Everett's Third Entry on A Streetcar Named Desire

The final few scenes of A Streetcar Named Desire completly shocked and excited me. I was pleased and could not tear myself away from the book until I was finished. It's funny though, because until these last 5 scenes I couldn't find much thrill or even much plot in the book, but as I had hoped for, it came, late but not at all short.

I could never have predicted what came for Blanche. Personally, I do not think what she needed was a doctor or a hospital, but rather peace. She suffered severely throughout her life regarding her husband, her home, her sister, Mitch, and her brother in law. If Blanche had recieved descent care and kindness she would not have ended up as sick as did. Early in her life, she lost the man she loved in a devestating suicide. Due to shock and depression she went a search for that same love she once had with all men she could find. But because of the hurt she felt she could not manage to hold onto these men. By leaving Laurel, Blanche was hoping to change her life and move away from that ugly past. Stanley brought it back to reality and ruined any hope of her escaping what she hoped she could. Her one chance at happiness was to marry Mitch, who like Blanche needed someone to take care of them. Stanley refused to let this happen, and tore Mitch away from her. This was when Blanche really began to show signs of her instability. She would speak to herself, break things, and drink excessively, and when Stanley finally addressed her on all that he had learned he went completly crazy. He raped and physically abused her, leaving her even worse. Her condition bacame so severe that Stella felt that her only option was to send her to a hospital to be taken care of.
I feel a lot of sympathy and understanding for Blanche. I do not believe she was crazy and needed doctors. In my opinion, Stanley's insane outburst is what needed attention. He raped his own wife's sister while she was giving birth to his child in a hospital. He drank just as much as Blanche did and showed violence early in the novel. He drove Blanche insane with him as soon as she arrived and together they pushed eachother to the limit, and it is a shame. His actions were unfair and frightening, and he is the reason Blanche ended up where she did.

In scene 9, page 117 Blanche says:

"I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don't tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me damned for it!"

This is if not the, one of the most significant quotes in this entire book. It defines Blanche simply and I think justifies her actions. She came to Stella and Stanley's home to escape. She had done wrong in her past and with Mitch and with her sister she hoped to be better. To ignore the bad and prepare for the good. She wanted "magic". The truth was ugly for her, and she wanted to recreate the truth for the future. I can completly understand that. Her lies about the cruise and the man she was waiting for was a white lie to get away and try again to restart without Stanley.

The book was shocking and interesting. One of the few required readings I've really enjoyed reading and even writing about.