From time to time in life, there are times when one is faced with conflicts and most of the time it does not matter how much one tries since you are unable to fix things and in the end, one will end up with a broken record. A Streetcar Named Desire talks about an inconsolable woman known as Blanche. She is a victim of herself as well as her lifestyle and she is also a victim of unfair state of affairs that are occurring throughout her life. However, here are events that she could have handled better and thus avoid calamity but there are also things that were beyond her control and she had no option but to play along to the tragic up folding events in her eventful life. Comment by AUTECH: with
The key aspect of Blanche’s character is fear. The word “ magic” to me means the desire to be forgiven. When Blanche says magic, this shows her self-consciousness unable to deal with her reality thus leading to fantasy. Blanche got married to her husband Allan at a very young age. Being married at a young age is difficult for any young woman. Having to give up your dreams and starting a home with all the responsibilities that come along is quite a challenge. She questioned how she could have been better or the reason as to why her husband cheated. She xxdiscovered that her husband was cheating her with a man and this made her feel that that she is xxnot that type of woman that a husband can be satisfied with. Later she went in a bar to have xxdrinks with her cheating husband and his homosexual partner and it is during this time that she openly and drunkenly tells her husband that she is sickened by him. Her husband feels so xxembarrassed from the utterances of his wife and he turns on a revolver that he had on his xxmouth and he commits suicide in the exterior of the bar that they had been drinking. Any person is bound to be unbalanced after so much distress in such a short period. Argument is xxfronted that ever since Blanche had inferred to Alln as disgusting he committed suicide and this makes her the aggressor and not the victim that she paints herself to be. The deeds that led to xxAllan committing suicide were totally his and she could not have managed to prevent them. It is very obvious the both the couple could grip the confusion that was manifesting at that time and they handled them in divergent ways. Blanche was just the fatality of the awful state of affairs that affected the love of her life.
The grief of losing a loved one especially a spouse at a young age is beyond comprehension. Everyone wishes to grow old together with their spouse. Blanche loved her husband Allan very much, and this is evident when after died. In fact, she had to go to her sister’s apartment after she xxxxengaged herself in promiscuity in a bid to deal with her pain. Even though, that happened after she lost her husband by ten years. She could not bear the pain of losing her home. It must have hurt her so much. It must have made her feel like less a woman. Blanche’s self-esteem took xxa turn. She felt so low about her appearance and that is when she started dressing scantily to xxget the attention of other men. Without her dearly loved wife, Blanche needed love and all the men that she would charm with seduction were only because she wanted to mend the emptiness xxin her heart. However, this was not the truthful way of amending affairs and if she had gotten help, she would have dealt with the pain of losing her husband in a better way. Comment by AUTECH: fix
xxUnfortunately, she did not have the chance and when she loses her family’s plantation, Belle Reve, she is forced to live in Laurel and here she engages in prostitution since it is the only way xxshe can make money to help in her personal upkeep. During this period, she is living in hotel xxFlamingo and the men who are seeking for sexual favors are coming to her room every night. xxThe sexual relations with the men got out of control and every time a sexual relation ended, she would find herself with another one the next day. As a result she cemented a lousy reputation in the small town of Laurel. Knowing that she was still smarting from the demise of her suicidal husband and after understanding that the men she was having a relationship with could not patch up her inconsolable heart, she turned to drinking so that she can escape the misery of losing her xxhusband. The habit of drinking alcohol the whole night and the one night stands she finds herself very lonely and with nowhere to go.
She sleeps around with any interested man from her hometown. This behavior may have made her feel that she is still desirable after her husband cheated on her. She sleeps around with men to try and dismiss her feelings of betrayal self-worthlessness. As a result of not being able to deal with her grief and turning into promiscuity, Blanche was chased away from her hotel due to her loose morals. Since she did not have anywhere else to go, she moved in with her sister and brother in law. Blanche did not enjoy her stay here as well; a woman dealing with the pain of low self-esteem would do anything to make her relevant. During her stay there, she puts herself in a xxsuperior position thus that got her loathed. Blanche calls Stanley, her brother-in-law callous names and demeaning her sister makes her feel that she is way above others. She uses that to mask her past and what she has become as a person. Blanche is bitter about life because of all the things that have happened to her. Treating people in a demeaning way makes Blanche feel better because she can hurt people as much as she has gotten hurt before and also numb her pain for a while. Most of the negative things that happen to Blanche are a result of the pain she went xxthrough and she is trying to hide that pain which leads her into committing more mistakes.
xxFor Blanche to improve her miserable life, and also acquire a new character, she decides to move to Elysian fields with her younger sister Stella as well as her bad mannered husband, Stanley. She is feigning innocence as well as perfection to cover up her inadequacies back home xxis not enough since Stanley can clearly see through her. He exposes her behavior and as a xxresult he devastates the fresh life that she had started and again she gets back to where she started. Blanche becomes a victim to Stanley’s insensitive mistreatment. Not oblivious that they xxhad not once go along had Stanley not exposed her secrets she might just have had the chance to start a new life. To make her life even worse, she became a victim of serious sexual assaults to the churlish Stanley. In case she was not mentally imbalanced before, she is now. Stanley was xxcrooked and he should not have handled her way that he did while she was in such an unselfconfident shape.
