The play A Streetcar Named Desire thrusts the audience into a dynamic of individuals between one who wears a mask versus one who doesn’t. Stanley feels the need to constantly try to call out Blanche for being a con artist; however, the underlying story is just a balance of dominance. The audience is made aware of the tension between them as they constantly try to keep their control over Stella. Stanley does so with physical force and manipulation, yet when he calls her back during the poker scene she comes ready to forgive, whereas Blanche is just as manipulative, as seen in their first meeting. Blanche states, “I want you to look at my figure! [She turns around] You know I haven’t put on one ounce in ten years, Stella? I weigh what I weighed the summer you left Belle Reve. The summer Dad died and you left us . . .” This allows her to assert herself over her sister; even though she has lost everything, she creates the facade that she was not only superior then but still is. Blanche also starts implanting the seed of thought that Stella is too good for Stanley not only because he’s Polish, but because he acts like an animal. However, the viewer can choose to see the characters as both having Stella’s best interest at heart, Stanley because he loves her and only wants her to see how Blanche is using her, or Blanche, who is trying to help her sister leave an abusive relationship especially with a child on the way. In the end, I truly believe it’s because neither of them wants to be alone.
The clashing of the alpha male versus the fragile spinster would allude to the victory that would automatically go to the alpha. At the same time, Blanche gave Stanley a run for his money. He has probably never dealt with a woman who has challenged him, so rather than lose, he decided to physically assert his dominance. Why did the audience react so differently when Blanche was raped as to when she was the rapist? ( That’s not me in any personal way saying that she deserved it!) It probably was because they saw it as her filling the hole of her late husband or just the actions of a spiraling woman. Stanley and Blanche are mirroring each other in some way throughout the film as they have a sense of commonality. One accepts it while the other runs from it. The only driving force in their actions is the desires they have: to not be alone, to be the center of attention, or to live the life they feel they deserve. The end proves what most fear, that desire is a never-ending void that can drive you to either go mad or do the unthinkable.
Thanks for this post. It’s very interesting to view the play as a battle between Blanche and Stanley for control over Stella. One question: do we understand Blanche as a “rapist” because she has seduced a seventeen-year-old boy? I’m not trying to excuse her behavior, but I wonder if it is on the same level (in terms of violence and the moral affront of the actions) as Stanley’s actions against Blanche.