In the first scenes of "Street Car Named Desire" there were quite a few things that seemed a bit fishy especially with regard to Blanche. First off Blanche says on page 19 that Stella shouldn't worry about her being a drunkard, but if you look at what she asked to have as a chaser for her liquor, it was water. Water helps get you drunk faster, especially if it's on an empty stomach. This came off as a bit of a contradiction to me and made me wonder what type of condition Blanche was in especially since she had already snuck a few drinks before Stella even got home. Worst of all though was the sheer rudeness of Blanche considering the situation she's in. First off if anyone were to come into my house and have the audacity to start asking questions like "What are you doing in a place like this?" as Blanche does on page 19, I'd be not upset but put off by them family or not! To top it off on the following page Blanche starts insulting the conditions under which Stella lives. Now when I first read this I thought to myself that Blanche must be like the spoiled one of the two sisters and that something must've happened to drive them apart. But having read this once already, and knowing how traumatized Blanche is from her past experiences in life, this was yet further evidence that she really is somewhat crazy. Her sister volunteered to provide her with shelter and Blanche quite honestly bit the hand that was going to be feeding her by coming in and insulting Stella's way of life.
Now when Blanche posed the question "Will Stanley like me, or will I just be a visiting in-law, Stella? I couldn't stand that." I had to laugh aloud. The reason being, that even if I have a friend stay overnight or I'm hanging out with them for a few days, or hell even when my own family comes up, after a week I'm done. I'm exhausted from having to entertain them and having to be around all the time and having to take them with me when I go places. It's a burden a real burden after the first couple days. The thing of it is, based on Blanche's past lifestyle it would lead one to believe that she would already know this. Think about it, she had money and a plantation and all sorts of nice clothes. I'm sure she entertained guests and she must've known that eventually it gets annoying. This line itself in hindsight was almost a bit of foreshadowing because any guest in your house whether it be family or friend becomes a burden especially if all they are doing is mooching off of you as Blanche does in the story.
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I completely agree with you're first paragraph. I felt the exact same way you did about Blanche, something was just not right. I could tell Blanche was up to no good, and I didn't like it, I liked the life Stanley and Stella were living although we didn't see much of it before Blanche came, I just knew she'd be trouble. But I can't help but find it funny how Blanche was criticizing Stella about how she lived, yet when we find out how poorly Blanche is living she seems to end up being a big old hypocrite, or is that just me?
ReplyDeleteOh, and I also feel the same about family and friends, it's sad to say, but I can't take having to impress and entertain for too long.