Blanche then finds a job as a teacher, but the glory did not last long. She allegedly slept with one of the students. Despite having a job and a fresh start, the pain wouldn't just go away, and that was the only way she thought would numb her pain. When she moved out of Laurel, she went to New Orleans and specifically to her sister Stella’s apartment. When she met her sister Stella, she told her that because she lost their home and relatives she has to stay with her. Also, she had to tell her that she had lost her job due to her bad nerves. Actually, that was not true but she was trying to hide her relationship with a young boy who was seventeen years old. When Blanche xxarrived at New Orleans, she was lost and she did not know where the house of her sister is. The she met somebody whose name is Eunice. This person asked her where she wants to go. She xxtold him the address of her sister’s house. This when showed her where to go and she finally reached her sister’s house. She was afraid that her sister would not open the door for her because xxshe did not tell her that she would visit her at that time. Even though, Eunice wanted to let xxBlanche enter the house of her sister but she was worrying that Blanche was lying to her. xxxxSo, she asked her one more time whether she is Stella’s sister or not. Blanche replied yes xxand she entered and thanked Eunice for letting her in. She asked Eunice to leave her alone and xxEunice felt offended but Blanche apologized from her. Then the two sisters were looking at xxeach other and they ran to each other from due to their happiness that they saw each others. When Blanche met Mitch, she did not tell him the truth about her past life. The fact that Mitch hears about such things from other people makes him not trust her. Lack of trust in their relationship is the reason he breaks up with her. Blanche explains that her reason for lying to herself and those around her is a way of dealing with what fate has dealt her which has been misfortune after misfortune. Blanche does not want to live in reality as the pain hurts her as much as it did then. The past is what makes Blanche want to live in fantasy. She even tells Mitch xxxxthat, “I do not want realism, I want magic." According to Blanche, magic is supposed to make her bury her past mistakes including her feelings of hurt and live in a world where she has not slept with many men and one with no pain and hurt. Blanche belief in magic to suppressing her pain, by having fantasies have both negative and positive outcome. Positively, it is good because it helps her forget the misfortunes and pain in her life even if it is short-lived. On the negative, the fantasies do not stop reality from happening. No matter how much Blanche wants to blind herself from living the reality, the magic she wants to live in is not easy as real things are xxhappening around her. Stanley rapes her and Mitch leaves her when she eventually thought that marriage would save her. All this happens to her besides her belief in magic. In the text, we see Blanche as a fragile woman who pain has led her into committing a lot of mistakes in her life. Pain, betrayal, and misfortunes are the leading cause of her immorality and the unfortunate decisions she has made in her life. Trying to numb the pain has caused her more damage than good. It has led to her confinement in a mental institution following her detraining mental health. Fantasizing about life is a way used by people to escape from reality when they do not want to deal with their pain.
In one instance, the two women discuss Mitch and Stanley and while Stella is in the bathroom, Mitch goes back to flirt with Blanche. Blanche then turns on the radio and this provokes Stanley to a rage. When he hits Stella, Blanche screams and brings her upstairs. Regarding their fight, Blanche is horrified when her sister returns to the now apologetic Stanley. Blanche goes xxdownstairs to see what is happening and she sits on the steps outside the apartment with Mitch who tells her that these things usually happens and she should not worry about it. Having not slept the whole night, the next morning, Blanche found Stella once Stanley has left for the morning. She insists that they get out of this mess and she is horrified that her sister is content with the things as they are. Blanche complains about against Stanley as being primitive and common unaware that he’s arrived outside and listening to her as she is speaking. She is not happy about the turn of events and she watches helplessly as her sister runs to embrace her husband.
Blanche tells her sister about what is going on between her and Mitch but she, makes it clear that she is not sleeping with him in hopes that he will marry her. Stella then leaves Blanche alone and the young man looking for newspaper donations shows up. Blanche flirts with him and finally asks him outright for a kiss which he allows her before skedaddling. Mitch shows up and Blanche plays the part of the perfect Southern belle. Later Mitch and Blanch appears after a night at the amusement park and it is detected that things are not going so well. They discuss about their progress or lack thereof in Mitch’s opinion regarding their physical relationship and it is at this point that Blanche brings the topic of conversation around to Stanley and also his attitude towards her. Finally, they conclude that they are lonely and that they need someone namely each other.
While Blanche is in the bathroom, Stanley tells Stella the real story behind her Blanche’s departure from Laurel and when she comes out of the bathroom, she can tell that something is wrong but Stella will not say anything. Blanche then sits around with Stella and Stanley and they are all waiting for Mitch to join her birthday celebration. While Stanley gives her a bus ticket as her birthday present, she panics a lot. While the Kowalskis are at the hospital, Blanche drinks alone at the apartment and during this moment, Mitch comes by and wants to know the truth and she admits of her doing in Laurel and her need for magic over realism. Later that night when Stanley comes back from the hospital Blanche is all dolled up and make up a story regarding going on a cruise in the Caribbean with a man known as Shep Huntleigh. She also pretends that Mitch had come to seek for her forgiveness. Stanley then calls he out on these lies and they eventually gets into an argument that turns physical and Stanley rapes her. At this point Blanche has totally lost her grip on reality. The act of violence results in Blanche’s absolute nervous breakdown and although Blanche informs Stella that her husband has committed a crime, she decides not to leave him since she could not believe the story from her sister and Stella goes on to stay with Stanley. Later, Stanley requests that Blanche be admitted in a mental hospital some weeks later. Until the end, Blanche is believes that she is going on a vacation with an admirer who is actually the doctor again emphasizes her critical mental condition. Stella is not convinced that it is the right thing to do to admit her sister to a mental home; she does not attempt to prevent