'A Streetcar Named Desire' & 'The Duchess of Malfi' A* Essay: the theme of secrets
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Course
Pre-1900 and Post-1900 Drama
Institution
WJEC
The essay question answered in this document is “A play about secrets and the catastrophic consequences of their exposure.” In light of this comment, explore Williams’ presentation of secrets and their revelation in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. This is an A* Essay with key, clear examples.
“A play about secrets and the catastrophic consequences of their exposure.” In light of this
comment, explore Williams’ presentation of secrets and their revelation in ‘A Streetcar Named
Desire’.
Secrets and the consequences of their exposure is a prominent theme in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’
due to the taboo nature of many character’s actions; Blanche’s promiscuous past, Stanley’s physical
violation of Blanche and Alan’s “degeneracy”. However, the consequences of their exposure differ
for each character according to their position on the patriarchally-dictated hierarchy. For both
Blanche and Alan, who are oppressed by patriarchal notions, their revelation is catastrophic and
result in severe mental decline and suicide. Whereas Stanley, the epitome of masculine ideals,
experiences no serious consequences for his harmful actions. This double standard is highlighted by
Williams, but excluded in the 1951 film version, to show the injustice that oppressed individuals
experience under the patriarchy.
For Blanche, the revelation of her promiscuous past has a detrimental impact on her future because
of its effect on the opinions of the men she is surrounded by. Due to Stanley recounting the rumours
of her past to Mitch, his respect for her and her bodily autonomy diminishes significantly. This ends
her potential for marriage with Mitch as she is no longer viewed as his future wife, instead as a
sexual object as he demands “what he been missing all summer.” This quotation shows that Mitch
has dropped his pretence of chivalry and is now being direct about his true intentions which are now
purely sexual as the virginal image Blanch projects, seen through the Southern Belle persona she
imitates: her tendency to wear white (which has connotations of purity and innocence) and her
southern values of propriety and sexual restraint (“a good-night kiss, that’s all I have given him,”),
has been shattered since Mitch is now aware of her vast sexual experience. This rejection is both
emotionally and practically damaging to Blanche since her potential marriage with Mitch was both a
form of escapism from her dire situation in Laurel and a way to rekindle her faith in romance, which
was extinguished after Alan’s death. Therefore she is now confronted with the reality that she will
have to provide for herself again through extreme means as Mitch has rejected her and Stanley has
gifted her a “Ticket! Back to Laurel!” for her birthday. These events evidence Fergus Parnaby’s view
that “Stanley’s actions, though brutal, do not entirely engineer her downfall but they do precipitate
it,” as he believes that Blanche was mentally unstable before her arrival in Elysian Fields. However,
Parnaby’s view fails to acknowledge Stanley’s option to choose kindness over cruelty and that he
played the most active role in her decline since he held power, bestowed onto him by patriarchy,
and abused it at Blanche’s expense. In fact, Stanley commits the ultimate physical and mental
violation through his rape of Blanche which makes her downfall evitable. The rape of Blanche is
linked, and directly causal to, Stanley’s exposure of her secrets as this exposure makes her
vulnerable and accelerates her ongoing mental decline which makes her an easy target in Stanley’s
predatory mind and therefore leads to her assault.
In fact, Blanche is forced to take responsibility for both her personal secrets and the secrets of
others in a manner deemed appropriate within the patriarchy. The divulgence of Stanley’s secret, his
rape of Blanche, requires Stella to make a choice and the decision to send Blanche to a mental
asylum and remain with Stanley is self-interested; remaining within the bonds of marriage was a
survival tactic in the 1940s, one that is necessary for Stella as she no longer has her family dynasty to
fall back on, and sending Blanche to a mental asylum conforms to the widely-held view, at the time,
that sexual promiscuity and mental instability were intrinsically linked and therefore Stella’s
reputation could remain untarnished despite her cruel actions as it may appear that she had
Blanche’s best interests at heart. Therefore the revelation of Stanley’s secret has a catastrophic
impact for Blanche as she is sent to a mental asylum which leads to the undermining of her
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