A Streetcar Named Desire Character Analysis Essay

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Stella Kowalski character often overlooked in Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire. Throughout the play, the reader tends to become invested in Blanche and Stanley’s dominating roles, reducing Stella to the rivalry’s mediator. However, Stella’s development throughout the story is the deciding factor of Blanche’s inevitable fate. By the end of the play, Stella’s relationship to reality begins to crumble. Much like her sister, she begins to deny the truth, choosing the live in ignorance and denial if it meant she could continue living comfortably. Stella’s character explores the selfish, dark elements of human nature and how that selfishness led to the downfall of herself and those she cared for most.
Stella’s role as the mediator to Stanley and Blanche leads to is the primary force behind the direction her character takes. Stella’s inability to choose between her devotion to Blanche and her unhealthy dependency on Stanley has a detrimental effect on her relationship with reality, as she refuses to accept their damaging actions as truth throughout the story. At the beginning of the play, Stella relentlessly comes to her sister’s defense, disregarding the information Stanley gives her concerning Blanche’s promiscuous past. As her sister, Stella is deeply loyal to
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Stuck between her love for her sister and husband, Stella’s mask begins to slip. Stella wishes for her life to continue as it was, when she was content and happy. Her love for Stanley ultimately wins, and she betrays her own sister to obtain normality in her life once again. Stella’s character shift is subtle, yet dramatic. She begins the story content with her situation, but Blanche’s arrival changes everything. Stella’s connection to reality begins to crumble, reflecting the state of her relationships with those close to

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