Stanley Rapes Blanche example essay topic

Go Crazy, Don't Mind If I Do In Tennessee Williams' play, "A Streetcar Named Desire', readers see Blanche DuBois' ability to separate herself from reality. Blanche goes to visit her sister Stella, her only living relative. She meets the "animal' (72) Stanley Kowalski. From the first time Stanley and Blanche meet she develops a strong dislike for the primitive being. Stanley has no problem showing that the feeling is mutual.

Blanche's sugarcoated "lies' (118) simply fuel Stanley's anger. She forces her way into his life. Stanley's sees Blanche only as a leech that lives in his house and drinks "his liquor' (116). Ms DuBois hides behind her illusive dream world leaving herself open to grieve inappropriately, be constantly dependent, and be desperately defenseless in a world she can never fully understand. Blanche's life is incomplete without the presence of her husband. She blindly marries at a "quite young' (31) age.

Her husband, Allan, is a perfect gentleman and she could only marry a gentlemen. Allan's sensitive and understanding. Even though he "wasn't like a man' (95), he is everything Blanche ever really wants. Blanche is truly in love for the first and only time in her life. Allan's perfect in every way through her eyes. The downside to Allan is that he is a homosexual male in a relationship with a woman.

She catches Allan with an "older man' (95), but she simply "pretends that nothing had been discovered' (96). She lets the disbelief build up inside which starts her mental breakdown. When she tells him "I saw! I know! You disgust me' (96), he immediately "ran out' (96) "stuck a revolver into his mouth, and fires (fired) ' (96). She blames herself for her husband death thinking that she "fails (failed) him in some mysterious way' (95).

Her husband's death leaves her life incomplete and in confusion. She constantly searches to find a man to fill her empty life. Without a man in her life she turns to a life of promiscuity. She is in constant search for "Allan' (96)'s substitute.

The thought that she "fails (failed) him in some mysterious way' (95). She turns to a life of one-night stands with strangers to "fill her (my) empty heart' (118). By reputation she starts to be known as a whore. She loses her job over an episode with a "seven-teen year old' (107) that reminds her of her dead husband. Her life is full of devastation and she turns to "drink' (105) alcohol while losing a grip on reality. She never finds a man to "fill her (my) empty heart' (118) left by her dead husband.

Her grip on life slowly gets lost and her mental health gets worse. Without Allan she can not stand the light because it reminds her of the "searchlight' (96) from the night of Allan's death. She covers lights with "little colored paper lanterns' (55) because they are too bright for her dark life. She "can't stand a naked light bulb' (55). She refuses to see Mitch in the light because light would surface her dark past. She herself says that she can not stand the "naked light' (55).

In her life of darkness she's quick to turn to the "kindness of strangers' (142). Because she feels she sexually fails her husband, leaving her the need to involve herself in "intimacies with strangers' (118) strangers. Alcohol seems to be the only place to turn for comfort because it makes her forget Allan. Without the alcohol, "the polka tune fade in' (119) from the night of her husband's death. She gets to the point where she can no longer maintain mental stability. She needs put herself back into reality but does not have the proper knowledge anymore.

Her lifetime is full of devastation from the loss of her homosexual husband to her loss of her teaching career. Her "lies' (118) comfort her while putting her mind at ease. Through her mental downfall she still tries to keep her education, manners, and "appearance' (21). After she gets "kicked (her) out of that high school' (101) and gets "told by the mayor to get out of' (100) "Laurel' (100), she is left with no other option then to turn to her sister, Stella. While she reunites with Stella, she meets her husband Stanley.

Stanley makes Blanche feel unwelcome without guilt. Their differences make it impossible for them to peacefully coexist. She finds Mitch and thinks that he is an acceptable replacement for "Allan' (96). She wants to be with Mitch because she doesn't want another "Laurel' (100) to happen again. She becomes dependent on "Mitch very bad' (81) and appears happy again with her life.

While mentally collapsing she needs to find and keep someone to help her from going insane. Stanley's realistic view of life would never accept an invasion of an illusive and "magic' (100) world such as Blanche's to enter his life. Blanche is too weak to be able to fend off attacks by Stanley. She drinks "his liquor' (116) and bathes in his "bathroom' (105).

She poses a threat to Stanley and Stella's marriage. Stanley views the whole situation as survival off the fittest. Blanche is weak due to her torturous past. She "lies' (118) about drinking "his liquor' (116) which creates mistrust. He attacks her dreams of having a "millionaire' (127) boyfriend. He destroys all her fantasies and brings her down to reality.

Stanley does not let her "pull any wool over his (this boy's) eye' (12) Stanley destroys her alternate "magic' (100) reality that destroys her mentally. Blanches insanity reveals itself when she can no longer take Stanley's attacks. Stanley's realism shines like a "naked light' (55) in Blanche's world. Stanley rapes Blanche and from then on her mind is lost. Stanley stands for everything Blanche finds unacceptable. She avoids reality and realism for most her life and ends up face to face with Stanley's realism, which brings her to reality.

She knows Stanley, which makes the "rough-house' (130) rape so destructive to Blanches character because he was not a "stranger' (118) like all the others who take advantage of her. She was completely unable to bring this event up to Stella in fear of its negative impact. Stanley accomplishes convincing everyone, including Stella, of Blanche's insanity. Blanche's character is unable to cope with death, she is constantly a dependent person, and she is defenseless to Stanley's attacks, which turn her character insane. Her dreams and fantasies are her only way to save her sanity. She lives a life lost in "lies' (118).

Alcohol and promiscuity destroy her. The alcohol makes her forget her horrible past. The promiscuity temporarily "fill her (my) empty heart' (118) while she searches for a substitute for her dead husband. Insanity and reality can never coexist as in Blanche's case.