Blanche DuBois Character Analysis

Blanche DuBois is the main character in "A Streetcar Named Desire." She is a southern woman who comes to New Orleans to find her sister, Stella. Blanche is sophisticated but struggles with her sexual impulses and is a survivor of heartache and loss. She has suffered a series of traumatic events, including losing her ancestral home, her husband's suicide, and being raped by her sister's husband. Blanche's character is complex, and she appears lost and elegant when she arrives in New Orleans. She tries to maintain a luxurious appearance despite her losses. Blanche's relationship with Stella becomes strained, and she engages in risky behavior with men. She lies about her destructive behavior, but Stanley is suspicious of her. The relationship between Blanche and Stanley turns sour, and he eventually rapes her. Stella chooses not to believe Blanche's story and sends her to an asylum. Blanche loses touch with reality and accepts the help of a male doctor to leave the asylum. Despite Stella' Hi, my name is Crystal Parker, and I will dive into the character of Blanche DuBois. Blanche DuBois is the main character and protagonist in A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams. Blanche is a kind southern woman who comes to New Orleans to find her sister, hoping for a better life than the one that she had been living. She is sophisticated in the definition of beauty while also a liar and struggles to control her sexual impulses. Blanche is running from her past and made a plethora of bad choices while also being a survivor of heartache, violence, and loss. Blanche has suffered a traumatic series of events. She lost her ancestral home at Belle Reve, her husband committed suicide, and her sister's husband raped her. These events led to a mental breakdown and she was sent to an asylum. Blanche's character first appears when she walks into the streets of New Orleans dressed elegantly and appearing lost as she searches for her sister, Stella. Stella and Blanche lived together at Belle Reve until Stella left to start her new life, leaving Blanche to attend to their family and home. Blanche was bitter about Stella leaving her to care for their dying father and mother. Blanche describes these deaths traumatically, saying to her sister in scene one, You just come home for the funeral, Stella, and funerals are pretty compared to death. Funerals are quiet, but death is not always. Sometimes their breathing is hoarse and sometimes it rattles, and sometimes they even cry out to you, do not let me go. At Belle Reve, Blanche adopted a luxury and class lifestyle. Unfortunately for Blanche, she lost Belle Reve and the lavish style that went with it while caring for her dying family. When Stella asks Blanche how she lost the home, she says to tell Stella in scene one, Death is expensive, and I with my pitiful salary at the school. Yes, excuse me, sit there and stare at me thinking I let the place go. I let the place go? Where were you? In bed with your poet? The loss of the family home did not keep Blanche from trying to continue the appearance of luxury, nor did it keep her from going to Stella in New Orleans. Once in New Orleans, Blanche finds Stella. Blanche carries herself as luxurious on the outside, but she is insecure and broken on the inside. Blanche is unhappy with Stella's living conditions, and despite her efforts not to, she comments to Stella about how she lives. Blanche is a vain woman to make subtle remarks about Stella's living conditions. She had become a heavy drinker, and often denying her dependency on it, and walked through her days on the verge of drunkenness. By this time, Blanche, in addition to losing her home at Belle Reve, had lost her husband to suicide. She considered him her true love and found him with another man. After she confronted him about it, he took his own life, and Blanche felt responsible for his death. Blanche had become insecure and engaged in risky relationships with men. One of these relationships was with a student, which resulted in being forced to leave her job. Blanche lies to Stella about her destructive behavior, but Stanley is suspicious of her almost as soon as she arrives. Blanche sought the approval from Stanley. When Blanche meets Stanley for the first time, they exchange introductions, and she admittedly flirts with Stanley. As the two characters become acquainted, Stanley becomes suspicious of Blanche and starts confronting her. The relationship between the two turns sour and ends traumatically for Blanche when Stanley rapes her. Stella chose not to believe what Blanche was telling her about Stanley's rape. Stella told Denise in Scene 11, I cannot believe her story and go on living with Stanley. Being raped by Stanley and having her sister not believe her or support her was the final straw for Blanche. She lost touch with all reality. Weeks passed and Stella decided to send Blanche to the asylum. As they began helping her get ready, Blanche continued to be out of reach with reality and believed she would stay in the country with an old flame. Once the doctor got to Stella's home to take Blanche to the asylum, she realized that it was not who she was expecting. She became desperate to get away from the doctor until she caught a glimpse of him. He appeared kind and Blanche, consistent with her character, accepted the kindness and attention the male doctor gave her, allowing him to leave her out of the home and asking that he make the female nurse let her go. Despite Stella's cries, Blanche did not look back. In conclusion, Blanche Dubois has endured a series of traumatic events that could bring the sanest of people to lose touch with reality. It is easy to place blame on Blanche while she is responsible for her choices. It is important to understand that her life choices have been in response to death of her husband and parents, the loss of her job and family home, and the rape of her sister's husband with no one there to help her work through these life-altering events. It is important to look at Blanche with compassion and a better understanding of her mental state. If I could imagine an ending to this story, I would hope that Blanche received the help she needed from the doctor from the asylum and could move on to live a life that brings her great joy and peace. Thank you for watching. Please like, comment, and subscribe.