Character Analysis: A Streetcar Named Desire

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle defined a tragic hero as being a literary character who engages the audience’s sense of pity, in saying “the change of fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity”. Artisole’s concept is that pity from the audience is received when the character experiences undeserved misfortunes, not how the character behaves. In the case of Blanche it is ambiguous whether she deserves the audience’s sympathy or not due to the fact she is made an outcast by her actions. Without doubt, it is clear that Tennessee Williams has portrayed Blanche as out of place in New Orleans, yet as the play progresses, the unravelling of Blanches past gives the impression that even …show more content…
Williams uses Blanche’s desire as one of the main driving forces behind her actions, this is because Blanche’s “desire” stems from “magic” and not realism, and this is what makes her actions seem so drastic. It could be argued that this is why Blanche never wants to be seen, Mitch even states "I don’t think I ever seen you in the light. That’s a fact!” The fact she is so uncomfortable around the other characters is another reason of how she makes herself an outcast. It is clear that the other characters are comfortable being so close to each other as in scene one, Williams makes use of stage directions to convey that Eunice is offended when Blanche tells her to leave. This shows that this is not a concept that Eunice is familiar with and therefore sets Blanche apart from her fellow characters. The title is mentioned by Blanche in scene one as someone told her to “take a streetcar names Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemetries and ride six blocks and get off at – Elysian Fields!” The lexicon that Williams uses here is very significant as “Elysian” and “cemeteries” both refer to a heavenly afterlife, but following “desire” is what is needed to reach it. This could be argued as to why Blanche behaves as she does, because she acts promiscuously in order to gain the attention of men which is a result of her desire, yet ironically this sexual deviant …show more content…
Furthermore Williams has deliberately portrayed Blanche as an outcast, due to her actions, mentality and sexuality. The quote that ultimately separates Blanche from the other protagonists is when she said “I don’t want realism… I’ll tell you what I want. Magic!” The very fact that she openly rejects reality in favour of magic and fantasy suggests that she will forever be out of place in the real

Show More

Streetcar Named Desire: A Character Analysis