A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Introduction
A Streetcar Named
Desire (1951) is greatly influential for it is one of few films released in
the mainstream to address within a philosophical context the notions associated
with sexual desire devoid of all its romantic pretensions and genteel ideals. This
film also discusses the decline of the values of the Old South which prided
itself on the romantic tradition and its notions of chivalry. This ultimate
review is the concluding part of my two part series on the decline of the Old
South. Part 1 featured Gone with the
Wind (1939) where I spoke of the decline of the slave based economy which
formed the basis of the ideals of the Old South. A Streetcar Named Desire takes place in the post World War 2 era and this is significant for America has
assumed a position of dominance in the global economy especially as it is the
world’s leading creditor and manufacturer. The industrial sector of America has
also advanced considerably since the Great Depression of the 1930s which began
in 1929. This would mean that the economic mode of development associated with
capitalism has taken hold of American ideals and values which are now dictated
by the rapid advance of technology and increasing levels of productivity
amongst the working classes. All of this generates a significant amount of
relative surplus value which extends the amount of absolute surplus value or
unpaid labour time gained by the capitalist.
This was not the case with the slave based economies where the exact
opposite occurred: Low levels of innovation in technology and the labour base associated with slavery. In this film the slave based economy has
all but disappeared however the remnants of the Old south still persist in the
form of legislation associated with Jim Crow which segregated the former slave
holding states along racial lines or between white and colored. The concept of
master and slave therefore still persisted in this nominal form where the
whites enjoyed the prestige of wealth and power and the blacks enjoyed the
prestige of the ignominy of poverty, lynching by the KKK and sycophantic ideals
that relished worshiping the white populace.
In the post war era
however the industrial proletariat character emerged and its primary
characteristics are ones linked with wage labour and the growth of the
technological apparatus which became a sign of wealth for Americans. In A
Streetcar Named Desire that character is represented by Stanley Kowalski
(Marlon Brando). Other features include a dogmatic approach to the high ideals
of the past. The past seems far behind for this sort of character since it is
absorbed in the machinations of its own society. This character does not care
much for the ideals of civilizations gone with the wind since their features
are incompatible with his or her mode of economic development which is
capitalism. The legends of a bygone era associated with romanticism appear
somewhat pompous and idyllic and yet have no bearings on the new mode of
economic development. The history of these old civilizations will be taught in
school however they cannot have a bearing on capitalism since this mode of
development is the most productive economic system in history and the other
systems appear archaic and simple yet bloated with legendary tales. Everything
becomes mass produced under capitalism and even virtue can be attained for a
price and so this character cannot fathom why characters cling to the ideals of
a society that prided itself exclusively on luxury which would imply low productivity. A single luxurious item of the Old South system would
represent the cost of the same product multiplied by 100 in the industrial age.
This character represented by Stanley
Kowalski contrasts with the character of Blanche Dubois who relishes the
stagnant economic period of the Old South where genteel virtues associated with
chivalry were the order of the day. Blanche is portrayed as a fragile character
unable to maintain the essence of these virtues in light of the rapid advance
of industry where these ideals largely do not matter and so instead of romance
there is primal desire since people are driven more by sexual needs than
lofty ideals associated with love. This is characteristic of the industrial age
where sex between individuals is almost soulless and is done primarily for
pleasure as opposed to forming a bond that will sustain the two lovers. As soon
as the act is over the two lovers part
ways and the relationship only lasts as long as the sexual desire remains
strong. It is no longer determined by the joys of courtship and the long
pursuit of the female which would culminate in marriage and the beginning of a
new life. In the industrial age pleasure is the sole determinant and love is
more difficult to find amongst these motley expressions of desire specifically
as the industrial age commodifies sex to such a great extent in the form of
mass media (pornography on the internet etc). It will probably reach a stage
where marriage itself becomes redundant and it is no surprise that divorce
rates have spiked in the last few decades. In the tradition of Blanche Dubois
marriage was supposed to last literally until death. You could not divorce as
easily as you could now since the social restrictions were too great as
individuals were bound by the romantic tradition and the great legends of
religion. The industrial age dismisses all of that because it embraces the new
found openness of sexual expression. Women are no longer bound by patriarchal
ideals and are free to experiment sexually. This trend is encouraged and it
should now be relatively easy in the industrial age to have sex with someone of
the opposite or the same sex. The boundaries on sex are only limited by the
romantic ideals of preceding economic modes of development such as the Old
South in the United States. This film is
great not only for the ensemble acting on display but because it reflects a
change in the sexual expression of society which is no longer dictated by
romantic ideals but by pure, instinctual desire.
A Streetcar Named
Desire was one of few films of its time to push the boundaries of
censorship regulated by the Legion of Decency. The production team was still
forced to lessen the sexual references on screen by cutting three minutes of
footage that was considered inappropriate by the Legion. These three minutes
have since been restored in the director’s cut and it is this version of the
film that I will be reviewing. The screenwriter Tennessee Williams also had to
lessen the amount of references to Blanche’s dead husband who was a homosexual
who committed suicide. In the film version this unseen character is portrayed
as weak instead. The film version does capture the essence of the play for the
majority of its running time and so extensive references to the textual version
of the play will be redundant. The screenplay was written by Tennessee Williams
who also authored the play. The Broadway version of the play was directed by
Elia Kazan who also directed the film version. These interpretations of the
play therefore remain essentially the same when transferred to the big screen
and so it will not affect my critique of the film by not mentioning either the
dramatic literary work to any great extent or how it was acted on stage. The
film, like the play that won the Pulitzer Prize for Williams, was a commercial
and critical success despite the restrictions of the censors. It was nominated
for 12 Academy Awards including Best Film and Best director and won for four:
Best Actress (Vivien Leigh in a masterful performance), Best supporting actor
(Karl Malden), Best Supporting Actress (Kim Hunter) and B&W Art Direction/Set Decoration (this is
not surprising since the elements of the stage performance must have been
simply transferred to the movie set although expanded in some considerable
degree. This is pretty evident from the set design however film requires a more
expansive set and a less reliance on symbolism). Other notable nominations were
for Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski (which is memorable for his brutal, hyper
realistic portrayal of Stanley. Brando’s portrayal of Stanley influenced other
great performances such as Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980). When I discuss Raging Bull I will give due attention to this performance by Brando),
Tennessee Williams for the adapted screenplay of his based of his own play of
the same name and Black and White cinematography which is essential to the film
because of lighting. Blanche always dulls the lights to create a illusion about
her actual physical features. The Musical score is also significant for its
themes drive home the oomph in desire with the use of jazz music which had its
birth in New Orleans. The use of the saxophone is particularly prominent in the
production. The film has been traditionally well received by critics and so I
am not here to challenge anyone in particular. They see the film as a primarily
good piece of ensemble acting (which indeed it is) and for pushing the
boundaries of censorship. As usual they
focus primarily on the film’s production values without assessing its
theoretical basis. One wonders how the
Legion of Deceny would react to the present situation where censorship is
almost pointless and can be only limited by age appropriateness. The internet does not help also.
