writing paper

Sample Paper for the Cardullo Paper

3. “But Stella’s husband is never so much maliciously intent on destroying his sister-in-law as he is blind to her problems and needs—a ‘tragedy of incomprehension’ Williams has called this play—however much ‘truth’ he uncovers about her past, however much he reveals her talk to be, in his words, only ‘imagination. . .and lies and conceits.’” (Cardullo 80)

Williams is saying here that the cause of the tragedy in the play is due to Stanley’s not being able to see the kind of problems Blanche has. Cardullo is saying this to defend Stanley from the charge of being a merciless beast who wants to destroy Blanche. Stanley does not “comprehend” Blanche’s problems which leads him to be unable to give her what she needs. One passage that clearly shows that Stanley does not understand Blanche or her needs occurs during their discussion about the loss of Bell Reve. Stanley in going through her things has come upon the letters that Allan wrote to her that she has saved, and she is horrified that he is handling them. “Blanche: ‘Now that you’ve touched them I’ll burn them.’ Stanley [staring, baffled]:’What in hell are they?’” (Williams 42). Stanley was enraged when he learned that Belle Reve had been lost because, according to the Napoleonic Code under which Louisiana operates, whatever the woman owns is also owned by the husband. This means it is not just Stella who has lost the revenue that should have come to them from the sale of Belle Reve but also Stanley himself. This leads Stanley to go in Blanche’s bedroom and open her suitcase and paw through her things trying to find evidence of what he feels is surely some fraud that Blanche is engaged in. He believes that it must be fraud because he always feels that, when things do not go his way, this is an injustice that should immediately be righted. When he finds Blanche’s fake furs and jewels, he feels that they must be real and provide the evidence that he was looking for proving that Blanche has taken the money from the sale of Belle Reve and spent it on these flashy accessories. Just as he assumes that Blanche has defrauded him, he also assumes that these fake items must be real, wanting his judgment of these things to fit with the feelings he has of being cheated. It is, of course, possible that these are real furs and jewels and that Blanche has defrauded him, he assumes that these things are the case without finding anything about them first. The fact that he is upset about the loss of Belle Reve is understandable, and the fact that he wants to find out what actually happened is also perfectly reasonable. However, the fact that he goes through his sister-in-law’s luggage himself and pounces on these fake artifacts as if he knows what tale they tell is not reasonable. The specific thing that he does not comprehend is the meaning of Allan’s letters to Blanche. When he handles them, Blanche herself has an extreme reaction, saying that she feels like burning them since someone else, especially someone who has not reverence for them, has touched them. Stanley is “baffled” as the stage direction indicates, this kind of sensitivity about things like this being foreign to him. Of course, in another sense he is sensitive to the possibility of being cheated. Indeed, one could say that his being concern about being cheated is actually more reasonable than her threat of burning her late husband’s letters because someone unholy touched them. But Stanley is “baffled” at this sentimental, emotional response to his simply touching these letters. Obviously Stella has not filled Stanley in on the circumstances surrounding Allan’s death although even if she had Stanley would probably still not comprehend what the big deal was about his touching them. And because Allan’s death in some sense lies behind much of what Blanche does, it can reasonably be said that Stanley is in a state of “incomprehension” regarding the nature of her response to his touching them. The question is whether his not understanding, for example, the circumstances of Allan’s death and his marriage to Blanche is behind the tragedy, if, that is to say, he had known these circumstances he would have acted any differently. A scene that does not seem to support Cardullo’s (and Williams’) position is found in Scene Eight. This is where Stanley gives the bus ticket back to Laurel. “Stanley: ‘Ticket! Back to Laurel! On the Greyhound! Tuesday!’ (. . . .Blanche tries to smile. Then she tries to laugh. Then she gives both up and spring from the table and runs into the next room. She clutches her throat and then runs into the bathroom. Coughing, gagging sounds are heard.’] ‘Well!’ Stella: ‘You didn’t need to do that.’ Stanley: ‘Don’t forget all that I took off her.’ Stella: You needn’t have been so cruel to someone alone as she is.’ Stanley: ‘Delicate piece she is’” (Williams 136). Here Stanley knows her situation prior to buying her a ticket back to Laurel. Thus, he is not in in this case in a state of “incomprehension.” This occurs after the “pig” passage where he sees Stella being seduced away from fidelity to him and after the “gorilla” speech that he overheard without Blanche’s or Stella’s knowing. These things added to the general disarray into which their lives have been thrown by her presence there, especially their sex life which supplies the central pillar of their relationship to all appearances, fully justify in Stanley’s mind ejecting her from New Orleans. Added to these personal issues is his finding out about Blanche’s Hotel Flamingo and high school student affairs. He says he tells Mitch about these things because he does not want him to be taken in by his fiancée’s cover story although we could make the case that if he loved her and if she made him happy his not knowing these things would not be a serious problem. In terms of Stanley’s being in a state of “incomprehension,” it is not probable that he weighed her situation, her being without husband, family, or house in Laurel when he bought the ticket. He feels that the accumulation of offenses fully justifies his sending her off. However, even though he does not give any weight to her circumstances, it cannot be said that he has no notion as to her situation. The issue is whether her situation ought to have influenced him so that he would allow her to stay despite all the things she has done. There is no doubt that Blanche has been a pain to him between her long baths and her trying to poison Stella against him, so it is certainly possible that the text might see his behavior here as conceivably good-ish, but his glee in doing it certainly makes it difficult to approve heartily of his buying her the bus ticket. But once Stella pleads for Blanche, it cannot be claimed that he was in a state of “incomprehension” regarding Blanche’s situation. In regard to whether Cardullo’s claim is legitimate, it would seem on balance that it is not. Even though Stanley will never fully grasp, for example, the full trauma inflicted on Blanche by Allan’s death, he does know that she does not have a home or a job back in Laurel. So when he buys the ticket, these circumstances do not weight with him to any recognizable extent. So defending him because he does not know Blanche’s emotional situation in any depth seems problematic first of all because this is always the case. We always hardly know anything of our acquaintances’ situations, so if “incomprehension” were an excuse than virtually anything we do could be excused, and this would be a difficult position to support. How we treat people matters whether or not we know everything about them. Perhaps Williams’s saying this is a “tragedy of incomprehension” signifies that he feels it is tragic that we do not know about other people’s situations, especially when there is a high degree of conflict present. But that there is not “comprehension” of others’ situation does not mean that this “incomprehension” excuses us from all the hurtful things we do. Stanley did have reasons to resent Blanche, and we can argue that his response to her is extreme. However, to argue that we should not criticize him simply because he does not “comprehend” Blanche’s situation seems invalid.