A Streetcar Named Desire

             Blanche or Stella? Blanche or Stella? A question being tossed around in classrooms in Eastport lately. Tennessee Williams, in A Streetcar Named Desire, creates two sisters who each clearly portray a stereotype. Stella, the sister in distress, perhaps the more reserved and meek of the two, is in a marriage with a very guyish-guy and she probably has no way out. Enter Blanche, right from the traditional Southern past, to attempt some sort of a rescue. It is disputed if Blanche's determined feelings about Stella and her testosterone-driven husband Stanley were a tad melodramatic, that perhaps their marriage was fine before she attempted to do something beneficial-in Blanche's mind. Either way, it was a crisis in the eyes of Blanche which prompted actions that changed the lives of the people in the play.
             To understand the character of Stella, one must realize that she is a definite character with no real hidden truths. She knows this, and does nothing. She is non-confrontational, especially when it comes to her husband. Stella is a meek person and allows Stanley do to as he pleases-even if it is severely detrimental-so long as it wouldn't produce a heated situation. She has a hard time understanding Blanche's "mission" to save their relationship, even if she thought there was something worth saving to begin with. The only aspect ambiguous in Stella's nature is whether she was passive by nature or Stanley molded her personality this way. It is easy to see both ways, but one possible proof that she has always been so passive is that she never confides-even to her sister-that there is or ever has been a problem. Though, on the contrary, Stanley is clearly abusive, physically and emotionally, and the lack of resistance or protest to Stanley's actions might be a result of the harm brought by Stella's husband.
             Either way, Stella's actions displease
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A Streetcar Named Desire. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 03:16, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/39332.html