravings, it is not clear to me what its significance is. I however, did find Blanche as needy as you discussed, sometimes even causing me to laugh. I could not imagine someone acting that helpless and dependent on others all of the time. Living in a world where one is supposed to be strong and independent, it is a concept that is very difficult to grasp. I also liked the conclusion you made about how it does not seem “like she grew as a person.” Blanche does act like a lost little girl, rather than a grown woman, living very much in a fantasy and scrutinizing everything round her. Much like Katherine Anne Porter’s character Miranda, Blanche takes everything in around her, and is startled by abrupt sounds and noises (such as the train). In this way, I had some sympathy for her, even though her neediness was irritating at times.
I think that everyone in class was a little annoyed with Blanche in this play she was a hard character to deal with, but I also felt sorry for her. Her up bringing really did set her up for failure and that's sad. As for Blanche's critiques of stella I think that she was probably a little jealous of Stanley, she was desparate to get close with her sister again, so she picked apart the life Stella and Stanley made together while trying to seem sympathetic. I don't think she was trying to be so manipulative to be mean but because she didn't know any better way to say what she needed or wanted.
I also agree with you about Blanche. But I know I definitely do not feel sorry for her. The way I read the character was pretty much pitiful. Everything that happened to her was brought on by her own actions, aside from her husband committing suicide, which even that her selfish attitude still contributed. Blanche was put in many hard situations through out her entire life, but she never seemed to honestly try and turn her life around.
I did end up feeling sorry for Blanche- she was a victim of society and her inabilty to let go of her old world views. They and Stanley literally crushed her. However I saw Stella as the one who epitomized the theme of desires. She left belle reve in search of something else, something she desired for and readers always focus on either Sanley or Blanche as the "character" but it is Stella that desires a better marriage, who wants peace and quiet and really is the traic one beacuse her desires has gone unfulfilled.
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