Main Themes in A Streetcar Named Desire :: English Literature

Main Themes in A Streetcar Named DesireFantasy/Illusion Blanche dwells in illusion fantasy is her primarymeans of self-defense. Her deceits do not carry any trace of malicerather, they come from her weakness and inability to confront the integrity head-on. She tells things not as they are, but as they ought tobe. For her, fantasy has a liberating magic that protects her from thetragedies she has had to endure. Unfortunately, this defense is frailand leave behind be shattered by Stanley. In the end, Stanley and Stella will as well as resort to a kind of illusion Stella will force herself tobelieve that Blanches accusations against Stanley are false.The Old S outh and the New South Stella and Blanche come from a worldthat is rapidly dying. Belle Reve, their familys ancestralplantation, has been lost. The two sisters, symbolically, are the lastliving members of their family. Stella will mingle her blood with amilitary personnel of blue-collar stock, and Blanche will degrade the world of madness.Stanley represents the new order of the South chivalry is dead,replaced by a rat race, to which Stanley makes several proudillusions.Cruelty The only unforgivable crime, according to Blanche, is knock over cruelty. This sin is Stanleys specialty. His final assaultagainst Blanche is a merciless attack against an already-beaten foe.On the other hand, though Blanche is dishonest, she never lies out ofmalice. Her cruelty is unintentional often, she lies in a vain effortto plays. Throughout Streetcar, we see the full range of cruelty, fromBlanches well-intentioned deceits to Stella self-deceiving treacheryto Stanleys deliberate and unchecked malice. In Williams plays,there are many ways to hurt someone. And some are worse than others.The Primitive and the Primal Blanche often speaks of Stanley asape-like and primitive. Stanley represents a very unrefined manhood, aromantic idea of man untouched by civilization and its effeminizinginfluences. His appeal is clear Stella cannot resist him, and evenBlanche, though repulsed, is on some level drawn to him. Stanleysunrefined nature also includes a terrifying amorality. The service ofhis desire is central to who he is he has no qualms about driving hissister-in-law to madness, or raping her.Desire Closely related to the al-Qaeda above, desire is the centraltheme of the play. Blanche seeks to deny it, although we learn laterin the play that desire is one of her driving motivations her desireshave caused her to be driven out of town.