In this review I discuss the concept of a street car named
desire, the industrial character of Stanley vs. the Old Southern values of
Blanche and how Blanche’s tragedy is truly one to be compared with a shattered
glass. She cannot come to term with the tarnished concept of romance which is dramatized
when she is raped by Stanley towards the end and loses control of her mental
faculties. I also look at how the tensions between Stanley and Blanche are
internalized within the society and this is reflected in the roles of Karl
Malden as the tender hearted gentlemanly figure named Mitch, who still possesses
the gentlemanly qualities and tries to court Blanche based on her own lofty
ideals; and Kim Hunter as Stella Kowalski, Stanley’s wife and Blanche’s sister,
who is torn between the raw desire of Stanley and the lofty ideals of Blanche.
I also discuss the final decline of the Old South which is associated with the
loss of Blanche’s and Stella’s family plantation Belle Reve which was
confiscated because it was swamped with mortgage debt. This loss of the
property took place under Blanche’s supervision and she is forced forced her to
flee from her hometown, Auriol, in Mississippi after she, as a teacher, seduced
a 17 year old student and was involved in several other seductions of other
males at the Flamingo Hotel still
searching for that elusive romance. After the loss of her landed property she
is forced to compromise her station in life and now clings to the lofty
romantic ideals of the Old South (fantasy) while at the same time indulging in
forbidden desire (reality) or vice. Stanley counteracts Blanche so effectively
because he is the only one not impressed with her glories of the past and so
sets out to discover the truth about her situation. Blanche’s demise suggests that there is now no
chance of going back to the ideals of the Old South although the film does
maintain that the romantic tradition is the only barrier preventing the full
outbreak of vice/desire which would ruin the basis of matrimony. The trend is already in full flow.
Stella (Kim Hunter) embracing Stanley (Marlon Brando) in the throes of desire
A Streetcar Named Desire
This film is quiet symbolic for it takes place in an
abstract environment which does not seem to correspond to everyday living. The
symbols are carried over from the play and so seem a bit excessive in the film
version from a dramatic point of view if you consider the realistic element of
the play. Which streetcars do you know that are actually called desire? The symbols therefore heighten the dramatic
element of the movie primarily because it deals with this abstract of desire
that is diffused throughout the populace of the community by the name of the
Elysian Fields where the majority of the action takes place. In Greek myth the
Elysian Fields were synonymous with paradise and paradise implies that once you
are there you are free to indulge in your joys or thrills. The characters
themselves have to be seen within the context of desire/lust i.e. how they
respond to this notion of desire. Blanche
is the only character who tries in vain to stave off the encroachment of this
dreaded element that is the basis of man’s corruption although it is already
too late for her and her views appear somewhat hypocritical and contradictory.
The characters therefore are caught up within this notion of desire. Most
discussions and actions centres on this concept of desire and this is not
necessarily a fault for before the
practical, day to day activity can be
understood one must first grapple with the theoretical/ subjective notions that
place these activities within a context. It is one thing to indulge in the
world’s fancies but you can be so caught up that you cannot account for the
mishaps that occur. It is then that you try and form some theoretical
justification for this particular mishap. This film therefore should be looked
at primarily as a theoretical interpretation as opposed to a reflection of day
to day living for it is not necessarily a realistic film to a great extent
because of the symbolism which implies some form of abstract. The day to day
living elements are shunned to a great extent and we only get involved when the
characters grapple with this abstract notion called desire. The sexual tension
between Blanche and Stanley and Stanley and Stella is the basis of the dramatic
action that takes place in the Elysian Fields. Questions to be asked are: What
are the boundaries to desire? Or Should we indulge completely in our desires
without heeding our conscience? If there are boundaries what are they and how
effective are they?
This bracketed section is not necessary reading.
(The Streetcar named Desire is a one way ticket to freedom
as Blanche is about to find out especially as desire implies selfish ambition
for you basically cater to your own needs and wants regardless of the
consequence for others. This is characteristic of the industrial age where
profit is the sole driving force. When
we first meet Blanche in the opening scene she informs a stranger that she must
take the streetcar named desire to the Elysian fields. This is the essence of
desire for we expect the vehicle that represents our desires to take us to
places of ecstasy where pleasure is at the forefront. When Blanche arrives in the Elysian fields it is not
portrayed as the paradise of lore where individuals frisk about with lambs
amidst a white haze all dressed in white; the space known as the Elysian fields
is a teeming area of commerce where the sole motive of desire is what we can
attain with money. With money it is presumed that most of our problems are
solved for we can buy anything we want and fulfill our desires without any
hiccups. The concept of lust is at the forefront as well since human
relationships are no longer determined by romantic quests and notions of
chivalry but by raw sexual desire. This sexual desire is a feature of the
industrial age because money is the sole driving force i.e. an individual is
determined by the money he can make. In the modes of economic development that
preceded capitalism individuals were more or less characterized by the class of
their parents. It is a brand that would remain with you for life. If you were a peasant then be sure you would have the stamp of a peasant on you for life and
likewise if you were born into the royal family this would be your station for
life unless you were in the military. The room for expansion was limited until
the bourgeois class broke the feudal bonds, a process which began during 15th
century and culminated in the 18th century where the shackles of
feudalism were finally broken in Europe. The bourgeois class was truly
revolutionary since it implemented radical reforms in the economic structure
with unlimited expansion as its goal. This expansion was achieved by first
dispossessing members of the yeomanry or peasant class and then expanding their
landholdings. There also occurred the dissolution of the guilds and the notions
of apprenticeship of the journeymen. All these activities are subsumed under
capital in the form of wage labour. The dispossessed workers would then become
wage earners who would generate surplus value or unpaid labour time for the
capitalist and this would be regulated by the rate of surplus value which is determined
by the amount of numbers under his command. At this time however in the early
years of capitalist production the bourgeois class was still slightly
subservient to the wealthy landowner who would live off the rent although now
the bourgeois class is now in full control with every sector under its control
particularly the unproductive sectors which profits from the taxes charged
against this class and their workers and the revenues that are spent for
consumptive reasons.
