Blanche Dubois In A Streetcar Named Desire

Arthur Miller, prolific American playwright and essayist, talks about the common man being just as capable of tragedy as a King. Blanche Dubois exemplifies Arthur Miller's ideas of tragic figures who suffer from terror and fear of self delusion. Blanche suffers from trying to deceive herself and others about her lifestyle and appearance.
Arthur Miller said, The flaw, or crack in the characters, is really nothing-and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status. Blanche refuses to remain passive throughout the play, she continuously fights for her dignity by truly making herself and others believe that she is the “Southern-belle” should be. You can see this in the way she dresses and presents herself. “You come in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light bulb with a paper lantern, and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile!” Blanche
At certain points you find yourself believing that Blanche will succeed in getting what she has been looking for. When Mitch falls for Blanche and speaks of marriage with her you see the potential of Blanche having a happy ending she has always wanted. The play then takes an unexpected turn. This feeling is pulled away from you when the animal act of rape dooms blanche. This is where the realization that blanche will never achieve her goals hits you. Instead of an outright death that would end the play, blanche is striped of her dignity. Stanley strips Blanche of any chance she has of fulfilling her dreams of having the perfect life and the perception that she is indeed what she has been portraying herself as.possibility of victory must be there in tragedy. Where pathos rules, where pathos is finally derived, a character has fought a battle he could not possibly have