Rejection In Portrait Of Madonna Lucretia, By Tennessee Williams

Rejection Led her to Psychosis
In Tennessee William’s Portrait of Madonna Lucretia Collins is driven mad by the rejection of a man who she so fondly treasured and loved during her youth, so mad that she can no longer seem to grasp reality or even take care of herself. Her psychosis led her to think she is pregnant by the intruder who was the man she was in love with as a young girl and whose rejection is the main contribution to her flight from reality. Thus her heart break led to obsession and her delusions drastically worsened from, Richard breaking into her apartment, to him forcing himself on her and her becoming pregnant.
Clearly from narration of past events she was enamored of a young man who was completely fond of her but preferred the company of another very outgoing woman. Unfortunately the young man then weds the girl and she simply never recovered from the heart break. Lucretia calls the maiden “shameless” and a “common strumpet”. She is completely convinced she stole him away with her sexuality. She explains to the Porter how difficult it was to walk around her community knowing that he had chosen to spend the rest of his life with the other woman. Especially when she would pass by their home on Sundays after church,
She situates herself with fantasies in such a way that in her mind she is still innocent because it was rape and she was not willing. She can emotionally and morally remain above reproach and thus reflects how strictly she was raised by the church. She is horrified by sexuality and it is a symptom of her emotional disturbance. The fact that she is thinking about him in a sexual way after being raised strictly to abide the church shows her obsession toward Richard and how he continues to linger through her mind. Her raped fantasy proved she was also preoccupied with