Character Analysis: A Streetcar Named Desire By Tennessee Williams

The Truth Hurts
A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams is a play about a southern lady named Blanche from Mississippi visiting her sister Stella, who is married to Stanley and currently living in Elysian Fields, New Orleans. Blanche arrives in Elysian Fields, and throughout her entire stay with Stella and Stanley, there is tension and conflict occurring in Stella’s house. Even though Blanche and Stella were brought up in the South under wealthy conditions, the conflict is mainly caused by Blanche’s dislike of Stanley because, as a blue-collar worker, Stanley's status is lower than the DuBois’. In another aspect, Stanley’s conflict is caused by him being suspicious of Blanche since her arrival. Blanche explains to Stella that
One reason Blanche would rather live a life of deception is because the truth hurts too much. Similarly when light is shown on a person who has been in a dark place for a very long time, it will hurt their eyes. To Blanche the truth is very painful and being unable to face the truth, she says she has been telling “what ought to be truth” (1830). She wishes that the lies she has told were true. Repeatedly, Blanche avoids light because she feels guilty of her sins, is trying to hide her lies, or does not want to face the
Like many other women, Blanche does not want anyone to know her age, especially Mitch. For the sake of vanity, women are usually unwilling to reveal their true age and this has become acceptable in our culture. In the same way, Blanche hides from well lit areas due to the fact that she does not want to face the reality that she is getting old. She tells Mitch that she is younger than Stella “she’s somewhat older than I. Just slightly. Less than a year” (1799). Right after saying this, she immediately proceeds to ask Mitch to cover the light bulb with a decoration as she has become aware of the light after telling a lie. Blanche also avoids the light because she does not want her wrinkles to show, exclaiming “Daylight never exposed so total a ruin!” (1782). It’s evident that Blanche is definitely hiding from any well lit area, especially around Mitch, as he says "I don’t think I ever seen you in the light... You never want to go out till after six and then it’s always some place that’s not lighted much” (1830). In a social psychology context, as long as a form of practice is accepted in one's culture, that practice is considered a type of adaptation. Blanche's lying about her age and trying to look pretty all the time is commonly acceptable for a woman to behave that way. However, if that practice goes too extreme and causes impairment in daily activities, it is considered a type of maladaptation which will potentially lead to