Summer Reading Assignment: A Streetcar Named Desire Journal #2-- Josh

Another third of A Streetcar Named Desire is completed and I am still as thoroughly entertained as I was from the moment I picked up the play. The methods in which Tennessee Williams has progressed the storyline is truly remarkable, and has certainly kept my attention up to this point. I would like to point out a few things that have caught my attention whilst reading more of the play, and in turn have made the reading that much more interesting and, dare I say, fun. On page 72, of act four, Blanche goes on a small rant describing how barbaric and animal like Stanley is. Now on the surface, it appears that she truly dislikes Stanley in almost every way, but I do detect a tone of admiration and maybe even compassion within Blanche’s ranting. If I wasn’t aware of Blanche’s characteristics, and was unsure of how I thought she felt about Stanley, than that rant may have been just that, a soliloquy of anger towards her brother in law. Yet, having some idea of Blanche’s history as well as the numerous encounters she has had with Stanley, I might even be willing to say she may be jealous of Stanley. Moving on to page 73 of scene four comes one of the most touching parts in this play. After having listened to Blanche talk about how animal and brute-like Stanley is, it was truly an “Aww” moment when Stanley walked in and Stella gave him a huge hug like she did. It shows just how much she does truly love Stanley, and that was so far one of my favorite scenes from this Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

A question I have developed throughout my reading does not only apply to the middle third of the play, but the whole text in general. In a few instances, I have noticed misspellings of a few common words (ex- Pg 101, Scene 7, practically is spelt practickly). While this is obviously not a very important aspect of the literature, I just wonder why an author would use misspelled words as part of a dialogue. Now I really need to know, is it just me or does anybody else really not feel any sincere sympathy towards Blanche? Yes, it’s terrible her young lover committed suicide, it’s terrible she is so jumpy, paranoid and self-centered, yet I feel she put herself in the situation she is now. As terrible as it may sound, I truly feel no remorse for her. I feel it more for Stanley and Stella having to deal with her! In scene 7, I was thoroughly shocked when the truth came out about Blanche. The zero ounces of sympathy I had for her before plummeted into negative digits. Now it is unclear as to whether Stanley is accurate in his claims, but if he is, all respect for Blanche gets flushed down the toilet. I will say I am slightly surprised about what his accusations are, yet, it is somewhat expected in my opinion. No one can be the way Blanche is and not have a bad history.