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Darren Delaney
English 4
Mrs. Hoffman
4/30/2015
Wrong Interactions
A Streetcar Named Desire is about a woman named Blanche who goes to lives with her
younger sister Stella and Stellas husband. Blanche and Stella grew up on a very nice plot of land
in an estate they called Belle Reve. Stella moved out early to live with her husband, Stanley. The
play starts with Blanche showing up unexpectedly to Stellas house. Blanche says she wont be
there long but definitely wants to catch up with her sister. Blanche seems to get along great with
everyone. She builds a very strong relationship with Stanley and the people who live upstairs,
Steve and Eunice. She also ends up getting very close with a man named Mitch. Stanleys only
complaint in the beginning is that she is interrupting his sex life with his wife. However later in
the story she gets harder and harder to put up with and Stanley wants her out. She ends up going
to a mental institution and being forced out of the house. Blanche DuBois's self-destruction is
caused by many factors but mainly her interactions with men throughout her life. Blanche has a
bad past and got involved with a lot of men in her old town of Laurel, she flirts with her brother
in law, Stanley, and she keeps the truth about her past private and concealed from people like
Mitch.
Blanches first problem was her past history in Laurel. Blanche was married to a man
named Allan-Grey who she ended up walking in on in bed with another guy. She couldnt believe
she was married to a homosexual and called him out on it. However, after exposing the man she
loved, he shot himself in the head. Blanche was devastated over the loss of her love. She felt the
only way to get over it and get on with life was to sleep with other guys. Mitch hears about her
past and asks about it and her response is Yes, i had many intimacies with strangers. After the

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death of Allan- intimacies with strangers was all i seemed able to fill my empty heart with
(Williams 146). This quote from Blanche lets us know about her past. She would have military
men walk by her house shouting her name. She often times came out and slept with them on her
front lawn. As Blanche told Mitch, having sex with multiple strangers was the only way she felt
she could cope with the loss of her husband. She was known in Laurel for practically giving out
sex like candy on halloween; not a reputation anybody would want. This was also a contributing
factor to moving out and going to her sister.
Another problem Blanche had was she was very flirtatious. To the point of moving in
with her sister, then flirting with her brother-in-law. This is obviously very wrong on her part, but
she constantly does it anyway. A prime example is when she sprays Stanley with some of her
perfume. Now normally this wouldnt be a huge deal but she does it very playfully to get a
reaction out of Stanley. After she sprays him a few times Stanley states that If I didn't know that
you was my wifes sister Id get ideas about you (Williams 41). This makes it clear that their
relationship is definitely at a place it shouldnt be. There should be no reason Stanley is getting
ideas about his sister in law. Blanche doesnt seem to care about who the guy is; its just her
personality and the way she is. This is problematic because it could give many guys the wrong
idea and think shes interested when thats not the case. This could lead to self-destruction
because people may take advantage of her or mistreat her because they have the wrong idea.
The last thing is Blanche keeping her past a big secret. Her past isnt something to take
pride in but she doesnt tell anyone what went on and ends up folding under pressure when the
men find out. Stanley informs Mitch of what he found out to where Mitch first argued with him
and called him a liar but then accepted it and had a talk with Blanche about it. Before she admits
to her mistakes in the past Mitch says I dont mind you being older than what I thought. But all

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the rest of it - Christ! That pitch about your ideals being so old-fashioned and all the malarkey
that youve dished out all summer. Oh, i knew you werent sixteen anymore. But i was fool
enough to believe you was straight (Williams 145). This goes to show that even someone she
was close to and interested in couldnt find out about. The whole conversation ends with the
termination of the relationship between Blanche and Mitch. It ends because Mitch gets upset he
has yet to have sex with her when she seemed pretty easy to him. He tells her he wanted what he
was missing all summer and after saying she had to marry him, he told her she wasnt clean
enough to bring in the house with my mother (Williams 150). Blanche was so fed up by this
point she just told him to get out of there. The truth coming out and another relationship ending,
its all just another factor for self-destruction.
Back in the time of the play, it was very wrong to have anything real sexual to be shown
or mentioned. Tennessee Williams made many revisions to this play to make it appropriate but
there was one thing he refused to change or take out. This was the rape scene. Williams felt this
was extremely necessary to have in the play. In an interview Williams said The rape was the
plots central event-remove it and the story and all its characters whose development it traced,
would no longer make any coherent sense (Bak 123). Williams said this because Blanche
basically set herself up for this. Between her past and all her flirting, she shouldnt have been
surprised by Stanleys actions. Its what she set herself up for and like Williams said, without this
rape the whole play would be pointless.
In conclusion it is very clear that Blanches interactions with men is a very big
contributing factor to her self-destruction. She felt it was necessary at the time but she shouldnt
have gotten involved with so many guys in Laurel. There is no way she could have thought she
would have a good result from all of that. She is also way too flirty with all of the guys around

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her. Especially Stanley, who is her sisters husband! Obviously there wont be any good coming
from that either. Last was trying to keep everything to herself. I dont think she should have to
tell every guy shes with about how bad her past was but I feel she should notify them that she
does have a bit of a past they may be hearing about. These are all very strong factors that led to
her self-destruction that can be classified overall as her interactions with men.

Works Cited
Bak, John S. Stanley Made Love to her!-by force! Blanche and the Evolution of a rape.
122-153. Print.
Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York, 1974. Print.