Streetcar named Desire

Life is an uphill battle that is full of challenges. It’s full of many uncertainties. Blanche is known as a pathological liar who lives in the past and gives into desire. Based on her inability to control her desires, Blanche is to blame. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams describes Blanche Dubois as a neurotic central character who lives in a fantasy world of old south chivalry but cannot control her desires. Although Blanche is to blame for herown demise, society did play a role in the person she became. The story is about the fading and desperate Blanche DuBois and how her sensuous and brutal brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, pushes her over the edge. The story takes place in a working-class neighborhood in New Orleans during the late 1940s. When times get rough, who is to blame for your downfall, yourself or the ones around you?

Society can be used to argue Blanche’s demise. Blanche DuBois once referred to herself as a Southern Belle: a woman who has great wealth, behaves like a lady, and is typically beautiful. Blanche’s main problem is overcoming her past. Blanche’s thoughts about herself prove the fact the she is living in a fantasy world rather than reality. Blanche’s inability to overcome her past truly haunted her. Her husband, Allan Grey, shot himself. He committed suicide after Blanche caught him cheating on her with another man. Blanche’s life continued to go downhill from this point. After the death of her husband, she ran out of money to pay her mortgage. The death of her family members is the reason for the of “lost” Belle Reve (the DuBois family plantation) because “death is expensive” . Blanche’s inability to pay her mortgage resulted in her moving out of Belle Reve and into Hotel Flamingo. Blanche felt a sense of pleasure at the hotel. Her financial difficulties were improving and her sexual desires were being taken care of as well. She was kicked out of the Hotel Flamingo and had no other choice, but to live with her sister and