The Role Of Illusion In A Streetcar Named Desire

Scientists, for years, have been trying to uncover the secrets of reality. For example, Einstein has been known to say “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” Furthermore, many experiments have been conducted to determine what reality is, and how much our senses actually deceive us. After a complex thought, everything around us is man made or an illusion; our jobs are man made, time is man made, even people’s hopes and dreams are fueled by society’s opinions. Due to the fact, that these things we call real are made up of things that would have never been possible without the human mind, our reality can be perceived to be an illusion. Yet, crowds of humans are unsatisfied with this illusion. In the modern play, A Streetcar

Confident in which she has found the protection she craves with her carefully planned myths, Ms. DuBois is singing “It’s Only a Paper Moon” in the bathtub. The lyrics reveal her mindset: an imaginary world could become real through love and a persistent belief in her. Nevertheless, Blanche’s make-believe world does not overtake reality; once Blanche’s fantasy version of herself crumbles, her hopeful future with Mitch, the only one who has been willing to believe in her fantasy, will be eradicated. A juxtaposition between an illusory perspective on life and the actual world is created when Blanche is optimistically singing with Stanley’s heinous revelations about her. Stanley sees his wife’s sister in law as a threat to his lifestyle. This threat paired with his hatred of anything related to illusion made Stanley an opponent to DuBois’ make-believe world. In this instance, Stanley is very similar to reality, since he desires to expose the truth of the situation. Bathing to remove all past faults is a whimsical wish as Blanche can’t physically change the past. During another one of her bathing rituals, Stanley with all the facts accumulated, informs Stella of all the truths behind Blanche’s acts. Additionally, Stanley has already discussed this matter with Mitch. After this moment, the facade falls apart at the hands of reality. As Mitch confronts Blanche on these revelations and forces her to bare all her features to him under a naked light bulb, she continues to hope that admitting to all these faults will in return salvage her relationship. Instead,