Reality In A Streetcar Named Desire

An illusion is something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality. In Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire, characters such as Blanche Dubois, Harold Mitchell (Mitch), and Stella Kowalski often use illusion in an attempt to escape reality. Blanche Dubois is a woman who uses fantasy in order to protect herself from her own fears and the undesirable circumstances which occur in her life. Mitch uses illusion by regarding Blanche as the perfect woman in order to escape her lies and false reality. Stella uses illusion to make it seem as though she has a happy marriage in order to make her life and the abuse from Stanley bearable. Firstly, to cope with the anxiety and stress caused by the passing of her family
Blanche often fails to tell Mitch the truth about her past which he ignores and uses illusion by regarding Blanche as the perfect woman in order to escape her lies and false reality. In a criticism written by Joanne Woolway she states, "It appears that the connection in Blanche's past between violence and desire in some way contributes to the events within the time scale of the play." (292) This suggests that Blanche uses illusion to escape the bad memories of past violent relationships. “I guess it is just that I have old fashioned ideals! [She rolls her eyes, knowing he cannot see her face.]” (108) Blanche leads Mitch on by choosing to appear sexually naive, and this is apparent when she lies to Mitch about her past, adding to her facade. Mitch falls for Blanche’s charm which becomes evident when he says, “You need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be- you and me, Blanche?” (116) He is blind to her deception and even defends Blanche when Stanley tells him the truth about her life and promiscuous relationships with men. Mitch is too consumed by her beauty and his fantasy of marrying a perfect woman to consider she is lying to
For Blanche maintaining her youth and appearance is important as it is part of her illusions, making it seem as though nothing in her life has changed. Ultimately, fantasy consumes Blanche as she begins to believe they are truly a part of her reality. Mitch ignores Blanche’s lies and facade as he is blinded by the idea of marrying, who he believes to be the perfect woman. Through his own illusions he is able to escape from Blanche’s reality. Finally, Stella uses illusion as she endures her husband’s drinking and physical abuse. She also uses fantasy to protect and preserve her marriage, creating a facade that she lives happily with her