Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the duality of Blanche in the play. It explains how she is a character whose duality becomes more and more apparent as the play progresses. She holds herself out to be one sort of person with one sort of background, but in fact, her life has been very different from what she pretends. The writer explains that the duality derives from a conflict between sexual longing and the spiritual side of her nature in a world that sees the two as separate, when in fact they are combined in every person.

From the Paper:

"Blanche sees herself as a martyr and is always referring to the way life has treated her. The loss of her and Stella's childhood home is a key reference point. Blanche's character is revealed as it contrasts with that of Stanley -- Blanche aspires to the spiritual, and Stanley just accepts the animal and denies the spiritual. A key conflict in the play is the threat Blanche poses to the domesticity of Stanley and Stella, and from Stanley's point of view this is bound with his belief in reality as contrasted with Blanche's desire to live by illusion. Stanley is a character who is open and direct. From the beginning of the play he is made to seem elemental."

More papers on Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire":

• Book Review # 133273 : "Sexual Tension in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
• Analytical Essay # 58795 : "Symbols and Metaphors in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
• Analytical Essay # 125025 : "Blanche Dubois in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

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