Blog Post 3: Topic 3

 A key aspect of the theme for “A Streetcar Named Desire,” by Tennessee Williams, is the concept of insanity and which character fits this persona the best based on the events of the play. To many, Blanche is the helpless character driven to madness, for obvious reasons, but others may argue that Stanley may be the one that is truly crazy, while Blanche is just coping with the life that she was given. Although the concept of insanity seems relatively easy to understand and justify, there are many definitions of what insanity could possibly mean. In the court of law, the definition of insanity is to have an, “Unsoundness of mind or lack of the ability to understand that prevents one from having the mental capacity required by law to enter into a relationship, status or transaction that releases one from criminal or civil responsibility” (Merriam-Webster). Another common thought culturally, is that insanity is something completely unreasonable due to their disordered state of mind (Merriam-Webster). Based off these two definitions of insanity, Blanche is only marginally insane in the aspect of the law, but is fully insane based on the cultural definition.

            Blanche is only considered slightly insane in the eyes of the court, because she is fully aware of the bad decisions she has made and of the relationships that she has created. Before it was revealed to the audience that Blanche was very promiscuous in her last residence and that she had an unnatural attraction towards young boys, Blanche knew that she did these things, but continued to lie and keep up this perfect facade of herself regardless of the truth. Although Blanche did this multiple times, she particularly lied to Stanley when she said, “‘I’m afraid he does have me mixed up with this ‘other party.’ The hotel Flamingo is not the sort of establishment I would dare be seen!” (Williams, 77). Blanche was lying about her affiliation with the men at hotel Flamingo, where she had all of her licentious activities. Her need to be the type of woman that society wants her to be, drives her to lie in every aspect of her life. This is also true with the relationships that she builds. Instead of starting an honest relationship with Mitch, who was everything she wanted in a man, her need to cover up her imperfections got the best of her and destroyed the only chance she had at returning to a normal life. Mitch was so fond of Blanche that he said, “I like you to be exactly the way that you are, because in all my--experience—I have never known anyone like you” (Williams, 87). Blanche fully understood that she was lying to Mitch, and to every other man that she has ever encountered, but she still willingly put herself in that relationship regardless of her starting it the wrong way through lies and deceit. Another relationship that she had full knowledge of, was the relationship between her and Stanley. When Stanley and Blanche first met, it was very clear to Blanche that there was a flirtatious atmosphere between the two and she even admitted to Stella that, “Yes, I was flirting with your husband!” (Williams, 44).  From this statement, it is clear that Blanche is not too impaired to see Stanley’s objective all throughout the play and the connection between them. Blanche is so aware of how dangerous Stanley is that she knew Stanley’s intentions by reading into his actions and tried to fight him off instead of allowing him to willingly take her. Although Blanche is not seen as insane based on the court’s definition, culturally she is obviously the sort.

            From a cultural aspect, Blanche is nothing else but crazy due to her impaired state of mind and her inability to distinguish the real world from the fake. From the beginning of the story, Blanche’s flaws have been introduced and they all seem to stem from deaths in her past. Because of this, Blanche seems to have something similar to post traumatic stress disorder, which inhibits her ability to function and dissociate what is true from the lies that she has made up in her head. Blanche seems to have PTSD from her husband’s death, which is seen through the Polka music that is continuously playing in her head, and because of this she has adapted horrible coping mechanisms to deal with the stress. To cope with her husband’s death, she started drinking, had numerous sexual interactions with different men, and the most harmful one of all is the fantasy world she created in her mind. When Blanche is in any extreme discomfort or stress, she lies about events in her life to make herself feel better. An example of this is when her secrets came out and she was being evicted from Stella’s home. To deal with the events of losing Mitch and her persona, she comes up with the fantasy that, “Mr. Shep Huntleigh…. [is] inviting me on a cruise of the Caribbean” (Williams, 124). Because Blanche is dependent on men to keep her life sane, the loss of Mitch, and the need to escape, causes her to rethink about her imaginary boyfriend Shep Huntleigh. Making up this lie in her head is the only way that Blanche knows how to deal with her current living standards because it gives her hope for a future that will never occur. Her made up world is also the root to all the precautions she takes to stay “young” and beautiful. This is true because Blanche believes that she needs to keep the same physical appearance as when she was a young girl in order to be desirable. To keep up with this fantasy she turns off lights to mask her age and kept her teenage mentality when it came to men. Because Blanche is not able to distinguish what is make-believe and the real world around her, it leads her to live a life that is a complete lie. In the end, Blanche’s distortion of reality is the only thing that saves her, but continues to prove her insanity to the audience and characters around her.