A Streetcar Named Desire: The Penalty Of The Truth

The Penalty of the Truth is Knowing it is True The truth is supposed to set a person free, but more often than not, it turns out to be an immense burden that leaves lasting damage on its unsuspecting victims. In any relationship, truth is an vital part in it’s success. However in Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire being truthful is not commonly utilized, and throughout the play, there is an abundance of lies and betrayal from the moment Blanche Dubois comes to town.
Whether there are good or bad experiences in a writer's life, their respective experiences tend to be what inspire them to compose these highly personal pieces of literature. Tennessee Williams is no exception. Williams was molded by some traumatizing experiences …show more content…
The first time that Stanley and Blanche meet, there is a bit of normalcy which is a stark contrast from the very hateful tension that is going to come, mainly because of the distrust. But in the beginning, the readers already see Blanche’s reluctance to tell the truth when Stanley asks her if she is a teacher and she conveniently leaves out the detail that she has recently been fired from her position, a scandalous fact that will be revealed in a later scene (Williams 26-27). Stanley and Blanche’s relationship is very complex because they are so different: “To Blanche, Stanley is like death: He is nonreducible. Paradoxically, his primitive life force is death to her, because she cannot turn it into a game, her game. It is intolerably real. Stanley is male sun to her feminine mists. He is the only man around who will not let her say, without choking: "You may think you can crack me with desire, but, instead, I will make you bow to appearances” (Kolin). The conflict between the two characters lead to tragic mishap for a vulnerable Blanche. After steadily taking cheap shots at eachother Stanley decides to look into the not so pleasant past of his high class sister-in-law. After finding out the truth of Blanche’s time in Laurel, Stanley finds his way to take the final blow to knock Blanche down for good. Though it is hurting everyone else in his life, he reveals all of Blanche’s …show more content…
Just as things had started to calm down they went downhill very quickly the night that Stella goes into labor. “Stanley ultimately betrays Stella's trust by raping her sister while Stella is in labor at the hospital, Stella passively accepts Stanley's denial of Blanche's report and even acquiesces to his demand that her sister be institutionalized for her delusions” (Hovis) Not only is Blanche used and abused, but she is punished for it. Everything is turned against her, because Stella “couldn't believe her story and go on living with Stanley” (Williams 133). It would complicate everything to face the truth so they do not even give her a chance to show she is being truthful. She was betrayed by everyone and then sent off and forgotten about as if nothing had ever happened. After the decision is made to send her to an institution Blanche she reveals a quote to the doctor “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” (Williams 178). The irony here is that she really does, and it is the sad truth. She is constantly depending on the approval and compliments of others. She was taken advantage of by strangers in her old town and it's what is happening now. The truth for blanche is very twisted and depressing. After the falling out of Blanche and her young lover, she was almost destined for a misfortunate