Character Analysis: A Streetcar Named Desire

Reality VS Fantasy In the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the motif of reality vs fantasy is used alot throughout the play. The fantasy part of this motif can be seen especially through Blanche, one of the characters. Blanche believes she is a young, beautiful and intelligent women but in reality she is not. Another fantasy seen in the play can be seen through the other characters because they hide from reality by acting as if some events did not happen. When the men would get violent with the women, after a few minutes of crying the women would return to the men as if nothing happened. The reality part of the play can be seen through another character named Stanley. When Stanley tries to uncover Blanche and the
fantasy that she lives in, he is the person that brings her back to reality. He uncovered the truth that Blanche tried so so hard to to keep hidden. In scenes 1-2, reality vs fantasy can be seen mainly through Blanche and Stanley.
When Blanche was talking to Eunice, Blanche said “ They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cameteries and ride six blocksand get off at- Elysian Feilds”(I.I.6). What Blanche did not realize is that she was walking directly to the death of her fantasy world. She did not realize that her “fantasy world” would end their. Blanche came with desire to find a man that had money and that would love her but at the end of the play that life that she wanted died. When Stanley asked Blanche if it was alright for him to take his shirt of, Blanche responsed by saying “ It’s mine, too. It’s hard to stay looking fresh. I haven’t washed or even powdered my face and- here you are! (Williams26). This quote helps with the reality VS fantasy because Blanche thinks she is this young women that needs to look good for men. She is willing to flirt with anyone even if it is her brother-in-law. In scene 2 when Blanche and Stanley were arguing about Belle Reve, Stanley touched all the important poems in which Blanche responded by saying “Now you have touched them I’ll burn them!”(Williams.42). When Stanley touched the papers, it was in a way bringing Blanche to reality. Blanche had kept the poems that her dead husband had wrote to her so she can hold on to the world she use to live in. By Stanley touching them, it was his way of making her memories go away and for her to come back to
reality. “Scene 9 contains the short confrontation between Blanche and the Mexican Women-Vendor, who is clearly meant to be a kind of death figure for her fantasy world”(Cardullo, 1997). The mexian women is a symbol of death but also resurrection. When Blanche shouts “I don’t want realism. I want magic!”(Kollin 1995). It is important to Blanche to have fantasy as a option because she wants to believe that the world is prettier then it actually is. This scene is where Blanche’s fantasy goes overboard and it is at it’s fullest. Between scenes 10 and 11 is where reality becomes victorious over fantasy. Right before Stanley raped Blanche, he said “We 've had this date with each other from the beginning. (Williams 162). Stanley raping Blanche symbolizes reality beating fantasy. Blanche’s fantasy world ended when she told Stella about the rape and she did not believe Blanche. That was the last straw for Stella because after the incident, Blanche was taken to a mental asylum. When Stella was talking to Eunice, she said “I couldn 't believe her story and go on living with Stanley” (Williams 165). Even though Stella deep down knew that Blanche was telling the truth, she had to hide reality in order to live the life she was living before Blanche came into the picture. The motif reality VS fantasy was an important motif because it uncovered Blanche’s true identity. It also showed that Stanley was “reality” because he succeeded in ending Blanche’s fantasy world. The fantasy that Blanche lived in consisted of her always flirting, looking her best in dark lighting and having good manners. She represented the “old south” while Stanley represented the “new south”.

Works Cited
1. Cardullo, Robert James. “Scene 11 of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.’.” ANQ 10.4 (1997): 34+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 1 Oct. 2013.
2. Kolin, Philip C. "South Atlantic Review." JSTOR. South Atlantic Modern Language Association, 4 Nov. 1995. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.Mood,
3. John J. “The Structure of A Streetcar Named Desire. “ Ball State University Forum 14.3 ( Summer 1973): 9-10. Rpt. In Drama for Students. ED. David M. Galens and Lynn M. Spampinato. Vol. 1. Detriot: Gale, 1998. Literature Resources Center. Web.15 Oct. 2013
4. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: New Directions, 1980. Print.