Streetcard Named Desire
...gains sympathy from others. But in this case they do. In Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche Dubois undoubtedly evokes more sympathy than that of Stanley Kowalski. Blanche has clearly fallen victim to Stanley’s domination and the callousness of his character as well as rejection from Mitch and struggling to escape the brutalities of her past and the loneliness she now faces.
Stanley’s domineering personality and ‘animal habits’ causes the reader to sympathise with the fragile, refined and sensitive nature of the character Blanche Dubois. Blanche, also described as a ‘moth’-like creature, is very cultured, intelligent and cannot stand a vulgar remark or action. She would never willingly hurt someone and exists in her own idealistic world where she prefers magic rather than realism. However a contradiction occurs as Stanley is a realist and cannot stand the elusive "dame Blanche", eventually destroying her along with her illusions. The sympathy of the audience comes in to play as Blanche cannot withstand his attacks.
Before her, Stanley's household was exactly how he wanted it to be. When Blanche came around and drank his liquor, bathed in his bathtub, and posed a threat to his marriage, he acts like the primitive animal that he is, going by the principle of "the survival of the fittest". The tenderness of Blanche’s situation is further explored in Stanley’s long and calculated attack. Despite the fact that Blanche has ridiculed Stanley, even flirted with him, the reader still gains the most sympathy for Blanche during scene eleven where the reader assumes Stanley rapes Blanche. This highlights the strong personality of Stanley and thus makes us feel for Blanche as we gain a strong perception of this distressing stay with her sister Stella. Stanley is the hard brutal man who does not understand the refinements of life and thus when...
View Full Essay
