In his 1940s tragedy, A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams explores the helpless psychological downfall of Blanche Dubois as she attempts to deal with the events in her past, and resolve her uncertain future. Dubois’ lamentable romantic history acts to push her on an unremitting path of mental deterioration, which manifests itself in a heavy reliance on alcohol, predation (on younger men), and romantic fantasies—this gradually escalates from the benign and simple act of visualizing a better future for herself (in finding a new romantic partner, related to the theme of dependence upon men), to completely ignoring reality and becoming engrossed in her idealistic delusions. The battle that Dubois faces in ridding herself of the past—so
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On multiple occasions, she is shown consuming alcohol slyly, often later lying to others about how many drinks she’s had; in as early as the first scene—after having already downed multiple shots—she claims that “one’s [her] limit” (Williams 21) and that she “rarely touch[es] it” (Williams 30). She uses these instances to paint herself as being in control of life and, because a habitual consumption of alcohol by women was frowned upon at the time, she does everything she can to conceal her disconcerting habit and be accepted by her peers. In reality however, Dubois’ strong attachment to alcohol is a result of her feelings of desperation, despondency, and shame, as well as the greater overarching theme of escapism; she drinks to escape the harsh and bitter realities of her life, and uses the alcohol to inspire her idealistic and glamorous fantasies. Similar to Dubois, her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, also consumes alcohol excessively; for Kowalski however, alcohol tends to result in an inability to control his aggressive nature—a fact made most clear when he strikes his own wife, after already having destroyed their radio. Although consuming alcohol makes Kowalski physically aggressive (acting as a catalyst for what is already innately present), he is …show more content…
Furthermore, her struggle to avoid the light throughout the play is truly reflective of a desperate attempt to prevent it from illuminating (and thus shattering) her quixotic delusions, consequently forcing her to confront the spiteful reality she finds herself in. However, fully submitting to this reality may not be the ultimate cure to Dubois’ psychosomatic fantasies, as doing so could just mean incorporating the externalities into even more convoluted delusions. In order to recover fully, Dubois’ only option would have been to embrace this exterior world as her only true
On multiple occasions, she is shown consuming alcohol slyly, often later lying to others about how many drinks she’s had; in as early as the first scene—after having already downed multiple shots—she claims that “one’s [her] limit” (Williams 21) and that she “rarely touch[es] it” (Williams 30). She uses these instances to paint herself as being in control of life and, because a habitual consumption of alcohol by women was frowned upon at the time, she does everything she can to conceal her disconcerting habit and be accepted by her peers. In reality however, Dubois’ strong attachment to alcohol is a result of her feelings of desperation, despondency, and shame, as well as the greater overarching theme of escapism; she drinks to escape the harsh and bitter realities of her life, and uses the alcohol to inspire her idealistic and glamorous fantasies. Similar to Dubois, her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, also consumes alcohol excessively; for Kowalski however, alcohol tends to result in an inability to control his aggressive nature—a fact made most clear when he strikes his own wife, after already having destroyed their radio. Although consuming alcohol makes Kowalski physically aggressive (acting as a catalyst for what is already innately present), he is …show more content…
Furthermore, her struggle to avoid the light throughout the play is truly reflective of a desperate attempt to prevent it from illuminating (and thus shattering) her quixotic delusions, consequently forcing her to confront the spiteful reality she finds herself in. However, fully submitting to this reality may not be the ultimate cure to Dubois’ psychosomatic fantasies, as doing so could just mean incorporating the externalities into even more convoluted delusions. In order to recover fully, Dubois’ only option would have been to embrace this exterior world as her only true