A Streetcar Named Desire

I know A Streetcar Named Desire isn't a story about war, but at the risk of sounding like an amateur psychiatrist, it is in a mental sense.

One of the first things I noticed while reading this play by Tennessee Williams was that all of the characters are at odds against each other in some way. The conflict is mostly between Blanche DuBois and her sister Stella's husband, Stanley Kowalski. A lot of the conflict stems from class differences but underlying all of their arguments is the battle for Stella.

Blanche disapproves of Stella's lifestyle now that she has married Stanley. To Blanche, Stella is living in a dump with an ape for a husband when she should be living the high-life with some wealthy Southern gentleman. She tries multiple times throughout the play to get Stella to leave Stanley.

Stanley, however, enjoys the fact that he pulled Stella down from her upper class status. He is the self-proclaimed "king of the castle" and his authority is absolute in his home. He resents the fact that Blanche is trying to undermine his authority and ruin the hold he has over his wife.

They both battle against each other for Stella's attention while Stella, stuck in the crossfire, does her best to placate both of them.

Blanche rants to Stella that Stanley is "common", a "madman, and "ape-like." She advises her not to "hang back with the brutes," basically saying that if she stays with Stanley she will miss out on the progression of society. Blanche's "attacks" are mostly verbal and appeal to Stella's past as a wealthy Southern belle. She insults Stanley's ethnicity, his behavior, his manners, his class status, and everything about the way he lives to undermine Stella's infatuation with him.

Stanley unveils Blanche's promiscuous past and her habitual lies as a way to discredit Blanche's opinion of him and turn Stella against her. While many of Stanley's attacks are verbal, his extend to psychological and physical attacks as well. This is ultimately what ensures his victory. Blanche's battle plan is to destroy his hold over Stella, while Stanley's battle plan is to destroy Blanche.

Again, this was not a story about a real war with guns and soldiers, but I was struck by Blanche and Stanley's battle, so to speak, over Stella. Sadly, Stanley's final attack was raping Blanche and sending her into a mental breakdown that led to insanity. Stella chose Stanley over her sister in the dramatic conclusion of the play when she decides not to believe Blanche and sends her to a mental institution.

This picture from the 1951 film adaption, starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, sums up the play pretty well. Stanley is smashing things while Stella is trying (and failing) to make him behave, Mitch is hanging around in the background but not really doing anything, and a frightened Blanche is cowering away from the noise and violence in the corner.

Picture retrieved from thewriteworkshops.com.