Blanche Stanley Character Analysis

Blanche Dubois is a complex character. She sees herself the way she wants to be, rather than for the way she is. She is a self-centered and manipulative, but at the same time utterly vulnerable. Blanche is constantly surrounding herself with things that will ultimately contribute towards her downfall. She sees the world in a different shade compared to everyone else in the play. Her morals are wrong and she’s an avid drinker who is filled with contradictions. She is a lonely woman who seeks company from strangers, who above all else just wants to feel wanted.
As the play progressed, I saw many of the fabrications Blanche slowly engulfed her life around. Whether she was conversing with Mitch about her age, or telling Stella about her reason
They both feel threatened by one another and aren’t afraid to show their dislike. Stanley feels as if Blanche’s arrival sparked something in Stella that never needed to surface. The longer Blanche stays, the more Stella begins to acting outside of her character. Stella talks out of place and changes her and Stanley’s normal, everyday routine. Causing a disruption in Stanley’s “simple and structured” way of life. Stanley holds resentment towards Blanche and blames her for coming into his home and messing up his “order”. In the online article, “Blanche, Stanley, and the Civil War”, it states, “Stanley’s intense masculine power and sexuality contrast sharply with Blanche’s affectedly feminine vulnerability and flirtation, adding another dimension to their characterization as opposing forces.” (A Streetcar Named Desire: Blanche, Stanley, and the Civil War). The violent progression between Blanche and Stanley throughout the play only thickens. Towards the end, Stanley comes home to find Blanche in a distressed state, Stanley knows that if he assaults Blanche, it will be the final thing that pushes her over the edge. Not even Stella can believe her husband of doing such a thing. Stanley knows that can get away with it. As Stanley carries Blanche to the bed, he’s quoted saying, “We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!” This shows that even from the beginning, there was always some form of desire between Blanche and Stanley. The difference between the two is that Stanley’s desire roots from power, from acquisition. Blanche’s developed from loneliness, and eventually ends in her deafening loss of reality. In scene six Blanche says, “The first time I laid eyes on him I thought to myself, that man is my executioner.” Blanche’s word’s foretold her downfall. Stanley’s desire for Blanche ultimately led to her loss of reality, which to Blanche, is just the same as death. (Williams, A