Blog 4: A Streetcar Named Desire

“A Streetcar Named Desire” has a theme throughout the show of manipulation and control. Two of the characters in particular, Blanche and Stanley, both seem to be in a place in their lives where they do not have as much power as they would like to. These internal conflicts create many problems through the show. Blanche is constantly trying to manipulate people into doing what she wants or into paying attention to her. This drove Mitch to her and then partially led to the end of their relationship and to her being institutionalized. Stanley, being a lower class worker who wishes he was in a better situation yet cannot seem to move himself up in the world, tries to compensate for his lack of control by forcefully controlling the limited parts of his life that he has power over.

America has never been perfect. I’ve always known that. However, this view into life in New Orleans in the 20th century was a bit harsher than I expected. The gender inequality was difficult to see, especially seeing a character get away with raping someone. Blanche’s false front about being civilized and wearing very lavish clothing reminded me of the characters in “The Great Gatsby” who were well dressed and socialized but they were empty people. Blanche’s sadness and lack of true identity seemed to be a big factor in why she tries to manipulate people and searches for the approval of men. Without the societal pressure on women to be attractive in order to be valuable she may have been a more well rounded person.

There are many instances within the play that we see Blanche and Stanley try control and manipulate people. We see Blanche being manipulative when she says, “I don’t tell truth, I tell what ought to be true. And if that’s sinful, then let me be damned for it” (Williams, 1165). She says this to Mitch when he’s confronting her about her past. It’s manipulative because she’s telling him that her actions and reasonable and he is the one that’s incorrect to believe she has done something wrong. We also see Stanley being controlling of Stella when he says, “You hens cut that conversation in there”, and “Well, you can hear me and I said hush up” (Williams, 1134). He is very demanding of his wife and does not seem to respect her much at all. He only ever tries to be kind to her when she runs out on him and he wants to get her back.

The term “control freak” is well ingrained into our society. It is not uncommon to meet someone who has to have every inch of their house spotless or a parent who strictly oversees every aspect of their children’s life. Stanley and Blanche may have existed fictionally several decades ago, but their types still exist today. Obviously domestic violence and sexual assault are very real problems in our society today. There seems to be an imbalance of power in some relationships. In poorer areas, domestic violence reports skyrocket after a popular team loses and right before people get a payday, when the previous paycheck is running out. This shows people who cannot control certain aspects of their lives asserting themselves wherever they can. This is an unfortunate reality. Stories like “A Streetcar Named Desire” allows people to see inside these lives and hopefully help to prevent these sort of events from happening to them or the people they love.