The sole driving force of the bourgeois class is profit and should
it ever reach the stage where it cannot earn these profits due to
overproduction or high levels of debt associated with excessive consumption
then there is the inevitable crash. This drive for profit is characterized by
the removal of any moral boundaries to attain that goal. These moral boundaries
are associated with the modes of economic production that preceded capitalist
production such as the medieval centres of the middle ages in Europe, the
monopolistic tendencies of the mercantilists involved in the activities of
colonialism where it became a matter of profit on expropriation or a surcharge
and a tendency to concentrate wealth into large joint stock firms which became
a means of accumulation; and the slave economies such as those that existed in the United States south
and throughout the Americas (the Caribbean, Central and South America). These
slave states were highly moral with their notions of subservience to god when
in fact it was subservience to the church. The church was instrumental as a
means of social control since the idea of the colonies implied an area of wild
lands and in fact when colonies were initially founded that was the case as
debauchery prevailed since there was no sense of security. There was also the
perception that the slaves from West Africa would run wild without some
recourse to morality. With the arrival of the church some level of moral high
ground was achieved and slave economies became constrained or bound by the
virtues of the various churches (Protestant and Catholic). The church was also
a large landowner where they too owned slaves but concealed it by calling it a
humanitarian measure. With the disbandment of the colonial system and with it
the demise of the mercantilist school of thought the bourgeois class proceeded
to remove the shackles or vestiges of these archaic modes of economic
development by expanding the wage labour force and the amount of capitalists
engaged in production. This would inevitably raise the levels of productivity
to magnificent levels and with the increase of productivity there is the growth
of the technological apparatus, through scientific innovation and the
maintenance of this machinery by the groups called engineers, which is known as
constant capital or objectified labour or the accumulated labour from the
surplus value generated by the variable capital or the wage earning class. This
massive accumulation of stock means a decline in the rate of profit etc and
then with this decline in the rate of profit and increase of the levels of debt associated with credit to
continue expansion even while the goods are on the market unsold the crash
looms as the demand for the goods is way below the supply and the concept of
sale and purchase become forcibly removed. Then CRASH and the cycle begins
again once all deficits are cleared. In any case when the drive for profit
becomes the sole determining force morals are cast aside and the bourgeois
class removes these difficulties by first increasing its middle class base with
the expansion of various sectors within the industrial, commercial and money
dealing sectors which ensures that their
goods will be continually consumed since these middle class occupations imply
some level of high education which will ensure that the advanced elements of
capital keep rotating (the unproductive sectors such as those in the judiciary,
legal or medical professions also fall within this group since their salaries are determined by the capitalist
and their workers who pay the majority of the taxes or who eventually form
their client base when capitalist production takes complete control) and by
removing all sectors that preach the moral high ground since the driving force
of capitalism is expropriation then expansion. Expropriation implies some form
of theft and murder of individuals in order to get what they want. Once the act
of expropriation is carried through then there is expansion. The moral high
ground of the church is dissolved in all but name as their lands are converted
into means of production for the capitalist and
yet the church still preaches although everyone knows its livelihood is
determined not by faith in god but in the bourgeois class who pay their rents
and absolve their debts. It is this that keeps the major religions functioning
since there was a time when governments chose to no longer support their
excesses and luxurious lifestyle. It is to the bourgeois class that they must
turn. In any case the church loses a moral high ground and with the decline of
the church notions of ascetic morality vanish since everyone is driven by the
urge to make money even the church. God cannot ensure your survival here only
money. When the moral high ground is lost and everyone becomes absorbed by
making money then selfish motives come to the fore and the sense of community or
communal living is eroded. With the erosion of community boundaries it becomes
the ideal of every man for himself. I
mention the Christian church primarily because the European powers were
responsible for the expansion of capital through imperialist means by
destroying the social fabric of other nations who were not so economically
developed. The Islamic empires such as the Abbasid and Umayyad that conquered
sections of Europe particularly the Iberian peninsula were also pioneers in
technological advances and it was all done under the guise of religion and low
levels of productivity and so advancement was still slow but influential.)
When this individualist tendency is developed with the
advance of the industrial capacities of a nation then everyone seeks out the
things that make him or her happy regardless of others. Your pleasure or
satisfaction comes first. This then resolves itself into every sort of vice
imaginable: gambling, drinking, sex and drugs. The capitalist expands his
market into these territories of vice providing that it is legalized by the
state which is also indebted to it and then proceeds to encourage every man to
act out his fantasy by first putting down some cash. If the vice is considered
illegal then the smugglers take up this calling and so everyone profits. Every vice becomes acceptable since it is seen as a profit making
venture for the capitalist and this simply means that every commodity or
service associated with these vices becomes cheaper with the increase in the
productive levels. The vice is tolerated and exalted and the moral high ground
established in the romantic era becomes lost. Sex for instance is cheap where
before, due to moral constraints, one had to engage in an elaborate form of
courtship to land a woman and the woman would be bound to her husband since she
was supposed to be dependent on him for her upkeep. This was all ensured by the
moral authority of the church which instituted the bonds of matrimony which was
supposed to be a union sanctioned by god. Marriage was originally founded on
the basis of landed property. The church thrived on these doctrines since there
were low levels of productivity and people became caught up with mythical tales
of the land (which most times had its basis in the divine or religious deities.
This is how the church maintained control) or pastoral elements/landed property
that had its basis in subsistence farming when man only catered to satisfy his
own needs and those of the community. The community would be headed by a chief
or king or emperor who would demand some form of tribute called a tax so as to
maintain the boundaries of the community. This element still exists however it
is from the capitalist and wage earning class that these funds must now come
There was no real concept of surplus value (unless you consider it in the form
of rents paid by the peasants to the aristocratic landowners) until the usurers
emerged in the middle ages and started to exact exorbitant interest rates in
the towns and rural areas thereby becoming a dominant economic force until the
bourgeois class eventually curbed their appetites and drove interest rates down
when productive levels increased exponentially; the credit system emerged under
the capitalist class which is only a means to facilitate industrial production.
The church and other modes of production linked to them become indebted to
capital and so lose their moral high ground. Without a moral high ground
everything is laid bare and ones needs become the sole driving force at the
expense of community values. This is where desire runs wild and vice becomes
exalted since the once exemplary figures that represented morality have
declined in stature. Vice has always been in existence in the days of the
ancient empires however following the dissolution of the Roman Empire and the
emergence of the European powers such as Britain, Spain, France and Holland that eventually shaped the
world in their image; the concept of morality borrowed from ancient religions is
subsumed under the guise of Christendom in the West. If other religions do not
conform to the dictates of Christendom they are annihilated ( the Roman
Catholic Inquisition) and with it the foundation of the cultures of other
independent nations outside of Europe such as those in ASIA. Asia has now
become a major force in Global affairs and no European country can make a China
subservient like they once did. Islam is also on the rise so the war on terror
is futile. Under entrenched Christendom vice did exist however it was more
downcast and dared not show its face for the church was responsible for
maintaining social order particularly in the colonial sphere and could have
people, practicing these vices, annihilated. The end of the church’s claim to
morality after it has been indebted to the bourgeois class now leaves the way
free for vice to reign. In order to cover their sins the bourgeois class still
uses the church as a pretentious means to claim the moral high ground. Any
smart person knows that it is a façade and that as soon as they leave the
church they start organizing the death of other world leaders or by indirectly
killing people by impoverishing nations whose industrial potential becomes
eroded and by making them dependent on money with no way to receive it apart
from loans that increase their debt levels to astronomical proportions.
