In Tennessee Williams' play "A Streetcar Named Desire," Blanche DuBois is a character whose mental state slowly deteriorates as the book progresses. Despite the bad events of her personality and past, Blanche’s eventual descent into a mental breakdown showed the need for therapy/a mental hospital. The play foreshadows Blanche’s mental decline through her own conversations, which highlight her urgent need for psychiatric care. Taking Blanche to a mental hospital was not only needed, but also the best course of action given her circumstances. From the very beginning of the play, Blanche’s mental health issues were already being addressed. In her initial interaction with her sister Stella, Blanche confesses, “Because - as you must have noticed …show more content…
Blanche’s own recognition of her mental health shows the need for a good environment, which a mental hospital would provide. Blanche’s interactions with others further highlight her mental and emotional well-being. In a moment of vulnerability, she expresses, “There's so much - so much confusion in the world... [He coughs diffidently.] Thank you for being so kind! I need kindness now” (Scene 3). This statement not only shows her horrible mental health, but also her desperate need for kindness and stability. The bad and often abusive environment she finds herself in exacerbates her condition, where a place like a mental hospital would be a much better place to be. Blanche’s past, which led to her now, are further signs of her detachment from reality. She remarks, “I guess it is just that I have old-fashioned ideals! She rolls her eyes, knowing he cannot see her face. ]” (Scene 6). This statement reflects her inability to adapt to her present circumstances and her retreat into an imagined past. Such behavior is her inability to cope with reality, which is a severe illness that a mental health hospital can
Blanche was awfully spoiled as a young girl. She lived in a huge house named Belle Reve, where servants would wait on her every want and need. This led her to never experience any hardships or adversity as a child. She had no previous experience of when she was forced to deal with any difficulties. She just had other people to take care of them for her. This is why, as an adult, Blanche doesn’t know how to overcome adve...
6). Williams’s sister Rose is the real-life parallel of Blanche – Blanche’s illusions about life mirror Rose’s after her forced lobotomy*. However, unlike Rose Blanche is presented as knwing that she is “on the verge of - lunacy” (p.7). Similarly, Williams declared that after the events of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Blanche left the asylum and lived a fulfilling life with a young gentleman – he was perhaps deluding himself, pushing his hopes for Rose onto Blanche, the fictional character believed to have been inspired by his
To conclude, the author portrays Blanche’s deteriorating mental state throughout the play and by the end it has disappeared, she is in such a mental state that doctors take her away. Even at this stage she is still completely un-aware of her surroundings and the state she is in herself.
This statement also emphasises much of Blanche’s own views on sorrow and explains how it has affected her life since she has made the comment from personal experience. To conclude, Tennessee Williams’ dramatic use of death and dying is an overarching theme in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ from which everything about Blanche’s character has formed from. Without the death of Allan, Blanche would not have resorted to prostitution and the brief affairs with strangers, also the deaths of her family have driven Blanche to Stella’s where she is “not wanted” and “ashamed to be”. Therefore these dramatic deaths have lead to the past which comes back to haunt
which, as Williams suggests, "was too great for her to contain". As to whether her escape was "madness" can be debatable - although Blanche is clearly unstable at many points, some believe that Blanche is not. actually insane, suggested by Stella's comment in Scene 11 - "I. couldn't believe her story and go on living with Stanley. " From her first appearance on stage, Blanche is presented as being.
The character I choose to diagnose for this assignment is Blanche DuBois from the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams. The DSM5 states that in order for someone to be diagnosed with Histrionic Personality Disorder, one must exhibit a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. One must display five (or more) of the following circumstances in order for this diagnosis to be relevant: is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention, interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior, displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions, consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self, has a style of speech that is
In Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams uses the suicide of Blanche's husband to illuminate Blanche's insecurities and immoral behavior. When something terrible happens to someone, it often reveals who he or she truly is. Blanche falls victim to this behavior, and she fails to face her demons. This displays how the play links a character’s illogical choices and their inner struggles.
