As I began ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ I realized the theme of madness would be very different than in ‘Crime And Punishment’. When Blanche’s character first appears in the book I immediately realized she would someone to pay close attention to, and it was clear her madness would have a big role in the play. However as I continued I quickly realized that Stanley eggs on Blanches roller coaster emotions, and it seems to have an effect on him as well. Soon after, as Blanche and Stella are getting ready for their night out, Blanche’s nerves skyrocket up and down through out the scenes.For example, when she first sees where Stella lives her nerves jump, when Stella brings up drinks Blanche exclaims “No coke, honey, not with my nerves tonight!”.
Once Stanley looks through Blanches suitcase and discovers some papers about Belle Reve, he immediately knows there is something Blanche is hiding.Then while they are discussing the papers, and letters about Belle Reves on page 36 to page 44 I noticed Stanley getting a temper and showing some manic behavior. Blanche starts to get defensive towards Stanley when she says quote “ What in the name of heaven are you think of! What’s in the back of that little boy’s mind of yours?”. This shows that Stanley can bring out Blanches potential insanity.
When Stella and Blanche come home from their night out, the men including Mitch, Stanley, Steve and Pablo are still playing poker. As Stella starts to explain that the men should head home soon, Stanley gets very agitated by his wife’s behavior and cruelly hits Stella in the shadows of their home. But soon after the blow, Stanley seems to be dazed and confused, but soon comes back to his senses and starts a cycle of erratic behavior. He goes back and forth between very vicious behavior and overwhelming guilt. This shows me that I should pay close attention to Stanley’s actions. I’m beginning to question if Blanche is the only character in the play with crazy, unpredictable behavior.
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Angela
ReplyDeleteBlanche is indeed a very interesting character and one that you definitely need to pay a close attention to. She does have roller coaster emotions because of everything she has experienced. She has faced many difficulties especially after Stella left for New Orleans; she was the one responsible for taking care of Belle Reeve, the family and every single item that their parents left behind. Without much help and support from anybody, it is no wonder that Blanche is a nervous wreck. The fact that she does not like the light is in my opinion an outcome of the fact that she has been to dark places when she was facing foreclosure and financial troubles back home.
Stanley definitely brings out the devil inside of Blanche. We all have that person that brings out our insanity. Whether it is a classmate, a brother in law or a cousin, we all have that person whom we cannot stand and I believe that Stanley is definitely that person for Blanche. I actually found the quote “What in the name of heaven are you think of! What’s in the back of that little boy’s mind of yours?” very humorous. Stanley is a fully-grown man and here is he being called a boy. I still wonder if he actually had the urge to get up and hit Blanche when she called him a boy.
Blanche is definitely the only one going mad in this novel. Stanley however is in my opinion, the only honest and truthful person who can see through anybody and anything. The reason that he acted so irrationally is due to the amount of alcohol he consumed during poker. Stanley drinks a lot but he is not a drunken mess. I am sure that he had some sort of knowledge that he his wife but he just had no control over his actions. This however does not excuse his actions. Alcohol in my opinion is no means of explaining a situation and Stanley was irrational by his actions but he is after all human and he began to feel guilt.
-Bin