I think that the most memorable part of A Street Car Named Desire is hands down the rape scene. I assure you almost everyone’s third blog about this play will mention the rape in some fashion. Scene ten consists of dialogue between only Stanley and Blanche and ends in rape. The first time I read this play, I was in complete shock. During my second reading, I searched everywhere for even the slightest bit of foreshadowing and yet I found none. The rape itself makes no sense to me. Of course it is known that Stanley has a bit of a temper, but who knew his anger towards Blanche would turn into a sexual encounter. To be honest, throughout the whole play I was waiting for Stanley to hit Blanche, the way he did Stella early in the play. Physical contact, yes. Rape, no. What shocked me the most was that in the beginning, I had thought that Blanche was going to pursue Stanley. I obviously could not have been more wrong. What upsets me most is that Williams never clarifies whether or not Stella knows that Stanley raped Blanche. He leaves this incident very open ended, which leaves the reader with many unanswered questions. It seems to me as if Stella is in the dark about the occurrence, but if so, why would Blanche not tell her? I understand why Stanley wouldn’t tell Stella, but I can’t imagine Blanche not telling her. However, if Stella did know about the rape, why was it being completely ignored? Did Williams “accidentally” leave out a scene?
With all of that being said, I don’t sympathize with Blanche at all, which is something I have n0t addressed at all in my two previous blogs. I feel as if she brought her fate upon herself due to her excessive lying. It’s a life-long lesson that lying only gets you in trouble, one that is taught at a young age. It seems Blanche never got the memo. If she hadn’t lied her way through life, she probably would have been married and living comfortably. Instead, she ended up in a mental institution. Which way of life would you prefer?
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Although it is never clarified in words that Stella knew about Stanley raping Blanche- it is inferred by the audience. Blanche told Stella, but Stella refused to accept her sister’s claims. Here’s where the catch comes in: Stanley anticipated Blanche telling Stella that her husband had raped her. However, previously, I’m sure Stanley informed his wife about Blanche’s ways (i.e.; all of her lies, and scandals), and that probably made it harder for Stella to accept what her sister was telling her. Either that, or Stella suspected Blanche wanted her to leave Stanley. Remember the scene where Blanche asked Stella to come away with her, after Stanley hit her? Stella probably assumed it was another ploy to convince Stella to go away. Stella wants her world to be perfect. If she believed her husband was a deranged rapist…well, nothing would be perfect. It’s crucial that Stella should believe Stanley is perfect- they just had a son, and she needs him. She’s in denial. Plus, the power of love between Stella and Stanley is invincible, and that probably makes it all the more harder to believe Blanche.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Stella did do something even though she didn’t believe her sister. She sent Blanche to a mental asylum to help her out.
This scene was a bit confusing to me as well. You never found out what brought on the rape. And like you said it's not clear as to whether Stella has been informed about the rape. However, I like this story because of the open ending. There's room for the imagination and for you to ask yourself what it would be like to be Blanche and have no one believe you the one time your telling the truth. Like you said she did bring such an unfortunate end for herself upon her by constantly lying. She bit herself in the backside by setting up a situation in which no one could trust her, and then when she needed their trust especially Stella's it wasn't there and she suffered as a result. As for William's secrecy at the end, I think it's the reason why people still talk about this play today and is the reason why even though it's in black and white I could watch it over a dozen times and never get bored
ReplyDeleteI didn't really think deeply about the possibility of the rape scene not making much sense. Now that you've mentioned it, I see clearly what you're talking about. Williams doesn't provide us with enough information as to what drives Stanley to rape Blanche. Although, as I wrote in my blog, this could be another way Stanley is showing off his masculinity. Maybe this was the only way he could think of feeling stronger than her. Also, as you pointed out, there isn't any dialogue to prove that Stella knew about it. However, as Rema mentioned, you get the feeling she knows because the audience infers it. I think you're right about Williams not being clear enough. In fact, I think he's also not clear enough in other scenes. Some parts in this play need some explaining.
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