Throughout "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, I could not seem to figure where I stood. Although she was extremely irritating to the point where I wanted to kill her, she was also so pathetic at times that I felt like I just wanted to help her and straighten her out. Blanche was a very confused individual. She often mixed up the truth and her fantasies so much that I even became unsure of where the truth ended and where the lies began. It is unclear to me of whether or not she even knew that she was mixing up the truth with fallacies. When confronted by Mitch, it does seem that she pulls herself together and finally talks sensibly but it could just be a coincidence that she finally sees reality, or is simply snapped into it by force.
Thinking back over the story, I feel that an institution might be the right place for Blanche after all. She seems too unstable for the “real world” and she shows signs of some type of mental illness. At times, Blanche seemed to know exactly what she was doing and was just a very manipulative, conniving individual, yet at others, she was a lost little girl. For example, in the scene where she is trying to be a “proper” Southern belle around Mitch and she rolls her eyes, this shows her scheming, no good ways. A contradictory scene however, is when she is confronted by Stanley about losing Belle Reve. In this scene, Blanche seems completely helpless and just crumbles and falls to pieces (much like the loss of Belle Reve) under the pressure of Stanley’s accusations. In this way, Blanche just seems to need some tender guidance.
Although Blanche rubbed me the wrong way in entirety in this piece of writing, I also feel like she should be given a chance, and a benefit of the doubt. She could suffer from some kind of split personality disorder that could cause her to act in such bizarre ways. In this case, she should be given special care and attention, for it is not her fault that she acted so poorly in relation to her sister’s new way of life. She is not responsible for acting so arrogant and condescending towards Stanley. The question, however, still remains: Is Blanche mentally stable, or not? Is she a friend or foe?
2 comments:
I agree that Blanche was a complex character that confused me. Her notion of reality was skewed. But I think that the deaths in her family, failed marriage, and loneliness played into her psyche. She was left to fend for herself at Belle Reve. She seemed to have a hard time dealing with the tragedy that had befallen her. And to cope with the tragedy she was forced to create an alternative reality. I think that I sympathize with Blanche more than I am annoyed with her.
Blanche was definately the most complex of the characters which made her much more amusing to analyze. It is definately an open ended question as to whether or not Blanche is the good guy or the bad guy. As I think it may be a little of both.
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