A Streetcar Named Desire was character driven play mainly following the life of Blanche after she lost everything and had to move into an apartment with her sister. While there, we as spectators get to watch as she slowly succumbs to the trauma she’s been through. While many things may have lead to her decline in mental health, we could possibly say the start of it as the suicide of her fiance. The incidents were different when translated from play to movie, both ended with Blanche degrading her fiance and him committing suicide during a party. On top of that, she had to deal with the struggles of losing her family members one at a time and then subsequently losing her family home. While this may be the start of her decline, we only hear about it through Blanche’s recollections, which seems to be filled with self blame.
When we meet Blanche in the beginning of the play, she’s well into her fall. She holds many delusions of grandeur while simultaneously believing she’s in the beginning of losing the charm of youth. She avoids the lights cause she knows she’s starting to show her age, but at the same time, she tries to make everyone believe she has multiple suitors trying for her hand in marriage.
There’s only one person who truly sees through Blanche’s acts is Stanley, and it wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t taking advantage of the fact she is mentally ill. He fact checks Blanche on every lie she’s ever told, ultimately, uses her ability to alter the truth when he does what he does at the end. No one wants to believe her because she’s lied so many times in the past. What’s the truth and what’s made up is an interwoven braid with Blanche and it’s hard to figure out which is which.
Ultimately, the only thing Blanche wants in life is to be loved and have someone who’s always going to be on her side.