Relationships Based on Desire Never Work

It’s no coincidence that Blanche and Mitch end up being a couple in Tennessee Williams “A Streetcar Named Desire" as the decisions they make as well as the actions they take are heavily influenced by their similar desires.

In the play, Blanche is arguably the character whose actions are most influenced by the desires she has. Williams shows this symbolically in the very beginning of the play as Blanche literally takes a “streetcar named Desire… to Elysian Fields” (1540, 1541). By Blanche, who is the only character to take this streetcar in the entire play, taking the streetcar, it shows how her actions are completely influenced by desire as she needed “Desire” to even get to her sisters place. We find out later in the play that the desire that she is driven by happens to be the wanting of security from a significant other. This just so happens to be the same desire that drives Mitch to Blanche in the play. Mitch and Blanche both desire a significant other to spend the rest of their lives with. As Mitch says himself after Blanche opens herself up to Mitch, “You [Blanche] need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be – you and me, Blanche” (1579). Although Mitch and Blanche both desire a significant other, they desire one for different reasons. Mitch desires Blanche because he is afraid of being “lonely when [his mother] passes on” (1578). Mitch also desires Blanche in the way that “likes [Blanche] to be exactly the way [she] is” (1575). Blanche, however, doesn’t desire Mitch for his personality or his looks, but for his desire. Continuously throughout the play, the reader can notice that Blanche loves compliments. Blanche even tells Stanley in scene two that she was “fishing for a compliment” (1552). Blanche understands that Mitch desires her. Therefore, Blanche dictates their relationship in ways, such as having dates at night so that Mitch doesn’t see the wrinkles on her face, so that he will continue to desire her. In Blanches mind, as long as Mitch desires her, Mitch will always give her compliments and attention.

Mitch and Blanche’s desires are the same in that they both wanted to be with someone else, but Mitch’s desire to be with someone that he genuinely liked drove him away from Blanche, whereas Blanche’s desire for someone to give her compliments and attention forever drove her to insanity.

Everyone's Sorry When They Are Caught

At the end of scene three in Tennessee Williams play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” we see Stanley, the stereotypical 1940s manly character, showing remorse for his actions because the love he has for Stella prevails over the angry person that his character is.

Scene three takes place in Stella and Stanley’s apartment where Stanley and his friends are having their weekly Saturday night poker game. The game seems to have gone on till two thirty in the morning and both Stella and Blanche have recently come back from their night on the town seeing a show. After some time back home, Blanche turns on a radio that Stanley had already said once to keep off. This puts Stanley over the edge. He throws the radio out the window, and, after Stella yells at him for being a “drunk animal,” he charges at Stella and strikes her (1561). This is the macho character that we have seen from Stanley all play but now in a very extreme state. He shows his male dominance by striking Stella and letting her know he is the head of the household. (As a side note I don’t in anyway believe in this activity. I am simply reading it from Stanley’s point of view). At this point Stella runs out of the apartment, and Stanley, after he has sobered up a little bit, realizes what he has done and runs after her. So far all we have seen is Stanley being his normal testosterone fueled self, but I feel the following sequence of events proves that Stanley, the stereotypical macho man, is nothing without the love of Stella.

When Stanley realizes that his “baby doll” had left him, he begins to “sob” and calls the apartment where he believes she has run off to (1562). This is the first time in the play that we see Stanley cry, it is also the first time in the play we see Stanley show any form of love towards his wife Stella. Although one could argue that Stanley might only be feeling sorry for his actions just to have Stella come back to him, I believe that Stanley shows legitimate remorse and his character changes slightly into a more loving husband. After some time yelling “Stella” into the quiet night, Stella comes down from the apartment, and without words, forgives him as he carries her like a newlywed back into their apartment (1562). This remorseful and loving side of Stanley shows that he truly cares about Stella, and that he wants his love for her to be stronger than the innate anger that runs through his Polish blood.