Desire and Death

One of the major themes in this play is desire and how it can ultimately lead to a character’s downfall when it is left unbridled. Both Blanche and Stanley’s stories are excellent examples of how unchecked desire can quickly run rampant, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. In Blanche’s case, she was completely swept off her feet at the age of sixteen by her first love Allan; according to Stella, Blanche “didn’t just love him but worshipped the ground he walked on! Adored him and thought him almost too fine to be human!” (1583). Emotion that strong often blinds people to reality and when Blanche walks in on her husband with another man, reality comes crashing down upon her. This moment and his resultant suicide shatter her completely, leaving her feeling vulnerable and insecure. She also loses control of the next desire she longs to fulfill, security. She goes from one man to another, granting them sexual favors, seeking a sense of security. As she admits late in the play, “it was panic, just panic, that drove me from one to another, hunting for some protection.” In the end, NOTHING could protect her from the reality of her loss; she remains insecure and unable to endure the blinding light of the truth. As a defense mechanism, she creates the illusion of being a young genteel southern belle and constructs elaborate lies to maintain this façade.

Throughout the novel, Blanche’s attraction to young boys shows her yearning to recapture the magic of her first love. After the exposure of Blanche’s affair with her young student, she is dismissed from her position. These events lead to the death of her social status. She makes one last attempt at finding security with Mitch, but this fails as a result of Stanley’s meddling. She also desires to maintain the illusion that she is superior to Stanley, something which enrages him and ultimately leads to her demise. Stanley desires to become successful and to be respected. Blanche’s airs of superiority and the insults that she slings at him, put them at odds. Stanley resents her for being in his house and interfering with his relationship with Stella. In the end, he rapes her in what can only be seen as a show of power. He forces her down and completely takes away any sense of control she still maintained. He forces her down off of her illusionary pedestal. This moment signifies the death of her sanity and that of his previously happy marriage.

Williams reinforces this idea that unbridled desire can lead to a type of death by having Blanche’s journey to her sister’s house involve a streetcar named Desire, then transferring to Cemeteries and getting off at Elysian Fields. In Blanche’s case, desire lead to the death of her social status and perhaps her sanity. Stanley’s marriage suffers as a result of his indiscretion and while it isn’t over because Stella has the baby, things have definitely changed in their relationship. This can also be considered a type of ending or death. It is interesting to note that in order to get to Elysian Fields, Blanche has to go on a journey that is highly reminiscent of how in mythology, a long journey was required in order to reach the afterlife.