‘Blanche is no tragic heroine, just an infuriating, self-pitying snob.’ Examine
this view of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Williams 1947 tragedy, A Streetcar Named Desire, subtly employs the Aristotelian
convention of a tragic hero in a contemporary way. This is done through the complex
protagonist Blanche DuBois, whose life and its downfall follows the structure of a
tragic hero's. Blanche is likely inspired by William's own snobbish mother Edwina
who was a Mississippi clergyman’s daughter and also prone to hysterical attacks, or
his sister Rose who had mental illness issues. On the surface she seems a flawed
'infuriating, self-pitying snob' and not heroic - to show how real women can be, rather
than the perfect stereotype desired in the 20th century. Yet, by the end, William's
creates a wider picture of her that allows audiences to see she is not simply these
traits and have more compassion for tragic heroes like her.
Especially at the start of the play, Williams' portrayal of Blanche's snobbishness and
self-pity infuriates the characters around her and the audience - especially since
Stella comes from the same background yet does not act in this way. Her
snobbishness is clear through her preconceived judgement to lower class characters
and multi-cultural environments like the 'easy intermingling of races' in the French
Quarter, as they go against the traditional values that she, and other confederate
states, believed in. For example, in contrast to her idolatry attitude towards the
DuBois' visually beautiful plantation Belle Reve in the richer Laurel, the actress
playing Blanche is 'faintly hysterical' when she sees Stella's new home in the poorer
New Orleans, snobbishly demeaning it to only "a place like this" - which is
inconsiderate as the Kowalski's have taken her in. Williams continues Blanche's
haughty behaviour even with minor characters like Eunice who talks to Blanche with
a friendly tone and long sentences. Yet, Blanche responds in a colder unfriendly way
either with silence or simple one word responses like "no", "yes", and "thanks". This
creates the impression she wants to "be left alone" as she sees Eunice as inferior
company due to her lower class, alongside implying she acts in an elitist manner in
an attempt to elevate herself and continue living in the past as in the present, like
Eunice, she is no longer wealthy.
Likewise, Williams increases her snobbish attitude towards Stanley. Blanche looks
down on him the most due to his unrefined behaviour, in her monologue
dehumanising him as "like an animal", "sub-human" and a "Survivor of the Stone
Age!" to reinforce to Stella how they are superior to him - as she believes there is a
correlation between social status and human worth. This infuriates Stanley who sees
past her repeated lies from the outset - including her alcohol problem, age, why she
really left her job, virginity and past as a prostitute, and likely Shep Huntleigh -
although by the end of the play the audience feels sympathy as her lying is clearly
due to her mental illness and to protect herself from reality. Blanche continues to fall
victim to her own language. Due to her love for poetry and art, her speech often
comes across as very dramatic, superficial and somewhat patronising to others. This
occurs especially towards her younger sister Stella, such as the alliterative and
sibilant "Stella, oh, Stella, Stella! Stella for Star!" or infantilizing her through: "messy
child, you, you've spilt something on that pretty white lace collar" - upsetting and
infuriating both the audience and Stella who has faced this all her life. Blanche
causes further infuriation through her self pitying behaviour to the extreme. Her
hyperbolic, emotive language in "fought for it [Belle Reve], bled for it, almost died for
