Cruelty is defined as a callous indifference to or pleasure in causing pain and suffering. There are many reasons why people dish out cruel words and none of us can say we are completely innocent of doing so. In Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named Desire there is, once again, no denying the acts of cruelty allotted through the scenes. In the play both Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski commit acts of unforgivable cruelty, but Stanley is by far more cruel over all.
Blanche’s cruelty towards others is a direct effect of her traumatic past that still haunts her and she can never escape. Blanche was married to a man who was fighting his own inner demons and later killed himself to escape having to come clean about his sexuality. One could only imagine what kind of damage the death of a person’s spouse will do to a person. Blanche is left insecure and broken to the point where she searches for validation and complements in old hotels filled with young bachelors. This search is where she invents so many lies and stories about herself and her past to the point that …show more content…
Not that Blanche’s acts are any more acceptable, but more understandable as a defense mechanism to protect herself from keeping herself locked in a victim’s mentality. The mentality where living in her own fantasy world she escapes her reality as she explains to Mitch “Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!” (1.9.117). Stanley is just cruel for the sake of being cruel. For the sake of be a bully and asserting his power over others as anyone could see in William’s stage directions of him attacking Blanche He springs towards her, overturning the table. She cries out and strikes at him with the bottle top but he catches her wrist.”
Blanche’s cruelty towards others is a direct effect of her traumatic past that still haunts her and she can never escape. Blanche was married to a man who was fighting his own inner demons and later killed himself to escape having to come clean about his sexuality. One could only imagine what kind of damage the death of a person’s spouse will do to a person. Blanche is left insecure and broken to the point where she searches for validation and complements in old hotels filled with young bachelors. This search is where she invents so many lies and stories about herself and her past to the point that …show more content…
Not that Blanche’s acts are any more acceptable, but more understandable as a defense mechanism to protect herself from keeping herself locked in a victim’s mentality. The mentality where living in her own fantasy world she escapes her reality as she explains to Mitch “Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!” (1.9.117). Stanley is just cruel for the sake of being cruel. For the sake of be a bully and asserting his power over others as anyone could see in William’s stage directions of him attacking Blanche He springs towards her, overturning the table. She cries out and strikes at him with the bottle top but he catches her wrist.”