Tragedy, as a form of drama, is defined not necessarily by the overall sorrowful atmosphere of a literary piece, but by the comeuppance that the protagonist receives due to their faults. With this distinction, the calamity of the situation is achieved using having no one to blame for the ending but the character for which the reader is meant to root. “A Streetcar Named Desire” is a play by Tennessee Williams where the heroine, Blanchet Dubois, encounters quite a bit of misfortune. The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether this misery was her own doing and whether this drama can be considered a tragedy.
The Summary of “A Streetcar Named Desire”
The play follows former teacher Blanchet Dubois, who, due to initially unspecified circumstances, is forced to leave her family’s home and move in with her sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley. The heroine feels contempt for their shabby apartment, lifestyle, and, particularly, the head of the house whom she considers to be rough and dim. Stanley returns this feeling, correctly assessing Blanchet’s penchant for fantasy, preferring it to reality. Her life starts improving when the protagonist meets a man whom she would like to marry. However, this does not result in a happy ending as Stanley finds out the circumstances that led the heroine to his home, namely her tryst with an underage student and a past as a prostitute. After this reveal Blanchet’s lover leaves her, causing her to suffer a mental breakdown. The true fall from grace is marked by Stanley raping the protagonist and along with his wife, sending her to a mental institution.
Blanchet Dubois’ Flaws
It is evident from the start that Blanchet Dubois is not without her faults, and Williams does not shy away from showing them. Even before her past is revealed, the reader can note several of the character’s flaws. First of all, the heroine lives mostly inside her own fantasy, even proclaiming, “I don’t want realism. I want magic!” (Williams, p. 145). This strive for a fairytale and a tendency to victimize herself and vilify others makes her an unreliable narrator. Secondly, Blanchet is not portrayed as a nice person, being hostile towards Stanley even before he shows his true colors and complaining about the state of the apartment where she is staying as a guest. Lastly, the heroine has done some atrocious crimes prior to the story’s start, particularly having an affair with her underage student and being an adversary in her husband’s suicide. At least some of the misfortune that Blanchet faces in the play is a direct result of her own actions.
The Presence of an Antagonist in “A Streetcar Named Desire”
A strong case for Williams’ work not being a tragedy is the presence of an antagonist in the form of Stanley. While Blanchet’s brother-in-law is not a complete villain and does make several valid points, his worst actions undoubtedly trump any of the heroine’s ones. During the play, Stanley beats his wife, breaks up the protagonist and his friend, and rapes the main character when she is at her lowest point. It is important to note that all of these actions are done mainly out of malice. This is contrasted with the reason behind Blanchet’s deeds as she even points out that “deliberate cruelty is not forgivable” (Williams, p. 152). Her actions hurt the people around her, but this pain is not her intent.
Conclusion
At first glance, “A Streetcar Named Desire” might not seem like a tragedy as Williams portrays certain external circumstances, and other people influencing a character’s actions. However, the author does not hesitate to show the protagonist’s faults and the way they negatively affect her own life and the lives of people around her. As Blanchet’s state at the end of the play is mostly a direct result of her actions, “A Streetcar Named Desire” is a tragedy.
Work Cited
Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. Signet, 1986.