Blanche, in "A Streetcar Named Desire", finds it very
difficult to control her sexual appetite and lust. We must remember that she was let go
from her teaching position for having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
(This shows two things: 1) Her appetite surpasses her morality; and 2) Her internal
conflict with aging.)
Many times throughout the text
readers, or viewers of the play, see her actions as sexual. She is constantly bathing
herself and complaining about light. She is trying to maintain a youthful appearance by
masking her true one.
One example from the text where we
can see her indiscretions is her meeting with the boy collecting for the paper. Blanche
literally throws herself at him and refuses to allow him to leave before getting a
kiss.
As for her past, Blanche survived by prostituting
herself. Therefore, the only way she knows how to survive is through the promise, or
allusion, of sex.
In the end, everything Blanche knows
about sex comes to a blistering end when she is raped by Stanley. While sexual tension
has existed between them (and most of the other men in the play), any rape should not be
warranted. Regardless, the one thing (sexuality) that helped her to survive became the
main part of her ultimate destruction.
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