A Streetcar Named Desire - Sympathy for Blanche

‘A Streetcar named Desire,’ is an interesting play, by Tennessee Williams. The character 'Blanche DuBois' is created to evoke sympathy, as the story follows her tragic deterioration in the months she lived with her sister Stella, and brother-in-law Stanley. After reading the play, I saw Blanche as the victim of Stanley's aggressive ways, and I also saw her as a hero in my eyes.
Blanche's devistating past is just one of the reasons I felt sympathy for her. Troubled from her past, Blanche has a sence of falseness, which increasingly becomes apparent to Stanley. Her secrets are revealed, and this unveals a haunting past, and insecurities which were unknown to Stella. It would appear that the lies and desperate clutches to hold onto dreams, and fantasies, suggested that Blanche was insane.
A ‘visiting in-law’, she has come seemingly to visit Stella, yet the continuation of the first scene shows the true nature of her visit; she has lost their family property. Immediately, it can be seen that she is out of place in this neighbourhood, from her appearance (QUOTE HERE) her rhetorical questioning “this – can this be – her home?” It is highlighted that not only does Blanche feel there are there vast differences in standards of living, but between fantasy and reality. Her claim that she couldn’t possibly make herself ‘at home’ here suggests that she looks down on this society. Yet even in her first appearance, Blanche’s anxieties can be seen, as she tries to control her nerves “I’ve got to keep a hold of myself” and as she tells Stella “I can’t be alone…I’m not very well.”
There are many reasons for Blanche’s strange behaviour, and I think that guilt is a big issue for Blanche. Having witnessed the deaths of her relatives -
‘long parade to the graveyard,’ she feels responsible for their deaths. The worst of these experiences was the suicide of her husband, who she caught in bed with another man. It became obvious to me that Blanche is haunted by this memory, as the