This is the sort of corrupt environment that
Blanche encounters when she is transported by the Streetcar named desire to the
elysian fields of Paradise.
The Romantic Old
South is no more in the face of Industrial Expansion
The Elysian Fields is an abstract town in New Orleans where
vice reigns and the drive for profit surmounts everything. When Blanche first
arrives in New Orleans she is confronted by a bustling urban setting and when
we first see her she has just arrived at a the train station and we see her
make her appearance through the steam
vapours exuded by the train. This image is important in singling her out or
making her instantly identifiable to the audience. She is asked if she needs
help and she responds ‘well they told me
to take the streetcar named desire and then transfer to one called cemeteries
and ride six blocks and get off at the Elysian Fields’ where she is going to visit her sister and
this is important since she has always depended on the kindness of stranger.
She enters with the help of a stranger and leaves with the help of a stranger.
She eventually hops onto the street car named desire towards her destination where
vice is prominent. She has just fled Auriol in Mississippi after having been
thrown out of her teaching post for seducing a 17 year old student. She also
engaged in a number of illicit affairs at the flamingo hotel in that area. The
symbolism here is rife since for after the street car named desire she is to
transfer to one called cemeteries and then get off at the Elysian fields; this implies or suggests that one lives life
by their desires and then after we die we are transported to paradise which in this
case is the Elysian Fields. The Elysian Fields in this case is a thriving
district where vice is rampant. When
Blanche arrives to this teeming district of the Elysian Fields she appears to
be coy and timid and this is in keeping with her fragile nature. She acts this
way because she is mindful of maintaining appearances. After she meets up
with her sister at the bowling alley she sees Stanley for the first time
‘raising all the rhubarb (ruckus)’ but delays meeting him until she’ s 'bathed
and rested’. She does not reveal to Stella why she has come to visit her in the
middle of the school term and says that after the events that took place she
was ‘on the verge of lunacy’ and was supposedly told to take a break. The important element however with reference
to the decline of the Old South is the landed property of Belle Reve. This
element is more significant than Blanche putting on airs (‘daylight never
exposed so total a ruin’) despite it being unnecessary for it is here that she
reveals that she is an alcoholic and so she seems right at home in the Elysian
Fields. The property like all properties
of the Old South was the family home and here is what Blanche says happened to
the property. She tries to ease into the discussion of Belle Reve with Stella
by first stating, I want you to look at my figure y’know? I haven’t put on one
ounce in ten years. I weigh now what I weighed the summer you left Belle Reve.
The summer Dad died and you left us.’ Her weight contrasts with Stella who has
gained weight since arriving ten years ago in New Orleans and this element of
weight gain is a common feature among the populace of urban centres. After the
two leave the bowling alley and Blanche gets acquainted with her new living conditions which is cramped
compared to the spacious environment associated with the great house on a
plantation. She eventually makes Stella know she has something to tell her
about Belle Reve: ‘You’re going to reproach me. I know you’re bound to reproach
me but before you do take into consideration you left, I stayed and struggled. You
came to New Orleans and looked out for yourself (individualist element
associated with the urban centres characterized by industry which means leaving
behind the communal element of the Belle Reve plantation. Stella therefore has
adjusted to the new mode of economic development), I stayed at Belle Reve and
tried to hold it together (Blanche stayed behind yet that mode of economic
development associated with master and slave has been eroded; and her failure
to adjust through expansion of the property by adopting capitalist means or the
use of wage labour means that the property will decline). Oh I’m not meaning
this in any reproachful way. But all the burden descended on my shoulders.’
Best I could do was make my own living,’ says Stella. ‘ But you are the one
that abandoned Belle Reve, not I. I stayed and fought for it, bled for it,
almost died for it.’ (much like how Scarlett stayed and fought for Tara) Stella
asks her to tell her what happened and the tone that she uses startles Blanche
who feels she is being accusatory. Stella is not being accusatory but Blanche
exaggerates because her mental state is fragile and she is one step away from
complete lunacy. She eventually says that Belle Reve is lost. Stella is stunned,
‘Belle Reve? Lost is it?’ Blanche gets hysterical, after Stella asks anxiously
what happened but eventually calms down somewhat ‘I, I, I took the blows on my
face and body. All of those deaths the long parade to the graveyard. Father,
Mother, Margaret that dreadful way…you just came home in time for funerals,
Stella. And funerals are pretty compared to deaths. How do you think all that
sickness and death was paid for? Death is expensive Miss Stella. And I, with my pitiful salary at the
school….Yes accuse me. Stand there and stare at me thinking I let the place go
. I let the place go? Where were you? In there with your Polack (Stanley).
After Stella hurriedly moves away having been moved to tears the conversation
of Belle Reve ends with the arrival of Stanley from the bowling alley. In this
instance it is clear that she mortgaged the property and accumulated large
amounts of debt which she was unable to pay for and so she lost the property.
With the loss of this property Blanche would eventually be driven to attempt
the seduction of a 17 year old boy. The
memories of the lost property of Belle Reve would have still resonated and so
she at her age would try to recapture the glory days when she was a young
southern belle promised to a certain youth of her own age who would build a
life together. The husband that she married when she was young would be one of
her motivating factors to seduce a 17 year old boy and engage in repeated
sexual liaisons with strangers is a sign
that she became tossed into a void following the loss of her property of Belle
Reve. She was eventually seeking some form of solace in the eyes of these many
men not knowing that the days of chivalry could not be recovered in such a
pathetic fashion. She never seemed to realize that she lost all prestige as a
lady in this fashion having offered herself up so easily with the hope that she
could recover the security she once had in her youth.
