The Relationship Between Blanche And Stanley's A Streetcar Named Desire

Improved Essays
I will be writing about the text, A Streetcar Named Desire. I have chosen this text because I find it particularly interesting, especially with the given topic of this class as “dysfunctional couples”. The topic I will discuss in this text is that of the relationship between Blanche and Stanley. I will be trying to answer a question that is quite central to the plot of this story, why does Stanley feel this urge to expose Blanche for her true self? I argue that it is not because of his down-to-earth personality, or even for the good of his wife, but for his own selfish and arrogant agenda. Blanche is the protagonist of the play while Stanley is quite obviously the antagonist, and their conflict is the source of interest throughout the play. …show more content…
Scene one at the very beginning of the play, with his wife Stella, is where I will begin my analysis. As Stanley is making his way home from work with a package of meat, he decides to heave the package of meat at Stella (page 5). As Stella “cries out in protest”, she catches the package and ends the encounter with a breathless laugh. This shows the lack of respect he has for his wife, and symbolizes the power he holds over her in their relationship. Stella’s willingness to catch the package even after her protest shows why Stanley and Stella are so functional together. Stella’s reluctance to oppose Stanley in any way allows Stanley to exert his dominance and remain alpha …show more content…
It would be easy to allude to the passage in which Stanley rapes Blanche, but that would be far too easy to analyze. Instead I will discuss the absence of Stanley in scene eleven of the play, the final scene. In this final scene, the only two times Stanley’s presence is needed is when he’s playing poker with his friends on pages 163 and 164, and when he’s ensuring Blanche’s departure from his house by making sure she got everything (pages 174-176). Stanley has left his mark on Blanche throughout the whole play, especially by raping her in scene 10, page 162. So much so that Blanche no longer wishes for any of these men at the poker game to give her attention, but for them to leave her be and not notice her at all. The truth about Stanley and Stella’s marriage is also shown in this scene, where Stella denies the allegations that Blanche has placed on Stanley. This proves that Stanley is not as down-to-earth as we have otherwise seen him to be, but is living in a marriage built on lies and deceit just as much as Blanche’s life. By analyzing and discrediting all the characteristics that build Stanley up as a man in the reader’s eyes, it is easy to see that Stanley is not the realist, hard-working man he is painted to be in the beginning of this

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Amanda Porteus Mr. Palombo English 2130 April 19, 2016. As a general public changes and ages it produces distinctive individuals, yet they can be fit into great character sorts. At the center of society, are the ever show goals and sins rising above decades. In writing pieces composed to mirror the general public of their time, these regular sorts and blames can be seen between characters.…

    • 1806 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Now that she is in the marriage, it’s pretty obvious Stanley doesn’t love her and he beats her when he’s drunk and smashes their belongings- first the radio and then a dinner plate and glass tumbler. She is stuck in her marriage because of the pregnancy and she tells Blanche that she hates it when he hits her in front of people, however, she is quite complacent in the marriage,…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Blanche Dubois has lost the family home in Laurel Mississippi, and comes to live with her sister Stella and her husband Stanley Kowalski. Blanche likes to present herself as an elegant and classy lady, but those are just her exterior traits, on the inside she is struggling to say the least. Because of her tough life, Blanche lives her most of her days in fantasy. Stanley is the complete opposite. He is a hardworking man who wants to hear nothing but the truth. He is a…

    • 1106 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Stanley didn’t like Blanche because she thought she was better than everybody else. When all in reality she was worst than everyone else. Stanley didn’t like her attitude, but he was sexually attracted to her as well. Blanche is lost in a modern industrial society because in it she does not have a special position simply by virtue of being a southern woman. Belle Reve is her identification or authentication as a person, and without, she does not posses a self and therefore she must rely on others to supply stability, security, and substance(Smith-Howard and Heintzeiman).…

    • 1672 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (Williams 118). This helps highlight Stanley's aggression and dominance that he holds over Stella in that he thinks he can get away with calling her names and yelling at her without her talking back. Also, it shows how easily provoked Stanley gets when Stella contradicts him in any way, and the reader can assume it is because she is a woman defending herself against him that he feels so threatened. Another significant male character was Mitch. Although he wasn’t necessarily as assertive as Stanley, he did show a similar disregard and insensitivity for women.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    From the first scene the audience learns that Blanche and Stella were brought up on a plantation and that Stanley and his friends are poor and uneducated. In the first scene the two families come together in a scruffy environment, it is therefore Blanche who must adjust to the situation. When Stanley exposes Blanche's past and when he rapes her, he turns her ‘upper-class’ upbringing (of which she is very proud) into something without any meaning. The conflict, therefore, is bigger than Stanley vs. Blanche or even male vs. female, it is the Old South vs. the new ind ustrial age and the upper-class life vs. the ‘common’ life. With Blanche, it is not only her sinful ways that causes her misery, it is her upper-class upbringing and clinging to the past that is one of the reasons for her downfall - a tragic end for a tragic character.…

