To What Extent Can Blanche Dubois Be Described as a Victim in a Street Car Named Desire free essay sample

This play is about people who display cruelty and harshness in their treatment to others, especially those who are weak and vulnerable. Blanche Dubois is the central victim of mistreatment even though she had tried to make Stanley the victim. She displays her self as fragile and moth like, dealing out her share of insensitivities that happened during her younger days. Also because of her moth like image, the other characters see her as an easy target to knock down and use her insecurities against her. Her figure and appearance also reveals her vulnerability and delicacy. â€Å"Slim figure, face of delicate, fading beauty† All this and her clinging on to material preferences, being reassured by alcohol make her a victim to ours and the other characters eyes. â€Å"In some kinds of people some tendered feelings have had some little beginning! That we have to make grow! And cling to, and hold as our flag! † Even thought she has a habit of bringing her insecurities to the surface, she still believes she is a strong successful woman. We will write a custom essay sample on To What Extent Can Blanche Dubois Be Described as a Victim in a Street Car Named Desire? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I’m not young and vulnerable any more† She shows this in how she is stuck up and snobby, insulting Stanley and persuading Stelia that he is just an animal and nothing more. He acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one! † She refuses to be calm and flutters around like she can not relax. You can see this in her speech as she contradicts her self and answers her own questions. This isolates her from the other characters as they are more laid back or sociable to other people. Also as she can not let go of guilt and others can, for example when Stanley is abusive to Stelia, he sees his mistakes and leaves them be, though when Blanche talks about her past and her youth, it seems that she can not forgive her self for something that was not her fault. This also isolates her and is the other reason why she is a victim. She drinks because she is guilty about her husband’s deaths; her taking long baths is a symbol of her yearning to wash away her guilt of prostitution. Maybe this is the reason why she never seems to be her self; she continues to contradict her self through out the play, telling different life stories to different people which make her seem vulnerable. Sometimes it feels like she is doing it for sympathy or attention or maybe just to grasp people’s reactions. She makes a scene about not being able to be shown in light as it might show her real identity, â€Å"I don’t want realism. I want magic! † feeling if she does give away her true appearance people will think she is old as her long beauty is all she has. And then the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light that’s stronger than this—kitchen—candle. † To how Blanche became a victim, is her past being destroyed by the events in her life? When Blanche was 16, she had a very handsome lover named Allan Gray. She was very much in love with him and decided to marry him. But by total surprise one night, Blanche found her lover in bed with another man. She tried to pretend that nothing had happened. However, she was unable to hold what she saw inside, and told Allan I saw, I know, you disgust me . To Allan, Blanche seemed to be a person who accepted him for who he was in a society where homosexuals are discriminated against. What Blanche said completely devastated Allan and he found no reason to continue living? Although Blanche had no intentions of hurting Allan, enough damage was done to prompt Allan to shoot himself, his mind and body destroyed. She may have reacted like this because of her aristocratic past and up bring, as she was brought up in a time where discrimination was at its height. For example in the end of the play you are reminded that she rudely dismisses a black neighbor’s kindness. Because of the death of her husband she slips from one sexual affair to the next and begins to drink heavily. It is well known that drinking increases vulnerability. This behavior causes her to loose her teaching job and her self respect. He desperate attempts to reinvent her self in front of Steila and Stanley ends up with her sympathizing with her self and allowing them to pick up on her disturbing past. On Stanley’s behalf they end up rejecting her like she rejected her husband and shortly enough she slips into her own insanity. It was not just her self that put her in the lime light of being a victim; it is also her new change of environment and people. Stanley is Stellas husband; he is described to be very masculine and aware of his sexual magnetism. â€Å"Strongly, compactly built†. He is mostly at ease with people however, if they lack loyalty and affection to him, he will bully them. Especially women, as he believes them just to be easy conflict. It is seen in scene 3 that Stanley has little respect for women. â€Å"I said to hush up! † This is addressed to his wife who is seen emotionless and impassive in this play. As for Blanche how is fussy and at edge, she would be very effected by the crude attitude that Stanley presents and so tries to hysterical take Stella away from her husband. Stanley does not forget of this act of interference and makes him all the more determined to be rid of Stella’s â€Å"charity case†. The real reason for Stanley’s bulling is that Blanche immediately received all Stella’s attention. â€Å"How about my supper huh? I’m not going to no Galatorires’ for supper† This made Stella dominant in power over Stanley and Blanche, something Stanley was not used to. â€Å"I put you a cold plate on ice†. So from this Stanley decides that he must make Blanche a victim by reveling her true self to Mitch (who she loves) and Stella. The two people who are most important to her. â€Å"I don’t care if she hears me, Lets see the papers! † By her losing the Belle-Reve Stanley can use this information to unravel her past and bully the truth out of her until she goes insane. â€Å"Why I’ve been half crazy, Stella! Stella played a small part of also making Blanche a Victim, she made Blanches insecurities obvious. â€Å"And admire her dress and tell her she’s looking wonderful, that’s important to her. Her little weakness. † Also Stella is very quiet and reserved around Blanche, her excuse being â€Å"You never give me a chance to talk! † Even though some times her notes may some times be a bit dry and sarcastic, Blanche is unaware and still continues to talk about her dreams, upsets and desire showing her anxiety. â€Å"What do you want me to do? † Stella’s silent manner is her response to show what is no importance of hers. It is clear that she loves her husband a lot more then her sister. â€Å"now honey, now love† She is more convinced by her husband that her sister is insane then to help her, thus leading to her complicity in Blanche’s committal. â€Å"I don’t know you! I don’t know you! † Mitch is the person that Blanche is in love with; he promises her a safe haven yet spurs Stanley indirectly to find out about Blanches past. Mitches interest in Blanche encourages Stanley to think of her sexually desirable, leading to the catastrophic events of Mitch trying to raping her and also Stanley raping her further on. Fumbling to embrace her† Because Blanche had total trust in Mitch, she could tell him her past when things came at its worse, she used this as a sympathy act in scene 10, searching for comfort of a man, of a stranger. â€Å"I love the company of strangers† Instead he uncovered her mask, showing her true identity, showing her vulnerability and showing her as a victim of her past and thoughts. â€Å"I like it dark, the dark is comforting. † By striping down her fantasy world, it made her almost child like and naked. â€Å"I don’t want realism† Leaving her efenseless and exposed. Also being the victim of Mitch’s actions. Blanche skips from one sexual encounter to another and seemed incapable of committing herself to a permanent relationship. When Blanche longs for Mitch to marry her, she is not seeking permanent sexual relationship but the material security of a home of her own. â€Å"The poor mans paradise, is a little peace† Blanche is show to be a victim of desire, the overpowering passion that she wants leads to a string of promiscuous encounters, strung along helplessly, unable to escape. Blanches fate is foreordaining, meaning she was a victim from the start. â€Å"Haven’t you ever ridden on that street car? † â€Å"It brought me here†. Because of her shocking past of her ghastly deaths in Belle Reve, her sexual life and her death of her husband. She is almost drawn to a flame to die. (drawn to her sister, to be literal and figuratively killed This is more evidence for her fate being foreordaining, as she frequently compared to a moth. Even the play it self was once called â€Å"The moth† Blanches world is full of grays and pastel colors (the colours of a moth) She cannot stand a vulgar remark, a loud noise, or a harsh light. As a result, she prefers darkness and dim candlelight, the perfect setting for her make-believe world that has no pain or memories. It also hides the reality of her departed youth and advancing age. Blanche prefers to be an ethereal character, living on the edge of the world. That is why the simile of the moth befits her.