Summer Reading assignment: Journal #2 A Streetcar Named Desire--Angela

As the book transitions into the middle of the play, I noticed I had the wrong impression of Stanley. I had thought earlier that he might also be the mad man in the play, but I soon find I am wrong.I realized as Stanley kept screaming out for his lost wife that he was definitely not who I thought he was. After the scene of stanley hitting Stella, as he is going back and forth from erratic behavior and confusion, he soon starts to want Stella back with him. If he was just as crazy as Blanche he would not have felt the guilt like he does after the scene.
The morning after the blow up Blanche seems to still be on the topic of what happened the night before, even exclaiming that Stella married a madman, which i found amusing. As the scene continues and Blanche talks about a man named Shep Huntleigh, what I found most interesting was how this part really showed how manipulating Blanche can be. I guess I should of known such a thing was coming, after the way she talked to Stella, telling her to fetch cokes for her, and soon after Blanche has her first meltdown. I must admit as I read on about Blanche, she doesn’t really intrigue me much. In fact she actually reminds me of May Boatwright, from Secret Life of Bees in a way. The way she has nervous outbreaks, and needs to be in a hot bath to calm herself, although May had an actual mental disability, I feel their characters are a bit the same, in the way they both act.
I also see a pattern in Blanche, she tends to take bathes alot, as if she is trying to wash away guilt, or regret or even her horrid past. Blanches tendencies to boss people around, and act as an innocent person gets on my nerves, and I completely understand why Stanley would want her out. As I continued to read on during the middle of the book, I start to notice how obsessed Blanche is getting about Mitch, and how i could see why her past relations have failed her. I also noticed a bit of a similarity in Crime and Punishments Raskolnikov and Blanche in "A Street Car Named Desire," they both seem to admit things that they do or have done, and everyone seems to disregard them,make excuses for them.