Streetcar Names Desire

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Streetcar Named Desire Essay “I don’t want realism.” What insight into nature of secrets and lies does A Streetcar Named Desire express and how? Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire(1947) shows us keep secrets and tell lies to protect themselves from the harshness of the real world. The drive for any source of lies and secrets is the need for social approval. This is suggested during Scene nine of the play, when the protagonist, Blanche, while having the confrontation with Mitch, after he has abandoned her knowing her reputation tells him “I don’t want realism…I want magic…I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be the truth.” The avoidance of realism is explored mainly through Blanche as she tells many lies to hide problems such as her sexual desire, drinking, age and her failed marriage. She tells these lies to protect herself from social ostracism. By nature she doesn’t fit the social stereotype of a woman. Being the perfect wife during this time was to be proper, unintelligent, compliant, in need of male protection and only of value as decoration, and as a homemaker and child-barer. On the other hand, her sister Stella is characterised as Blanche’s polar opposite fits the social stereotype of the perfect housewife. She lies about her husband’s vulgar behaviour and justifies it through clichés. While Blanche lies primarily to others, Stella lies to herself. Both do so as they need to, to survive. At the beginning of the play-from the moment we meet Blanche, we see the idea of telling lies and keeping secrets appear. Blanche is driven by sexual desire but is condemned by it for being a whore. She is promiscuous but isn’t supposed to be. Since she doesn’t fit the stereotype, she lies to herself that she is still a Southern Belle. When we first meet Blanche she appears to be a respectable lady. We can see this in Williams’ choice of costume colour,
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