The Napoleonic
Code: The Industrial Character of Stanley Kowalski
Before I focus on the culture clash between Stanley and
Blanche first we must get to the source of the conflict which is the property
of Belle Reve which Blanche lost when the property became insolvent because of
her inability to pay back the mortgagee against the property. Stanley’s interest
in the property stems from the Napoleonic Code which claims that whatever
belongs to the wife belongs to the husband. ‘We have here in the state of
Louisiana what is known as the Napoleonic Code, where what belongs to the wife
belongs to the husband and vice versa,’ he says. This concept of the Napoleonic
code is in keeping with the Industrial lifestyle of profit gain. Stanley’s
interest stems from the fact that he probably hoped he could earn some money
off the property. The Napoleonic code is a principle utilized significantly by
Williams (Tennessee) for it gives some sense of character to the state of
Louisiana and to the conflict that fuels Stanley’s dislike for Blanche. He
tosses the term around the household in a dogmatic fashion and this highlights
that it is a cultural manifestation although he
does not grasp completely the
provisions apart from the one that stipulates that the property of the
wife belongs to the husband (hence why it is dogmatic). The Napoleonic Code
emerged during the Napoleonic era in France, 1804, under Emperor Napoleon who
sought to implement the ideals of the revolution into law. This civil code unified
the provinces of France where previously they adhered to the numerous archaic
feudal laws which did not cater to the entire populace and were applied to the
functions of a particular class or province as opposed to France as a whole for
instance the northern states embraced roman law and the southern states would
embrace what is known as the common law; judges also intervened heavily in the
creation of laws in favour of the nobles and royal class. The feudal basis
where there were separate laws based on class distinctions or locations of a
particular province was now removed following the French Revolution and
everyone had to abide by a single code although the code was divided into the
following: persons, property, acquisition of property and civil procedure;
civil procedure became its own basis in 1806. Equality before the law. The
provisions of the law were borrowed from the provisions of 6th
century Roman Emperor Justinian under his civil code Corpus Juris Civilis which
also placed the law on more unified legal basis for all. The precedent for the
corpus juris civilis was the Theodosian code (429-38) developed by Theodosius
II. Justinian ‘revised and expanded the code twice’. The other basis for his
law was ‘the juristic literature of the second and third centuries excerpted
and systematized in the Digest in 530-33.’ (Chris Wickham). The Napoleonic code was important for the
imperial policies of Napoleon and that is how the Theodosian and Justinian
codes were traditionally used by the Romans. This
important civil code (Napoleonic Code) was adopted in many countries all over
Europe following Napoleons invasion into other territories on Continental
Europe. The code facilitated a centralized form of government. It was also
adopted by French colonies in the Americas such as Louisiana and Quebec. Louisiana,
where New Orleans is located, still adhered to these principles of the French
despite the Anglo Saxon values that were imposed following the expulsion of the
French by the British. It is stated by Wikipedia that they adhere more to Roman
and Spanish practices despite the influence of this civil code. It still does
not matter for the Napoleonic Code borrowed heavily from the Romans. It still
explains why the laws in the state of Louisiana differ from other states
throughout America. The fact that Stanley adheres to this code highlights that
this is a feature of its unique social character. Blanche, from Mississippi,
would therefore be at odds with him from the start. The removal of the feudal boundaries by this
code would pave the way for the bourgeois class and their capitalist base. I
already spoke of the moral boundaries that would be removed which would now
mean everyman for himself and individualist tendencies as opposed to communal
bonds. Communal bonds still exist however but in more closely knit spaces of
the nuclear family. When capitalist production reaches overwhelming heights
bonds of matrimony will be eroded completely and the family will be more like
an ad hoc arrangement.
When Stanley discovers that Blanche has lost the property he
becomes taken with her from a negative point of view. He always makes clear
that he is not taken with the aristocratic airs that she inherited from the Old
South although that way of life has faded. He becomes fed up with her luxurious
lifestyle despite it taking place in far from luxurious conditions. After he
discovers that Blanche has lost the property he rummages through her luggage,
having arranged to have it taken up from Mississippi, while she is taking one
of her long hot baths and discovers her expensive clothing that includes furs.
He does this because he feels that Blanche has swindled his wife by piling up
mortgage debt to meet her luxurious lifestyle. He has a point when considering
the point of view of the industrial character where anything that does not
increase profit is wasteful. This concept belongs not only to the capitalist
but to the wage earner who has to find means to save or increase his earnings.
If a character such as Stanley had Belle Reve he would have invested in reaping
crops of some sort and thereby benefitting
in terms of value from the improvements to the land which is in the form
of differential rent where productive levels would increase based on the
standards set by the worst type of soil. We see that he is serious about
improving his earnings when he gets enraged after losing his poker game and
physically attacks Stella. It is in this scene that we see vice all on display
for while playing poker he is drinking heavily. When he discovers that he has
lost money he takes it seriously and that is why he goes berserk. This is the
industrial age where earning as much money as possible is the ultimate goal
regardless of consequences for others. In Blanche’s case she mortgaged the land
not to increase the value of the land but to consume luxury products which is
wasteful from a capitalist perspective. Blanche therefore was not in keeping
with the industrial age and that is why she lost Belle Reve. Here is what he
says about her luxury products, ‘What she got this out of a teacher’s
pay?...Will you look at these fine feathers and fur that she comes to preen
herself in here? (as he rummages through her belongings) What is this article?
That’s a solid gold dress I believe. This one here. What is that a fox piece? A
genuine fur fox half a mile long.’ He asks his wife ‘Where are your fox pieces?
This is bushy snow white ones, no less. Where are your white fox furs?’ ‘ Those
are inexpensive summer furs that Blanche
has had a long time,’ his wife responds. ‘ I have an acquaintance who deals in
this sort of merchandise and he’s coming in here to make an appraisal.’ ‘Don’t
be such an idiot Stanley.’ ‘Listen I’m gonna be you there’s a thousand dollars
invested in this stuff. Well now what is that? That’s the treasure chest of a
pirate? That’s pearls Stella. Ropes of them. What is this sister of yours, a
deep sea diver? Bracelets, solid gold? Where are your pearls and gold
bracelets? And here diamonds. A crown for a princess.’ ‘ A rhinestone tiara she
wore to a costume ball.’ ‘What is rhinestone?’ ‘ Next door to glass.’ He
eventually concludes that ‘the Kowalskis and the Dubois got a different notion
on this.’ He is right for he, as descended from Polish immigrants who came here
as wage earners under the throes of capitalism would be opposed to the ideals
of the Dubois family whose economic base was the inherited traditions of a
plantation of a slave economy where luxury was the only way to live. Luxury
which equates with wasteful living and the increase of consumer debt in the
industrial age is opposed to an increase in profits. Blanche indulged in
consumption without production and so ran into debt which she could not repay.
This was one of the causes for the recession in 2008.
