At first, Blanche seems crude and mean as she is treating her sister, Stella, horridly. As the story progresses she becomes more bearable, but the readers start to understand Blanche is traumatized. Though this does not justify her behavior, it is good to note in understanding her. Stella talks about how badly Blanche was treated growing up; how Blanche always had to change herself for others. Blanche also hears the polka tune “Varaouviana” in her mind, that played when Allan, her husband, killed himself and the song stops once the gunshot goes off. It is quite heartbreaking when she first hears the song. She blames herself for him taking his own life, maybe she did have some influence though. She runs away to New Orleans to get away from the “scandals” of her past, not being honest with Stella about why she truly came.
She kisses The Evening Star paper boy (without his consent) then tells him to run along quickly because she “has to be good and keep her hands off children.” Which relates back to her having a “relationship” with a 17-year-old boy from her high school. She does not seem to really see the issue with either of these things; the child from her past is simply part of her past, but all she did was cause pain and trauma. She justifies everything she did in Laurel as coping with her husbands suicide. She has all of this bottled up hurt and she ran from person to person trying to overcome it, to move on. Having sex with consenting adults is one thing, but taking advantage of a child is another. This is a point where her actions become less and less justifiable.
Blanche has a lot going on, mentally. While I may not be a licensed professional, when reading over this play Blanche reminded me of histrionic personality disorder. She definitely is mentally ill, one way or the other, and it is undermined and sugar-coated a lot. Stella passes off everything Blanche does and says as it just being how she is – it is more of a cry for help. She is very over-the-top in nature and craves the attention and approval of others. Her existence seems to only matter if it is validated by others. She wants to be loved, to be wanted, to be thought of as beautiful and perfect – she wants to be desired. Which plays on the theme of desire in the entire play. Blanche does not know how to be alone, how to be lonely. Blanche lives in a dream world intertwining with her own reality, as a way to cope with her pain.
In the end, Blanche leaves her sister’s place with more trauma and pain. Stella’s husband rapes her and Stella chooses not to believe Blanche because it is “easier” for her not to. Blanche gets sent away to a cynical institution.