The Role Of Rape In A Streetcar Named Desire

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The common theme with rape in general is that the rapists are let off with a lesser sentence. Or they get away with the crime because the victim is too traumatized to admit she was raped and does not recall the night at all due to intoxication. These lenient sentences, such as the one given to Brock Turner in the Stanford Rape Trial, highlight the injustices that are prevalent in our court system. In fact, the judge proclaimed “he feared a longer sentence would have a “severe impact” on Turner, a champion swimmer who once aspired to compete in the Olympics” (Buzz Feed). Judging from this statement, he had no care for the victim, of who was brutally raped and wanted to help the rapist instead. This is not the first time this has happened either, it is a recurring issue in our justice …show more content…
The victim receives no help and is looked down upon by society when the rapist is let off and the excuse being his masculinity. A person's status or position they hold in society should never be factored into a trial; especially in a rape trial suspect is clearly guilty. This connects to the novel a streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams because after Stanley raped Blanche she was defenseless. Blanche could say anything but her sister would never believe her and would take her husband's word over hers. In a quote from the novel on page 205(Williams) Stanley is described as animal like and that he asserts his masculinity over woman at any chance he gets. Stella knows that Stanley raped her sister but does not want to believe Blanche, because she does not want to upset her husband and feels inferior to him. Stella sends Blanche to a psychiatric hospital for the rest of her life so that she won’t have to deal with the thought of Stanley raping another woman and just move on. Brock Turner and Stanley were both clearly guilty
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