In life a person experiences many tribulations, and life is not always sweet. It is a persons job to decide how to handle life’s problems, and some just choose to ignore reality and live within their own little world. This is true for Tennessee William’s character Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire. I am going to explore the duel sides of Blanche, what is apparent to others, and who Blanche is internally. Blanche was brought up in a wealthy family on a southern plantation, all her life she enjoyed a lofty status and expects men to recognize what an amazing woman she is. She was appreciated and respected on her plantation, but when the plantation “slips through her fingers”, she is forced to pack up her silks, furs, and diamonds, and moves to the quarter in New Orleans. Upon arrival Blanche is shocked at the conditions her sister Stella lives in. Just the sight of the three-bedroom home makes Blanche feel nervous and unstable, and she immediately reaches out for alcohol. Typically, a person can pretend to be pleased with a living space, and tell a simple lie, like ‘how lovely’, but Blanche is unable to do this. She drinks and openly insults Stella’s home. Although Blanche is proud where she came from, and is of a strong aristocratic standing, she is extremely concerned about what people think of her. She constantly defends herself against possible claims people might make against her.
Blanche is an incredibly needy person, it seems if she has no one to love her, she is no one. Her life is spent trying to find a companion, love, and attention. This extreme desire for affection comes from her first ever experience with love. When she was a young girl, Blanche fell in love with a boy, who revealed to her he was gay, but this information did not end the relationship, Blanche felt it was her duty to help ‘heal’ his sexuality. However, she caught him in the act with another man, and out of shame the boy killed himself. This event is the attributing factor to why Blanche has a weak mental state, and is always trying to fix things. She feels she failed, and because she could not convert him there is something wrong with her. Blanche can’t tolerate feeling like a failure, so she spends her life desperately seeking attention from young men, and suppressing her feelings with liquor.
Blanche comes off as a strong and in control of her life by displaying her pride and ego publicly. She brags to people like Mitch and Stanley what a classy, refined lady she is, but she does not actually follow a strong moral code. Stanley proves to Stella and Mitch that Blanche in fact lived at a dive hotel called the Flamingo, where she had many sexual affairs, and was thrown out by management. Blanche goes to lengths to try to disprove Stanley’s claim, and almost convinces her own mind that it’s untrue. Blanches’ front of strong superior woman is merely her own inner psychological invention to conceal the reality of her life.
Ms. Baz said,
March 13, 2008 @ 1:26 am
Wow! What a terrific analysis, Lindsay! Your understanding of Blanche is astute and thoughtful. Only a couple of quibbles–go back and check your punctuation and mechanics. If you can’t find your errors, I will help you.
Outstanding job. I’m impressed!
I’ll grade this separately, Lindz. Brava!
bgemme said,
March 16, 2008 @ 1:25 am
good job lindsay, i have to agree with baz on this one. i like how you express blanche in the last paragraph, how her sexual affaris are what led to her trying to make a fake reality for herself, very cool.
Kel said,
March 16, 2008 @ 7:08 pm
Agreeing with the above statements! Can you add more quotes though? I’d like to see where you got the ideas from.
epluff said,
March 16, 2008 @ 9:33 pm
You’re absolutely right about Blanche not having strong morals. She likes to make people think that she is classy and refined. However, we learn as the play progresses that she is anything but that. She really “gets around”, and she does try to conceal this as you pointed out.
chalupka said,
March 16, 2008 @ 11:07 pm
“It is a persons job to decide how to handle life’s problems, and some just choose to ignore reality and live within their own little world.”
I dont think blanche was living in her own world until the end. It became evident that she was started coming into her “own world” when she was in the scene when she was in her dress talking to no one. At the beginning of the story she was mostly sane but by the end of the play Stanley had taken care of that.
jcroteau said,
March 16, 2008 @ 11:15 pm
I agree with everyone, you have a good understanding of Blanche, she has poor morals, she is living in her own world, i agree with all of it. This is one of the best Streetcar Blogs in the class. But Baz would just go absolutely nuts and probably dream about this blog every night and if you added a few more quotes.
jt105l said,
March 17, 2008 @ 12:07 am
I think your understanding of blanche is great. I agee with Croteau add some quotes and make it a perfect blog not just a great one. This is a great blog
kyle91 said,
March 17, 2008 @ 1:02 am
Blanche’s sexuality really is what killed her in the first place. Even the way she acted around Mitch was aquard. It’s almost unexplaneable the way she acts. Blanche should be a new word in the dictionary.
Blanche- crazy, wierd, strong sexuality, uncomfortable, annoying, nuisance
beckett19 said,
March 17, 2008 @ 1:12 am
This is another one of many examples of Blanche’s perception of reality veresus reality. She is a compulsive liar to create a fantasy for herself which is livable so she still can believe she is a woman of high social standing. Where as the reality is that she is an alcoholic whore who lost everything. There are many exmples because she has been living in this fantasy for so long. Good Blog.
ashcp4 said,
March 17, 2008 @ 3:14 am
Blanche goes to lengths to try to disprove Stanley’s claim, and almost convinces her own mind that it’s untrue. Blanches’ front of strong superior woman is merely her own inner psychological invention to conceal the reality of her life.
I agree that she almost starts believing her lies because she doesn’t want to believe she did the things she did and more importantly she doesn’t want those around her to think less of her, she feels like she’s already disappointed the people she loves enough. So clearly, her invented persona is a device to perserve herself psychologically. Its like an impulse or instinct.
mopo07 said,
March 17, 2008 @ 3:52 am
Good job you nailed blanch on the head. I like how you explored her deeply and focused on her as having many sides and not just one side
meemsies said,
March 17, 2008 @ 4:15 am
HAHAHHA MOLLY’S COMMENT IS HILARIOUS… you nailed blanche on the head hahahahahhah
Okay, so enough with my loud laughter.. =)
See what happens when you write all your thoughts down, woman?! Something incredible! hahaha Your analysis on Blanche is fantastic because you, not only speak of things mentioned in the play, but you made conclusions that Blanche came from a refined lifestyle and she was a richy-rich aristocrat. However, I agree with Kelly that you should probably add some text to your essay to make it a little more stronger!
lawnka said,
March 17, 2008 @ 11:11 am
woah linds
i love how you described Blanche… different from other classmates but good and true. Nice job!
kelceyg said,
March 18, 2008 @ 1:05 am
“..she is extremely concerned about what people think of her.” So ture, it was the only thing that I hated about her. I know it was the was she was brought up and it was obvious to see in the environment she was in but it was hard to watch. Nice Job.
rookie09 said,
March 19, 2008 @ 5:16 pm
I love how you said Blanche brags about how “amazing” she is, but she’s really breaking on the inside.
jv06 said,
March 25, 2008 @ 11:14 pm
Like everyone else, I like the blog, no need to say what’s already been said. I’d have to disagree with Steve, though, I think Blanche lost her sanity before the beginning of the play. She was all shook up when she arrived in New Orleans.
cfw23 said,
April 2, 2008 @ 5:55 pm
Really nice job on analyzing Blanche. You made really good points. Your essay would have been a little more interesting, if you had added quotes to support your ideas.