Pub #2 Illusions

Pub #2

In the play “A Streetcar Named Desire”, we see Blanche Dubois showing up on her sister Stella’s doorstep after losing her place of residence. This cause a conflict between Stella’s husband Stanley and Blanche. Stanley takes an instant disliking to Blanche and is mean to her every chance he gets. We see both Blanche and Stanley in conflict for Stella’s affections and Stanley doing anything he can to win back his dutiful wife who followed everything he says without question. In scene 10, at the end of the scene it is implied that Stanley rapes Blanche while Stella is not home. Blanche tells Stella what happens and this lead to Stella telling Eunice, " I couldn't go on believing her story and live with Stanley" (Stella, 1232). This goes to show that by Stella saying this she chooses to stay with her husband even if she thinks what her sister said is true. 

This quote said by Stella is an important part of the last scene of the play. Stella knows that Blanche is partially telling the truth about what happened with Stanley. Stella though is faced with the dilemma of choosing to believe her sister and leave Stanley and take her newborn child with her with nowhere else to go or choose Stanley who Stella has been dependent on even before Blanche came. In the time that this play is set it was ingrained into women’s minds that you had to depend on a man to get you through life. That is why Stella would rather not face the truth and be blind to what has happened with her husband and stay with him so she sends Blanche away with a doctor. This conflict that Stella faced shows how people would rather not face the reality of a situation and rather believe a delusion that fabricates any truth said.

Taking a psychological approach to one of the characters it would have to be Stanley. He can be classified in psychology as having an aggressive personality. Aggressive personalities are fundamentally at war with anything that stands in the way of their desire (Simon 1). This relates to Stanley in that when blanche comes Stanley takes an instant disliking to her because she is keeping Stella from him and Stella is not as submissive to him when Blanche is around. The aggressive personality actively and deliberately seeks to exploit victimize others when to do so to further their own ends (Simon 3). Stanley every chance he gets taunts Blanche and he even goes as far as raping Blanche to get her to leave. 


In the play, “A Streetcar Named Desire” we see a huge theme of illusion vs reality especially towards the end of the play where Stella would rather deal with the illusion that Stanley never raped Blanche and live with him then face reality and confront Stanley about what happened and leave him. Like the quote, Judith Guest said, “Depending on the reality one must face, one may prefer to opt for illusion”.

Work Cited 
Simon, PhD Dr George. “Understanding the Aggressive Personalities.” CounsellingResource.com: Psychology, Therapy & Mental Health Resources, 14 Mar. 2011, counsellingresource.com/features/2008/11/03/aggressive-personalities/. Accessed 3 Mar. 2017.