Monologue In A Streetcar Named Desire

In the modern drama, A Street Car Named Desire, Tennessee Williams demonstrates the delusion of how one perceives one’s self compared to how, in reality, others observe one’s actions. Most of the characters in A Street Car Named Desire lie to themselves in order to cope with the problems in their own lives. Blanche lies about life events to hide from their realities, Stella tells herself that Stan’s abuse in their relationship is normal, and Mitch uses excuses to make up for his actions or lack there of. Throughout the drama, the characters demonstrate that the ability to belittle or boost the spirits of one’s self all has to do with the ability to perceive one’s self in a way that is beneficial to them but not necessarily the truth.

Blanche always lies about what is really going on in her life to escape from painful circumstances. When Blanche arrived at Stella’s house, she explained she left her job because, “…[she] was exhausted by all [she] had been through [her]—nerves broke”(pg. 11). Blanche had made up this story to cover up the embarrassing circumstance of kissing a student and to shelter her from the humiliation. Also, Blanche plays emotional games with men to get the attention she needs to feel good. For example, when Blanche sees the paper boy, she takes out a scarf to try and seduce him, quickly kisses him without waiting for consent, and rushes him on his way without a word from him, just to play with his emotions (pg. 88). Even when something bad happens to Blanche, she copes by making a lie to cover up her emotions. After Blanche was raped and Stella did not believe what had happened, she falsely told her sister “…the rest of [her] time [she] is going to spend on the sea…”(pg. 148) when in reality she was just leaving because of the rape. Blanche often made up stories to escape the humiliation in her life.

Within A Street Car Named Desire by Tennessee Williams characters demonstrate that how one views one’s self is not always realistic. People tend to lie to one’s self to make reality seem superior. The characters in the play are a perfect example