On the left Blanche Dubois (Vivien Leigh) and Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando) on the right
Blanche
vs. Stanley and its repercussions for Stella and Mitch (the concept of human
tragedy)
I have established the root for the conflict now it only
remains to assess the conflict itself between the two based on the Napoleonic
code. This conflict is at the centre of this film and affects the supporting
characters Stella and Mitch. Firstly let me emphasize that the romanticism
associated with Blanche is not necessarily a sign of decline as it is a sign of
stagnation or lack of growth or the pinnacle of a civilization or the values
embraced by its members. It becomes a feature of decline when the individuals,
or in this case a particular individual, fail to adjust to the new system of
social organization by clinging incessantly to these high minded values which
become more and more irrelevant. The
romantic notions developed in the slave economies or societies developed on the
basis of necessary subsistence, i.e. societies prior to the capitalist mode of
production, still prevail to this day although in nominal forms for the goal to
attain money is now the sole driving force of most societies apart from those
who cling to old forms of economic organization. It still represents a barrier
to the rampant vice that will engulf major capitalist based economies which
largely centres on the concept of everyman for himself or the concept of
alienation. These values are embraced largely by the bourgeois class and their
lackeys in the middle class who cling to the old values of matrimony and the
sycophantic worship of religious divinities; they pretentiously claim to lead a
high cultured lifestyle built on the foundations of exploitation of the working
classes as other ruling classes associated with other modes of production did
before. The bourgeois class will collapse like all other ruling classes in
history; when they cease to produce and base their lives solely on consumption
or lofty ideals that become increasingly irrelevant. They will then be replaced
by a new order of society and, according to Marx, this will emerge with the
rise of the proletariat. The main point here is that the romantic notion associated
with a luxurious lifestyle has persisted for centuries and is yet to change
however with the bourgeois class it appears merely as a contradiction simply
because vice is meant to reign supreme
in their society i.e. it takes new forms under this class since it is openly
encouraged whereas previously it was openly denounced. The capitalist system
therefore encourages alienation or a sharpening of individual differences as a
result of the division of wage labour as well as the increasing numbers of
individuals being brought within the wage bracket (particularly women) and
profit bracket (emerging capitalists).
The more individuals are able to earn without the needs of communal
organization, as previously in the former modes of social organization, the
more the concepts associated with the old forms of morality built around
communal grounds disappear. When I discuss the final scene in this film what I
am saying becomes even more clear.
The defeat of the masters of the Old South, who were not
prepared to expand their economies in line with capitalist development, faced the same dilemma as most ruling class
groups in history that have been overthrown however the supposedly high notions
of civility and respect for property was common in this mode of development.
This is the basis for Blanche’s critique of Stanley. Stanley does not appear to
be civil despite, supposedly, being bound by the bonds of matrimony. The basis for Stanley’s critique of Blanche is
simply that she is excessively indulgent and this is as a result of a luxurious
lifestyle associated with ruling classes however in this case it
represents decadence (how do you go from
being a high minded aristocrat to being a high school English teacher). In
Blanche’s case her luxury is based on a figment of her imagination or a past
life she cannot hope to possibly recover. The beauty of the conflict in this film is that it is never really resolved
by the end and both of these characters appear to have achieved,
simultaneously, some form of victory or
defeat. By the end the flaws of both characters are brought to the fore and so
it seems that there could not have been a resolution. The flaws I just
mentioned which are the basis for the critique of each character. In support of
the two characters this is what I have to say: 1. In Blanche’s case everyone
wants to live a luxurious lifestyle and have the ability to indulge in the highest
form of cultural expression in a society. It is no surprise that she teaches
English and knows French etc.
2. Stanley’s disdain for Blanche is merited when considering that she is
unwilling to let go of the past and seems quite pathetic at times. The success
for either Blanche and Stanley depends
on the extent they are able to influence the supporting characters Mitch and
Stella. Stella is Blanche’s sister and so Blanche tries to persuade her with her line of reasoning with regards to Stanley’s
brutish nature whereas Mitch, as Stanley’s close friend, who tries to court Blanche
is warned by Stanley about Blanche’s shortcomings. The conflict is diffused
amongst these two supporting characters.
It now remains to be seen how the conflict plays out based
on the interactions between Blanche and Stanley and with the interactions of
these two with Stella and Stanley. The interactions between Blanche and Stanley
that I will include take place after he discovers that she has lost the Belle
Reve property and believes it is his right to discover her history based on the
Napoleonic code which says that he had some right to the property in the Old
South. One important interaction between the two which sets up the division
occurs after Blanche emerges from the bath and sees that the belongings in her
trunk. She calls Stanley over into her
room to help her button the back of her dress. She asks him this while Stella
is outside and hints at Blanche showing some form of disregard for Old Southern
values where a woman could not be left alone with a man unless he is her
husband. Blanche says after he buttons,
or tries to, the dress ‘It looks like my
trunk has exploded.’ ‘Me and Stella was helping you unpack.’ ‘ You certainly
did a fast and thorough job of it.’ ‘ Well, it certainly looks like you raided
some stylish shops in paris Blanche.’ ‘ Clothes are my passion.’ ‘How much does
it cost for a string of furs like that?’ ‘Why these were a tribute from an
admirer of mine (a beau who was trying to court her. The onus was on the man to
demonstrate that he had a secure
material base).’ ‘ He must have had a lot of admiration.’ ‘In my youth I
excited some admiration , but look at me now. Would you think it possible that
I was once considered to be attractive?
(Blanche is flirting and seems to be toying with Stanley) ‘Your looks are ok.’
‘I was fishing for a compliment Stanley.’ ‘ I don’t go for that stuff
…compliments to a woman about their looks. I never met a dame yet didn’t know
if she was good looking or not without being told. And some of them give
themselves credit for more than they’ve got (referring to Blanche). I once went
out with a dame who told me, “I’m the glamorous type.” I says, “So what?”’ ‘And what did she say
then?’ ‘She didn’t say nothing. That shut her up like a clam.’ ‘Did it end the
Romance? (Blanche sees that as unromantic since the man must always act
chivalrous towards the female)’ ‘well it ended the conversation that was all
(Stanley is not romantic. He has been absorbed into the industrial system).
There’s some men that are took in by this Hollywood glamour stuff and there’s
some men just aren’t.’ ‘I’m sure you belong in the second category.’ ‘That’s
right.’ ‘ I cannot imagine any witch of a woman casting a spell over you.’
‘That’s right.’ ‘You’re simple, straightforward and honest. A little bit on the
uh primitive side ( she sees him as one clinging to a low form of
culture), I should think. To interest
you a woman would have to…’ ‘To lay her cards on the table.’ ‘Well I never did
care for wishy washy people (Blanche believes that a woman should manipulate men
to get what she wants). That was why when you walked in last night I said to
myself: “My sister has married a man”.
Of course that was all I could tell…’ ‘How about cutting the rebop!’ Stanley
shouts her down. Stella intervenes but Blanche tells her to leave and go buy
something so that she and Stanley can finish their conversation. Blanche
continues , ‘Poor little thing was outside listening to us. And I have an idea
she doesn’t understand you as well as I do. All right now Mr. Kowalski let us
proceed without any more digression. I’m ready to answer all questions. I have
nothing to hide.’ He again refers to the Napoleonic Code in the state of
Louisiana and blanche mocks him by saying, ‘My, but you have an impressive
judicial air.’ She also sprays perfume on him and he grabs her saying, ‘ You
know, if I didn’t know you was my wife’s sister, I would get ideas about you.’
