Human Existence In A Streetcar Named Desire

Milan Kundera once said, “For a novelist, a given historic situation is an anthropologic laboratory in which he explores his basic question: What is human existence?” In other words, authors use different methods in their writing to reveal truth about humanity and its place in society by revealing truths that answer the question of what human existence is. Tennessee Williams, a controversial post-modernism playwright, is an ideal representation of Kundera’s statement. Williams says that the “sense of the awful which is the desperate black root of nearly all significant modern art may be expressed by diseased and perverted and fantastic creatures” (Falk, 20). Or in other words, modern art is rooted by creating emotion that is shown through

A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams’ most acclaimed play, epitomizes this theme. This play is a study of the mental and moral ruin of Blanche Dubois, a former Southern belle, whose innocent pretensions are no match for the harsh realities symbolized by her brutish brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, when Blanche is visiting her sister Stella (Britannica, Williams). Blanche is a tragic character because she is more often living in her own fantasies than she is existing in reality. For example, Blanche fantasizes about a man named Shep Huntleigh who she claims can help her, and she proceeds to send a telegram to him. Shep Huntleigh does not exist in reality, but Blanche has herself convinced that he actually does exist. This instability is largely the result of her desire. When speaking with Mitch about the death of her husband Allan she says, “Yes, that’s where I brought my victims… Yes, I had many intimacies with strangers. After the death of Allan- intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart with” (Williams, page 382). In this instance, Blanche uses her desire to escape the destruction of negative emotions, all the while causing more disaster for herself. Through these actions, she is seeking refuge from reality. She achieves this escape because giving herself to random men helps her to forget her pain. Therefore Blanche is being plummeted further into her own fantasies and causing more trouble for