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The motif of violence is manifest throughout Williams’ ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, not only in the form of acts that are explicitly forceful and destructive, but in the implicit conflicts that are explored within the play, whether between men and women, light and dark, reality and fantasy or the Old South and the New South. Violence is most often associated with the character of Stanley, who progresses violent behaviour and exudes a sense of brutishness that contributes to the play’s overall parallelism to an “urban jungle”, in which Blanche will inevitably become a victim. Sexual violence is a prevalent facet of the play, which makes eminent the subordination of the female characters under the claimed prerogative of men. In particular, domestic…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Stella is taking Blanche out for the evening because it is Stanley’s poker night. Stella states, “I’m taking Blanche to Galatoire’s for supper and then to a show, because it’s your poker night.” Stanley’s reaction was indifferent about how Blanche felt. Stanley is fixed on figuring out about Blanche’s background concerning the Belle Rive and making sure he hasn’t been “swindled”. 3.…

    • 1203 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In a Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley is an overbearing, arrogant and cruel character throughout the play and is known for being abusive to women since he believes in the Napoleonic code. Tennessee Williams shows how the character Stanley abuses his power of Stella and Blanche by revealing that the violence progresses through the play as the women are more and more abused by the men. Blanche is an important character throughout the play as she is mentioned in all the scenes. As the readers, we know that Blanche's presence in the Kowalski’s household threatens Stanley’s authority which causes conflict and abuse during the play. threatens Stanley’s power and authority in the Kowalski household, this leads to Stanley abusing his…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Tennessee Williams’ dramatic presentation of violence in A Streetcar Named Desire is evident within relationships of the play. Prominent scenes from the play include intense portrayals of violence, such as Stella being domestically abused by her husband Stanley, Blanche recalling the suicide of her past closeted boyfriend Allen and when Stanley rapes Blanche at the end of scene ten. However, physical abuse is not the extent of this key motif as Williams’ presents verbal and emotional violence as well. These are all further intensified by the stage directions, physical theatre, lighting and sound- all of which are key ingredients in Williams magnetically ravenous play. 

Evidence of violence are explored through physically abusive relationships…

    • 1854 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    No man feels left out in the test of masculinity. The play, The Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller’s The Death of a Salesman have their male characters’ different perspectives on masculinity yet the same goal on proving they are masculine. Despite all the characters’ differences, they all want to fit into this idea of themselves being masculine to the point of incorporating it into their actions, words, achievements, goals, and frustration. Male characters like Mitch and Bernard are downplayed as un-masculine yet they have their ways in disproving the un-masculine beliefs with their long term achievements. Other characters that are the epitome of masculinity, or of their definition of masculinity, like Stanley…

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gender equality has been debatably the most pressing issue for the last century. Unfortunately for many this equilibrium between the rights of men and women has yet to be reached. Throughout the play A Streetcar Named Desire, it becomes clear that characters conform to gender roles, which have been set forth in our history. More specifically in the way men treat women and how women expect to be treated. These gender roles have been changed over time, but many examples of these events can still be found today.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Blanche came to her sister’s house hoping to escape the terrible life she left behind in Laurel. Stanley is the opposition to Blanche’s fantasy world where she believes she is a queen and everyone else is below her. Consequently, the role of Stanley’s opposition doubles as the general theme of the play. The theme is that fantasy will always fail to cover up reality. In this play Stanley is Blanche’s reality, and no matter how hard she tries, she cannot overcome this reality with her fantasy world.…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The pajama that Stanley's wearing the night of the rape were the same ones he was wearing the night of his wedding with Stella. Which makes Stanley reenacting what happened the night of his wedding with Blanche. (Thomieres, Daniel) while, Stanley could be admired for his sexual prowess, but a woman of Blanche's class, once she has slipped off her pedestal, is a fair target for rape. (Dace, Tish) The slip up that slowly happens to Blanche thought out the play allows Stanley to easily take advantage of her, like on page 151 of scene ten Blanche: “ How about taking a swim, a moonlight swim at the old rock-quarry?…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays