Blanche's Psychological Breakdown
In Tennesse Williams' play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" the readers are
introduced to a character named Blanche DuBois. In the plot, Blanche is
Stella's younger sister who has come to visit Stella and her husband
Stanley in New Orleans. After their first meeting Stanley develops a
strong dislike for Blanche and everything associated with her. Among the
things Stanley dislikes about Blanche are her "spoiled-girl" manners and
her indirect and quizzical way of conversing. Stanley also believes that
Blanche has conned him and his wife out of the family mansion. In his
opinion, she is a good-for-nothing "leech" that has attached itself to
his household, and is just living off him. Blanche's lifelong habit of
avoiding unpleasant realities leads to her breakdown as seen in her
irrational response to death, her dependency, and her inability to
defend herself from Stanley's attacks.
Blanche's situation with her husband is the key to her later behavior.
She married rather early at the age of sixteen to whom a boy she
believed was a perfect gentleman. He was sensitive, understanding, and
civilized much like herself coming from an aristocratic background. She
was truly in love with Allen whom she considered perfect in every way.
Unfortunately for her he was a homosexual. As she caught him one
evening in their house with an older man, she said nothing, permitting
her disbelief to build up inside her. Sometime later that evening, while
the two of them were dancing, she told him what she had seen and how he
disgusted her. Immediately, he ran off the dance floor and shot himself,
with the gunshot forever staying in Blanche's mind. After that day,
Blanche believed that she was really at fault for his suicide. She
became promiscuous, seeking a substitute men (especially young boys),
for her dead husband, thinking that she failed him sexually. Gradually
her reputation as a whore built up and
introduced to a character named Blanche DuBois. In the plot, Blanche is
Stella's younger sister who has come to visit Stella and her husband
Stanley in New Orleans. After their first meeting Stanley develops a
strong dislike for Blanche and everything associated with her. Among the
things Stanley dislikes about Blanche are her "spoiled-girl" manners and
her indirect and quizzical way of conversing. Stanley also believes that
Blanche has conned him and his wife out of the family mansion. In his
opinion, she is a good-for-nothing "leech" that has attached itself to
his household, and is just living off him. Blanche's lifelong habit of
avoiding unpleasant realities leads to her breakdown as seen in her
irrational response to death, her dependency, and her inability to
defend herself from Stanley's attacks.
Blanche's situation with her husband is the key to her later behavior.
She married rather early at the age of sixteen to whom a boy she
believed was a perfect gentleman. He was sensitive, understanding, and
civilized much like herself coming from an aristocratic background. She
was truly in love with Allen whom she considered perfect in every way.
Unfortunately for her he was a homosexual. As she caught him one
evening in their house with an older man, she said nothing, permitting
her disbelief to build up inside her. Sometime later that evening, while
the two of them were dancing, she told him what she had seen and how he
disgusted her. Immediately, he ran off the dance floor and shot himself,
with the gunshot forever staying in Blanche's mind. After that day,
Blanche believed that she was really at fault for his suicide. She
became promiscuous, seeking a substitute men (especially young boys),
for her dead husband, thinking that she failed him sexually. Gradually
her reputation as a whore built up and