A Streetcar Named Desire - Book Report/Review Example

There's an old saying that goes, "houseguests are like fish, after three days they start to stink." In Tennessee William's play, 'A Streetcar d Desire', since the day Blanche Dubois decides to visit her sister Stella Kowalski till the day five months later, she is practically thrown out, relations between the characters deteriorate steadily, with Blanche, the most vulnerable of the trio, going completely out of her mind. No doubt her own character flaws and behavior contribute largely to this tragic end, but the one character who needs to take the most responsibility for what happened is definitely her sister Stella. Franois de La Rochefoucauld once said, "We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation." This is specially true of Stella. She is a weak character, with no clear opinion of her own. She is forever vacillating between taking sides with her husband and her sister - whoever happens to be more convincing at the moment. She takes the easy way out in a situation that she alone has the power to put a stop to. And because of her lack of decision things get completely out of hand and reach the point of no return. She eventually betrays her sister, lets her husband get away with rape, and in the process ends up living a lie. Let's take the main players: Stanley Kowalski and Blanche Dubois are both strong characters, but they are the antitheses of each other. Blanche finds it difficult to face reality. She prefers to hide behind illusions and pretenses. As she tells Mitch (Scene 9) "I don't want realism. I want magic!" Whereas Stanley is as real as the piece of raw meat he handles at the beginning of the play. Blanche relies on the "kindness of strangers" (Scene 11), while Stanley is clearly a self-made man with his destiny firmly within his control - or at least till Blanche turns up to disturb the balance. He is honest to the point of brutality, unlike Blanche for whom 'life is too full of evasions and ambiguities', so she not only deceives others, but herself too. Blanche describes Stanley as a "survivor of the Stone Age". While this is too extreme, Stanley is clearly a male chauvinist and has a rather primitive streak when it comes to women. He treats Stella quite roughly and demonstrates his power over women with his demands and aggressiveness, whereas Blanche swoons and uses weaknesses to get her own way. However they behave, throughout the play, it will be noticed that Stanley and Blanche are true to their selves, but the same cannot be said of Stella. Stella comes from the same genteel background as Blanche, but she has chosen a more earthy and coarse lifestyle. Unlike Blanche who despite her checkered lifestyle is more of a romantic, Stella follows her basic animal instincts more than any intellectual or romantic call. Before Blanche comes on the scene, she is happy enough with her husband. To his credit, Stanley welcomes Blanche with an open mind. He puts up with her fancy ideas about the dcor, the way she hogs the tub with her predilection for hot water baths, drinks up all his liquor (without contributing in the least towards the house) and flirts with his poker pals. It is only when she starts putting him down, and turning his wife against him that he feels threatened and strikes out - in an instinctive animalistic way, and then he goes straight for the jugular. Stella should have been more sensitive to the needs of her husband, who clearly loves and cares for her. She has made a commitment to love, honor and obey him, therefore he should have been her priority, but she not only invites Blanche to stay, she encourages Blanche's disparaging comments about her husband. Stella should also have realized that any houseguest is bound to upset the natural rhythm of a household. But with a dangerously disturbed and destructive guest like Blanche there's no way there can be any peace in the house. Especially when her husband and sister practically strike sparks off each other every time they interact. Stella should have made her choice a long time back, and ended the situation. She was the only one with the real power to do so and thereby avoid the tragic events that followed. Of course it could be argued that she cared deeply for both her sister and her husband and was torn between the two. But that itself should have made her realize that a potentially difficult situation was building up. She should have had the guts to make a decision, either to choose between her husband and her sister, or find another way of helping her sister, without having her in their face all the time. Only then would the situation have eased up and not escalated into tragedy. Strangely, despite her bad behavior, one does feel sorry for Blanche, because she is living in an imaginary world and simply cannot cope with what life has thrown her. She is ruled by her desires, but as Williams says, "Desire is rooted in the longing for companionship, a release from loneliness which haunts every individual." (Corrigan 1973). The anguish of her solitude becomes steadily more unbearable for Blanche as she is cut off from all her old securities - her house, her young husband, her old lifestyle and all the luxuries that went with it. To make things worse, Stanley forces her to face up to the disparity between her outer life and the demeaning (for her) way she is living and her inner life of a different way of dreaming. (Corrigan 1973) So, with Blanche who is too emotionally damaged to think clearly and do something on her own, and Stella who is too spineless to make a move, it is left to Stanley to react the only way he knows how - through gut feel and brute animal force. He attacks her at her most vulnerable spot. He not only rips apart all her pretenses and illusions, he violates her physically. Thus, mind and body raped, Blanche has nowhere to retreat to but into the very recesses of her mind. A tragedy that could have been well avoided if only Stella had the courage to "stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood" and pull the trigger when she should have done. Works Cited Corrigan, Robert W (1973). "The Present and Its Possibilities," The Theatre in Search of a Fix. http://www.guthrietheater.org/act_III/studyguide/section_element.cfmid_studyguide=20118626&id_study_category=2. (accessed 27th March, 2006) Read More