‘ Such as what?’ (Blanche starts to flirt again as she asks this with a particular
look although Stanley is really referring to her sanity) ‘Don’t play so dumb. You know what.’ ‘All right. Cards on the table. I know I fib
a good deal. After all a woman’s charm is 50% illusion. But when a thing is
important I tell the truth. And this is the truth: I never cheated my sister,
or you (Napoleonic code), or anyone else on earth for as long as I lived
(despite just saying that a woman’s charm is 50% illusion).’ He asks for the papers and she gets it for
him while going through the trunk Stanley discovers unknowingly love letters
from a boy (her young husband) that Blanche states are now ‘yellowing with
antiquity’. This lay the basis for the
conflict where Blanche mocks Stanley’s airs which she feels is akin to a
caveman or some primal character and Stanley mocks Blanche for her exaggerated
aristocratic airs and her deceitful methods.
This is the first conversation where we get a sense of the
different ideals of these characters and this is how they try and convince
Stella and Mitch. Blanche tries to work on Stella especially after the gambling
incident where Stanley goes berserk having discovered he has lost money at the
poker game. He first throws the radio, which he feels is the cause of the
problem, out of the window (Blanche and Stella returned early from their outing
and were confined to the room where Blanche proceeded to turn on the radio
while the men were playing poker). This is why they say women should not be
present at a poker game. Stella tries to throw the men out however Stanley
attacks her and hits her. After he is doused with the shower (friends realizing
that he is drunk) he realized the error of his ways and seeks Stella, who fled
upstairs with Blanche to her neighbour’s house, in the film’s most famous scene
where he calls loudly and repeatedly ‘Stella’. Despite Blanche’s warning not to
go Stella responds to Stanley’s calls and she walks seductively down the stairs
into his arms and he carries her to the bed so that they can revel in passion.
After seeing this Blanche goes to Stella the following morning and says after
Stella reveals that she is turned on by Stanley’s aggressive manner (or when he
smashes things), ‘In my opinion you’re married to a madman. I’ve got a plan to
get us both out of here.’ ‘I wish you’d stop taking it for granted I’m in
something I want to get out of,’ says Stella. ‘ I take it for granted that you
have sufficient memory of Belle Reve to find this place and these poker players
impossible to live with.’ ‘ You take too much for granted.’ ‘ I can’t believe
you’re in earnest.’ ‘No?’ ‘I understand what happened a little. You saw him
first in uniform, an officer, not here.’ ‘I’m not sure it makes any difference
where I saw him.’ ‘What you’re talking about is desire, just brutal desire. The
name of that rattletrap streetcar that bangs through the quarter. Up one old
narrow street and down another (suggesting that pursuing solely our desires leads to a narrow minded
perception.) ‘Haven’t you ever ridden on that streetcar?’ ‘It brought me here.
Where I’m not wanted and where I’m ashamed to be.’ Don’t you think your
superior attitude is a little out of place?’ After a little more banter Blanche
asks ‘May I speak plainly?...Well if you’ll forgive me he’s common.’ ‘Yes I
suppose he is.’ ‘Suppose? Surely you can’t have forgotten that much of your
upbringing , Stella that you suppose there’s any part of a gentleman in his
nature (romantic notions of chivalry). Oh you’re hating me saying this aren’t
you? He’s like an animal. Has an animal’s habits. There’s even something
subhuman about him. Thousands of years have passed him right by and there is
Stanley Kowalski survivor of the Stone Age. Bearing the raw meat home from the
kill in the jungle. And you here waiting for him. Maybe he’ll strike you or
maybe grunt and kiss you. That’s if kisses have been discovered yet. His “poker
night” you call it. His party of Apes? Maybe we are a long way from being made in god’s image.
But Stella my sister there’s been some progress since then. Such things as art,
as poetry, as music. In some kinds of people some tenderer feelings have had
some little beginning at we have got to make grow and to cling to and to hold
as our flag in this dark march toward
whatever it is we’re approaching. Don’t, don’t hang back with the brutes, ‘
Blanche pleads. It seems that her high minded values have penetrated Stella who
embraces her . Stanley has overheard all that Blanche has said and makes an
entrance and his usual banging of things, which was previously considered
normal by Stella, reverberates tremulously among both women. He calls Stella to
him and makes her smile and that is enough to win the battle for she rushes to
embrace him. All of Blanche’s condescension towards him has evaporated in an
instant. There are certain people that do not gravitate to a certain high minded
mentality for this high mindedness normally means that you are setting yourself
up for a fall or isolation. This is what has occurred to Blanche because of her
superior attitudes in this film however as Stanley is considered ‘common’ and
does not put on superior airs he does not stand much to lose. After he hits
Stella following the row of the poker he can abase himself without shame like a
baby so that she will come back to him. Blanche on the other hand would die before
she acts so desperate. It is these superior airs that account for the tragedy
of man or instills this idea of what is called tragedy which is associated with
decline. When a group of individuals cling to their old traditions and refuse
to mingle with the lower orders that they pride themselves on exploiting they
set themselves up for embarrassment when things come crashing down. This is why
Stella asks Blanche if she doesn’t think her ‘superior attitude’ is out of place considering her station in
life. This is the primary reason why the concept of tragedy emerges and in
history this concept of tragedy becomes epoch making for it normally involves a
dramatic fall of a once great empire or state or a set of individuals in the
ruling classes. There are individual tragedies as well and this occurs when
people stick to something that initiates a decline in stature. This is the
universal notion of tragedy. In this case it is Blanche from the Old South.
There are other instances where she tries to reach Stella and Stella does
respond to her concerns particularly in the scene where they are eating at the
table, while celebrating Blanche’s birthday, and Stella says to Stanley about
his eating habits as he eats with his
hands, ‘ Mr. Kowalski is too busy making
a pig of himself to think of anything else. Your face and your fingers are
disgustingly greasy. Go wash up and then help me clear the table.’ He smashes
his plate saying that is how he intends to clear the table. ‘Don’t you ever
talk that way to me,’ he says ‘Pig , Polack, disgusting, vulgar, greasy. Those
kind of words have been on your tongue and your sisters tongue just too much
around here. Who do you think you are a pair of queens? Well just remember
what Huey Long said: that every man’s a
king and I’m the king around here. And don’t you forget it.’ He smashes another
cup to emphasize his point.
