As the story progresses, it is full of grief. This story does not even have a happy opening, it is sad through and through. To understand this grief, we must clearly comprehend the character's personality and background, before we can even begin to understand his grief. The people who come to grief and evoke grief in us are the three main characters: Stanley Kowalski, Blanche and Stella Dubois The first character that I mention that is Stanley because of his background. He is strong, robust. He has a good looking attractive woman, and he enjoy the pleasures of life. He is common, but after Blanche arrives, his life changes. He is innocent of any wrongdoing at first, this only creates more trouble about him: the conflict and the arguing in his house. The relationship between Stanley and his wife turns sour, making Stanley feel unhappy. His whole family life takes a turn for the worse, as his family feels Blanche has invaded their space.
Portrait of Marlon Brando, "Streetcar Named Desire...
Cropped screenshot of Vivien Leigh from the traile...
Cropped screenshot of Vivien Leigh from the traile...The family does not have enough love and warmth in it; Stanley loses all his feelings regarding his home. Afterwards, Stanley becomes more hot-tempered. He has to release it, resulting in more conflict. In the end, he fully loses his temper one night while playing poker, breaking the love with his wife, and causing Stanley to lose everything. Finally, he rapes Blanche, because he is angry, drunk and he wants to have sex. It was Stanley's hatred for Blanche that made him engage in such a despicable act. It will seriously affect his future. Stanley will become afraid and he will regret his past actions. He cannot even face his wife. This is why we can say he has come to grief despite his unpleasant personality that we can conclude from his rape of Blanche, his irritability as well as his cavalier treatment of his wife.
Then there is the catalyst of the story, the cause of the most of the conflict - Blanche Dubois. She is accustomed to highbrow society, is snobbish and had many nice clothes. However, this all changes suddenly and she becomes poorer and poorer because the Belle Reve is lost. Although she loses everything, she still wants to retain her wealthy life-style. But she is a lonely person; nobody truly cares for her and she invites conflict wherever she goes. She goes to Flamingo hotel to work as a whore in order to support herself. Simultaneously, she was also working as an English teacher, but was consequently fired for having sex with a 17 years old student and wanting to marry him. It was upon other people discovering inappropriate activities, that she had to leave town and go to Stanley's house. She isolates herself because everybody refuses to trust her or with live her. She is constantly shouted at by Stanley and makes conflict. She is nervous and often engages in drink and smoking in order to escape; she is unable to control herself. Her nervousness makes her crazy. She lies to people as she cannot face on herself because she is ashamed of her past and wants to hide it. She doesn't know what to do next; she has completely lost her sense of direction. This is her grief. It is this and her eventual rape by Stanley which make the audience empathize with her problems in spite of all her shortcomings and lurid past.
Finally, there is Stella, Stanley's wife and Blanche's younger sister. She is fully dependent on Stanley and her life undergoes a complete overhaul when her sister comes. She always defends her husband and gives all of her life to Stanley, but this changes because of her sister, leading to many arguments between her and her husband. It is impossible for her to leave Stanley because she is too poor. She is between both Blanche and Stanley. On one side, she is Stanley's wife, always by Stanley's side. On the other hand, she acts as a contrast to her sister's nervousness. She doesn't want to create a gulf between Blenche and Stanley and understands that Blanche has just undergone two terrible experiences which is the cause of her current poverty. More importantly, Blanche is her sister, a relation by blood who cannot be chosen or thrown away. She must look after her sister too. That is the reason why in the end she arms the baby and leaves her apartment. It is also the reason why I think Stella life and future is full of grief. Even though she has a good personality and does the right thing, her future still does not look like it's going to be very happy.
Overall, the story is a tragedy. There can be no doubts regarding the grief of the three main characters, Blanche being the character who brings the most grief on herself. In conclusion, the circumstance and personality of each individual character play a great role in determining the outcome of their trials and tribulations.
Works Cited Williams, Tennessee. "A Streetcar Named Desire"ÃÂ. New York, Penguin Group, 1974
1st edition (New Directions)
English: Morgan Stanley's office on Times Square
Blanche D'Alpuget