The Decline of the Old South, part 2: A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

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 15^th century and culminated in the 18^th 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 6^th 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.