Blanche, in “A Streetcar Named Desire”, plays a character that invokes many different emotions. It is difficult to analyze your emotions. You must separate the parts of the play and analyse them individually. Blanche presents Blanche as a complicated character. She is so involved in her own motives, opinions, and actions that one doesn’t know if the act is real or fake. As Blanche’s story unfolds, we will see the audience constantly shift its attitude towards Blanche and other characters. Williams ensures nothing is white or dark but grey. We will find ourselves struggling to understand why Blanche manipulates power and her desire for power at certain points in the play, while others will sympathize with her life of lies and misinformation.
We don’t instantly label her a villain when she attempts to end Stanley’s and Stella’s marriage. But we do remember that Stella could have stayed behind, and Blanche might have been the person she wanted to be.
Blanche appears to be very confused when she first meets Stella. It seems that she is having difficulty speaking normal to a black person, which makes it easy to identify her South-born upbringing. The scene becomes more and more revealing. As we watch, we begin to understand that something is wrong. We can see how shocked she is to find her sister in this situation. We soon discover that Stella has been assaulted and speaks non-stop because she is in desperate need of affection due to a terrible event. She speaks of “Mr. Edgar Allan Poe”. We are somewhat shocked by her apparent desire to drink alcohol. Stella did not have one, so we let it go. It is quite understandable that she would lie about her alcohol intake given the circumstances.
We believe that she is, at the very least, open with her sister. She doesn’t hide her disappointment when she talks about her apartment. You said that there were two rooms. Stella said that she hears her talking so fast and that she seems nervous. We feel bad for her because all her family members are gone and that her house has been lost.
But her paranoia and insistence on “In bed – with your – Polak!” may be a sign of a deeper problem. We are convinced that she has old-fashioned morals. Stanley’s rashly taking off her shirt made her vomit. However, it is also possible that there is something more to her past. But, she can’t be bothered by Stanley’s flirty behavior. He seems to have brought back some past events and she is now so annoyed that she vomits.
Blanche’s second scene is quite different. She flirts with Stanley in a shameless manner. This scene clearly shows that Blanche’s vomiting is caused by past memories, which she may be trying to forget by having a sexual affair with Stanley. We know she is not the same old-fashioned woman that she used to be, so it’s not surprising that Stanley has a conversation with her. We are aware that she has many past aspects, but we still sympathize with and understand her. We can already see the different sides of her: the conservative, loved, protected, and her true self.
We see another side to Blanche, and it is here we can identify with her. We are amazed at how skilled she is when handling Stanley.
This scene makes it seem like Blanche is an ordinary person.
Scene 6 shows us trying to figure out a motive behind her actions. When she connives Mitch into believing that she is a innocent country girl who will not go beyond a kiss, it is difficult to tell if her motives are real. He doesn’t understand what she says, but it seems as though she is mocking him. Also, we learn about her sad husband’s story in this scene. She tells her story with a dream-like quality. Her story seems to be less complex and contradictory. We are able to believe her story and can understand why she needs to go back and start over in a new life.
