Chloe's Second Entry on A Streetcar Named Desire

The passage that really stood out to me was in Scene Six a conversation between Mitch and Blanche.

“It’s really a pretty frightful situation. You see, there’s no privacy here. There’s just these portiere between the two rooms at night. He stalks through the rooms in his underwear at night. And I have to ask him to close the bathroom door. The sort of commonness isn’t necessary. You probably wonder why I don’t move out. Well, I’ll tell you frankly. A teacher’s salary is barely sufficient for her livings expenses. I didn’t save a penny last year and so I had to come here for the summer. That’s why I have to put up with my sister’s husband. And he has to put up with me, apparently so much against his wishes…Surely he must have told you how much he hates me.”

Blanche is such a character; she is very dramatic and completely ridiculous. This passage reflects her personality perfectly which is why I chose it. It shows how she is pretentious, a complainer, and a narcissus. Where does she get off saying these things? She came into their home basically completely unannounced, spinning lies from the get go and she has the nerve to criticize the home and the situation that she put herself in. She is demanding so much and giving so little. She doesn’t deserve respect because she hasn’t given any. She orders Stella around constantly asking for a soda, food, towels, and takes these long hot baths in their tub. She is not considerate of the fact that she is staying in someone else’s home, its not hers. Stanley doesn’t have to behave a certain way because she is there, I mean he should be a little more modest and proper but she doesn’t deserve it considering the way she talks about him, treats him, and lies to him and Stella.

Then her excuse is that she can’t move out because she has no money, well then she needs to start acting like it. She is constantly on her high horse acting as if she has money and is the Queen but then when it’s called for she will pull the sympathy card out and portray herself as the victim. It is her fault she didn’t save a penny last year and she is lucky that Stella and Stanley have let her stay for so long, but she doesn’t see it that way she sees it as having to put up with these horrible conditions. If she is in fact poor then she needs to realize that beggars can’t be choosers and she should be more grateful. Not to mention if she is so poor then where did all her glamorous clothing and jewelry appear from and if they were in fact from admirers why not sell them when problems with Belle Reve began?