Blanche In A Streetcar Named Desire

At first glance Stella is characterised as the stereotypical female character, extremely contrasted to her older sister Blanche. The beginning of the play sets Stella’s sister up as the transgressive character. Firstly she tells Stella that one drink is her limit, although the stage directions earlier reveal how she was drinking whiskey and “tosses it down”, showing she cannot control herself. Subsequently she washes it out to deflect suspicion. Blanche’s transgressions become more obvious later on in the play when it is revealed she was highly promiscuous outside of marriage. This is juxtaposing the first look at Stella, who has monogamous sex in marriage and abides by society’s rules. Williams wants to show their differences to emphasise …show more content…
Scene one introduction of Stella displays her reliance on Stanley. In the opening Stella catches the meat Stanley caught for her, introducing Stanley as the dominant provider. Ruby Cohn says “Stanley has trained his wife to catch his meat”. Stella catches Stanley’s meat in every way and sense, as well as in the language “catch”, “what”, “meat” exchange. What’s more, Stanley does not only provide Stella with meat, he also satisfies her sexual needs. This is one of the main sources of dependence on Stanley. Stella is totally dependent on him sexually and emotionally as well as financially. Stella states “Stanley doesn’t give a regular allowance” to her. It is evident from this Stanley is the superior and dominant partner. Williams is expressing, through Stella and Stanley, the stereotypical gender roles where the man is in charge of the woman. Stanley is the stereotypical ‘macho’ character and Stella is his submissive and reliant wife. This is reinforced in the patriarchal society they live in, ruled by men and limiting the agency of women. She is obedient and lets Stanley rule over her. Her character is suppressed throughout the …show more content…
Some argue, including feminists, being dependent on men promotes physical and verbal abuse of women. Stella’s character is one of the many victims of misogyny from her abusive husband, there was a “sound of a blow” when he hits Stella. Stella can do nothing about it because she is the ‘inferior’ woman in a male dominated society. However, this should not justify Stanley’s actions. Despite his actions Stella goes back to him, showing leaving an abusive relationship is a complicated matter, particularly as Stella is tremendously dependent on him. Furthermore Stella plays down the incident of violence in her marriage and says it is not “as serious as it seemed” and refers the physical abuse to a verbal row. Violence is further normalised when Eunice was physically abused by Steve in scene five. Blanche expresses “violence is so…”, demonstrating violence is not a black and white subject matter. There is no clear conclusion of it. Regardless of the fact Stanley is abusive, Stella still gets a rush by his violence. Stella’s anecdote of Stanley “smashed things” on their wedding night refers to the thrill she gets when he is violent and suggests Stella likes the violence and passion of it, despite the cruelty of it. Violence is a complicated topic, especially as it is normalised in the Quarter, it seems more socially acceptable to be abusive. It is slightly