An Essay on the Street Car Called Desire

Tennes a streetcar named desire highlights the pain of hiding ones true character and struggles. It depicts the pains that one go through in an attempt of making life appear what it is not. The novel also highlights various incidences of violence and the pain of enduring the torture.

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The novel has a theme of violence. Blanches sympathetic nature is seen on the night Stanley plays poker with his friends. The drama starts when Blanche has had her bath and is about to get out when Mitch coincidentally comes into the room. They have a chat about their lives as Blanche tells him how she quit teaching. Mitch turns on the radio which irritates Stanley. He charges into the room and throws the radio out of the window. Stella asks everybody to go home at this point. Stanley becomes annoyed and hits Stella who in turn goes to her neighbors house together with Blanche (Tennessee 4). Later in the night, Stanley demands to talk to his wife and decides to keep on calling until she avails herself. Stanley gets on his knees and presses her against him, and carries her to back into the apartment. Blanche does not understand how Stella could have returned to Stanley that night. Stella assures her that everything is fine and says that Stanley had been on his worst behavior. Blanche tries to contact Shep Huntleigh who was her old boyfriend to see if he could be of any help out of the situation. She asks Stella not to hang up with the brutes as she refers to one of the advances of civilization. Blanche describes Stanley as one who is common and bestial and a survivor of the stone age.

Blanche also portrays her sympathetic character when she sends Mitch away when he comes to ask for her forgiveness. This is based on her quote that Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable. She lives with the guilt of believing that she was the cause of her husbands death who shot himself on the night she confronted him on his gay lifestyle. Having been engaged at a very young age and finding this out shortly after their marriage, it comes as big blow to her. She walks in on her husband having a sexual encounter with an older man. She mentions the scenario to him while dancing and expresses her disgust towards the act. Her husband walks away and shoots himself to death. She believes that she showed deliberate cruelty to her husband and does not see herself worthy of forgiving Mitch as she was the one on the wrong.

Stanleys antagonism towards Blanche is seen on the night of her birthday. Stanley walks in and finds Blanche having a bath. He makes her stop doing what she is doing to listen to him and tells her that he has discovered facts about her past. He reveals her notorious reputation in Laurel and how she was kicked out of flamingo hotel. He talks of how she was sacked for engaging in sexual relations with seventeen-year old. Stella tries to fight for her sister by saying that all those occurrences were due to the fact that Blanche had never recovered from the loss of her husband. Stanley notices the birthday cake and goes ahead to mention that Mitch will not be attending the party as he had told him everything about Blanche. Stanley gets Blanche a ticket back to Laurel as her birthday gift.

Stanley demonstrates antagonism when he rapes Blanche. This occurs on the night of Stellas delivery when Stanley heads home and finds Blanche drunk. He informs her that the baby was to be delivered the following morning. Blanche tells Stanley how Mitch had come to ask for her forgiveness but she sent him away instead because deliberate cruelty is not forgivable. With this, Stanley attacks her (Tennessee 14). Blanche runs for the phone to make a call to Shep Huntleigh but she does not compose anything as she does not know the address. She asks Stanley to step aside so that she can get the address and it is at that point that Stanley decides to interfere with her. This makes Blanche become violent as she breaks a bottle so as to twist the broken end in his face. This does not stop him as he springs on her and causes her to fall on the ground. Stanley carries her into the bedroom where he rapes her. Although Blanche tells her sister Stella about the rape, Stella does not believe her. This, she mentions to her neighbor Eunice as they pack Blanches clothes who is to be taken to a hospital in her unawareness. She anticipates that she is going to be with Shep.

The sympathetic character has been depicted in Blanche when she pities her sister for all the maltreatment she endures for being married to Stanley. She even tries to contact her old boyfriend to see if he can help them out of their situation. Stanley portrays his antagonism towards Blanche when he gets her a ticket back to Laurel as her birthday gift and raping her.

Works Cited

Tennessee. A Street Car Named Desire https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/A_Streetcar_Named_Desire.html?id=VcyFkNOYsFgC&redir_esc=y. (2004, November 17)