With regards to Blanche and her courtship with Mitch it is
Stanley that undermines this relationship by revealing the details about
Blanche’s checkered past to him. A man like Mitch is interested in Blanche
because he still has traces of the gentleman type in him. The gentleman type
normally buys into the illusion cast by the ladies fair such as Blanche. A
character such as he believes in keeping up appearances just like Blanche and
cannot seem to handle when all cards are laid on the table. He cannot accept
honesty. He still reaches the stage however where he feels he must settle down
and this is due primarily to the influence of his mother who clearly clings to
these old values. He may have these values but he still embraces the money
making values of the industrial age which is why he gambles etc. He is only
reminded of these values when he encounters Blanche under her hazy red light
that conceals her aging features. The poor man did not realize that prior to
his arrival for their date Blanche’s nymphomaniac qualities came to the fore
when she tried to seduce a youthful newspaper delivery boy who she fancied to
be an Arabian prince which revealed how she was incapable of letting go of her
days as a young dashing southern belle. They eventually engage in a courtship
and there is one scene where they are on a date and Mitch begins to suspect
that Blanche may be hiding things. Firstly he notices that she never wishes to
dance with him under the bright lights too long and will only talk to him under
a dim light, such as the moon, so as to conceal her aging features. When he
attempts to make love or have sex with her Blanche shrugs him off and tells him
to be patient. In this case she clings to the old values where courtship is an
elaborate process that leads to marriage which is why she holds back however in
the new industrial age women can no longer afford to engage in such an
elaborate courtship since it is easy to bed a woman in this era especially as
the moral foundations of religion are not as oppressive they once were. Blanche
still believes that the 50% of her
charm, which is a mere illusion, will land Mitch as a husband. ‘In fact I was a
little bit flattered that you desired me, ‘ she says, ‘But, honey you know as
well as I do that single girl, a girl alone in the world, has got to keep a
firm hold on her emotions or she’ll be lost…. ‘I guess you’re used to the type
of girl that likes to be lost (the women who give it up easily)…I guess I have
old fashioned ideals.’ ‘I like you to be exactly the way you are because in all
my experience I have never known anyone quite like you (this would be echoed in
Taxi Driver (1976) when the Cybil
Shepherd character says the same exact thing to Travis Bickle played famously
by Robert De Niro) This frustrates Mitch and he senses that she is troubled as
Blanche speaks of her timid husband who was a homosexual and felt humiliated by
Blanche who referred to him as weak and that she lost respect for him and
despised him.’. She believes it is this that drove her young lover to commit
suicide. This is the main reason why she tries to seduce young boys. Stanley
however tells Mitch about Blanche’s past and he becomes upset and stands her up
on her birthday which sends her over the edge since she has never been stood up
before. Mitch could not bear to have the cards laid on the table; Stanley also
informs Stella of what he has learned about Blanche’s sexual liaisons. Mitch
then comes to her when Stanley and Stella have already left for the hospital
for Stella went into labour. He confronts her and in a shocking scene Blanche
lays bare her ladylike charm when she says ‘Straight? A line can be straight or
a street but the heart of a human being?’ Mitch tells her all that he has
learnt about her dealings at the hotel flamingo and then she lets him have it,
‘I stayed at a hotel called tarantula arms. (?)…Yes a big spider that’s where I
brought my victims. Yes I have had many meetings with strangers. After the
death of allan metting with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty
heart with. I think it was panic, panic that drove me from one to another
searching for protection. Here, there, and then in the most unlikely places.
Even at last in a 17 year old boy. ..I was played out. You know what played out
is. My youth was gone up the waterspout then I met you.’ Mitch had the gentleman ideals she searched
for so earnestly in strangers. After she is tormented by a spiritual
incarnation of a woman that knocks on the door who is selling flowers for the dead
(which is a hallucination) she reveals at last the nature of decline of the old
south from ‘I lived in a house where dying old women remembered their dead men
(this contrasts with Scarlett who seeks to break that sort of archaic tradition
where women would become widows dressed in black). Crumble then fade. Regrets,
recriminations “If you’d done this it wouldn’t cost me that.” Legacies and other things such as bloodstained
pillowslips. I used to sit here and she used to sit there and death was as
close as you are. Death. The opposite is desire (or life which is why she
sought comfort in soldiers). Not far from Belle Reve, before we lost Belle Reve
was a camp where they trained young soldiers. On Saturday nights they would go
in town to get drunk and on the way back, they would stagger onto my lawn and
call: “Blanche”.’ This suggests that they had her too and Blanche would douse
her self with desire since she so wanted to be loved. When the debts started
piling up on Belle Reve and her way of life slowly faded she started to lose a
grip on her way of life and found herself in the void of lust. Without the
security of her property what was she to do. This at least Scarlett had. Mitch,
after hearing her tales, tries to get a piece of the action since he feels she
is not as clean as she claims to be but is turned on nevertheless. She
threatens to scream and chases him out (she did scream in the form of a tragic wail). With Mitch
gone that was Blanche’s last chance of redemption and so her defeat seems
inevitable.
The Shattered
Glass (The final Demise of Blanche and her Old Southern values with a hint of
hope)
I will here summarise Blanche’s final moments where she is
raped by Stanley. With the loss of Mitch Blanche loses her senses. Stanley
returns home, leaving Stella at the hospital, and sees Blanche adorning herself
with jewels as she awaits a mysterious gentleman caller. He cows her down
saying that her façade is now gone and it makes no sense in trying to keep up
appearances. When he exits and remerges in his special pajamas Blanche becomes
fearful being alone with him. Stanley
eventually discovers ‘Do you think I want to interfere with you? Maybe you won’t
be so bad to interfere with.’ After a brief struggle he rapes her and this is
symbolized by a glass being shattered which means that Blanche’s façade is
truly gone. The rape sends her completely over the edge and she is, tragically,
taken to a mental hospital. Before this however it is clear that both Stanley
and Mitch, who are sympathetic towards her, believe that Stanley did rape her
thereby sending her over the edge. Mitch
tries to attack him and forces Stanley to lie and say ‘I never once touched
her.’ It is not only Stella and Mitch but the other minor characters that
suspect him and this pushes him to lie. It still lingers in the backs of
everyone’s minds and so his reputation would still sink despite him having
Blanche carted off to the hospital. After Blanche departs, having been escorted
by yet another stranger (a medical official who understands her situation),
Stanley never really won for when he calls Stella, who has the baby with her,
she refuses to respond and runs upstairs to her neighbour vowing never to
return although that remains to be seen. The love for her baby might see her
wish to protect it from Stanley’s aggressive nature that brought about the the ruin of her
sister. When Blanche is escorted to the mental institution it is clear that the
once lofty ideals of the Old South are being escorted with her in a state of
tragedy. All hope is not lost however for her notions of morality have left its
stamp on Mitch and Stella in some form.