Throughout Tennessee Williams’s play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Blanche Dubois exemplified several tragic flaws. She suffered from her haunting past; her inability to overcome; her desire to be someone else; and from the cruel, animalistic treatment she received from Stanley. Sadly, her sister Stella also played a role in her downfall. All of these factors ultimately led to Blanche’s tragic breakdown in the end. Blanche could not accept her past and overcome it.
Blanche also becomes disconnected from reality because of her delusions of music and gunshots from her husband’s death. She seeks relationships with strangers in the hopes of recreating the love she had for her husband. When the relationship fails to satisfy her craving for love, she sinks further into her fantasy. When Mitch rejects her, saying “I don 't think I want to marry you anymore.” (Williams 131) she once again finds comfort in her fantasy. She has sunk so far into her fantasy that she has a response to all of Stanley’s questions. She is no longer up holding the illusion for others. She truly believes her delusions enough to maintain the façade while she is
...es and thinks that her hopes will not be destroyed. Thirdly, Blanche thinks that strangers are the ones who will rescue her; instead they want her for sex. Fourthly, Blanche believes that the ones who love her are trying to imprison her and make her work like a maid imprisoned by them. Fifthly, Blanche’s superiority in social status was an obscure in her way of having a good social life. Last but not least, Blanche symbolizes the road she chose in life- desire and fantasy- which led her to her final downfall.
Blanche’s reluctance to give up her past left her unable to determine her destiny, which ultimately led to her being placed in the mental asylum. Having encountered many significant events throughout her life, Blanche finally allowed someone else to control her destiny. This someone happened to be the doctor who helped carry her away from the Kowalski residence at the end of the play. In his modern drama, A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams depicts that all individuals are given the opportunity to alter their destiny, no matter what the circumstances are. Significant events in our lives can alter our decisions, but what matters most is taking control of the opportunity presented, and making the most out of it.
One cant imagine how it must feel to lose the ones they love and hold dear, but to stay afterwards and mourn the loss of the many is unbearable. Blanche has had a streak of horrible luck. Her husband killing himself after she exposed her knowledge about his homosexuality, her advances on young men that led to her exile and finally her alcoholism that drew her life to pieces contemplated this sorrow that we could not help but feel for Blanche throughout the drama. Blanche’s desire to escape from this situation is fulfilled when she is taken away to the insane asylum. There she will have peace when in the real world she only faces pain.
Up until the moment she sees the doctor at the end of the play, she is convinced her former man, Shep Huntleigh, now a millionaire, is coming to get her and take her away to a life of stability and ease. As the doctor leads her away she says, “I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.” This deluded calmness and happiness that Blanche has while being lead away to the insane asylum she still doesn’t know about, is suggestive that despite reality’s eventual and definite victory, fantasy is a strong and vital thing that is used by all individually in their own circumstances. Williams uses Blanche as one way to demonstrate and explore his points on the tragedy of reality versus
Empathy is a fundamental human connection, it allows us to strengthen relationships and build a stronger character. In Tennessee Williams play Streetcar Named Desire Blanche is weakened by the lack of a basic human trait. The lack of empathy that Blanche gives and receives greatly affects her poor resilience to Hardships in her life. Thus, causing her to be an emotional train wreck and a highly flawed character. Blanche often receives no empathy through her character because of her inability to empathize with others; this is demonstrated by her relationship with her husband, her sister, brother in law Stanley, and the death of her family. Through these Devastating events she searches for empathy in all the wrong places. Her struggle without
In 'A Streetcar Named Desire' we focus on three main characters. One of these characters is a lady called Blanche. As the play progresses, we gradually get to know more about Blanche and the type of person she really is in contrast to the type of person that she would like everybody else to think she is. Using four main mediums, symbolism and imagery, Blanche's action when by herself, Blanche's past and her dialogue with others such as Mitch, Stanley and the paperboy, we can draw a number of conclusions about Blanche until the end of Scene Five. Using the fore mentioned mediums we can deter that Blanche is deceptive, egotistical and seductive.