Fantasy & Reality

Fantasy and Reality

Throughout the play, there is a blurring of fantasy and reality. This is seen most of all in Blanche DuBois. Blanche is a fantasist and is unable to cope with reality.

Blanche's fantasy world

Blanche makes an allegorical journey in the streetcar called Desire at the very beginning of the play.
The car passes through the cemeteries (which could represent Blanche’s prior life of alcoholism and promiscuity) to end up at the Kowalski’s at Elysian Fields.
Elysian Fields has the sound of wonder about it – that a heavenly state has been reached.

Harsh reality for Blanche

However, Blanche finds that in reality, Elysian Fields is not a heavenly state. She cannot even properly reach death.
There will be several years of mental torment and suffering before that happens. In the end, Blanche enters the mental institution because she clearly cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

Avoiding reality

All the way through the play, the audience sees that Blanche does not want reality. She is a creative and poetic soul constantly seeking fantasy, escape, Bohemia and fantasy.
Part of this might be derived from her "Southern Belle" upbringing, which may have distanced her from the realities of life. This is the reason why Blanche is rarely seen in full light. She constantly escapes to the shadows so that she is not fully exposed to reality or exposing her true soul to reality.

Blanche's fate

Because she will be locked away from the rest of society, her punishment will be more extreme than death.
In the mental institution, Blanche will have to face the reality of herself; something the audience knows will be tortuous.

Blanche and Mitch

Blanche has a fantasy about the world she has with Mitch but the reality is much different.
Mitch is a fantasist about how things might be with Blanche but when Stanley reveals the truth, reality dawns on him. But by the end, Mitch seems to have resorted back to a fantasy of him being with Blanche and somehow saving her. The tragedy is that he has already had his chance.

1Context & Overview

1.1The Author

1.1.1Tennessee Williams

1.2Social Context & Setting

1.2.1Social Context

1.2.2Social Issues

1.2.3Setting

1.3Tragedy

1.3.1Overview of the Tragic Genre

1.3.2Modern Domestic Tragedy

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Author, Context & Tragedy

2Scene Summaries

2.1Scene One

2.1.1Scene One: Summary

2.1.2Scene One: Tragedy Ideas

2.2Scene Two

2.2.1Scene Two: Summary & Tragedy Ideas

2.2.2End of Topic Test - Scenes One-Two

2.3Scene Three

2.3.1Scene Three: Summary & Tragedy Ideas

2.4Scene Four

2.4.1Scene Four: Summary & Tragedy Ideas

2.4.2End of Topic Test - Scenes Three & Four

2.5Scene Five

2.5.1Scene Five: Summary & Tragedy Ideas

2.6Scene Six

2.6.1Scene Six: Summary

2.7Scene Seven

2.7.1Scene Seven: Summary & Tragedy Ideas

2.8Scene Eight

2.8.1Scene Eight: Summary & Tragedy Ideas

2.8.2End of Topic Test - Scenes Five-Eight

2.9Scene Nine

2.9.1Scene Nine: Summary & Tragedy Ideas

2.10Scene Ten

2.10.1Scene Ten: Summary & Tragedy Ideas

2.11Scene Eleven

2.11.1Scene Eleven: Summary & Tragedy Ideas

2.11.2End of Topic Test - Scenes Nine-Eleven

3Character Profiles

3.1Blanche DuBois & Stanley Kowalski

3.1.1Blanche DuBois - The Past & Illusions

3.1.2Blanche DuBois - Relationship with Men & Breakdown

3.1.3The Dynamic Between Blanche & Stanley

3.1.4End of Topic Test - Blanche & Stanley

3.2Stella Kowalski & Harold Mitchell (Mitch)

3.2.1Stella Kowalski

3.2.2Harold Mitchell (Mitch)

3.3Minor Characters

3.3.1The Hubbels & Other Characters

3.3.2End of Topic Test - Stella, Mitch & Others

4Key Ideas

4.1Sex & Gender

4.1.1Sex & Desire

4.1.2Masculinity & Femininity

4.1.3End of Topic Test - Sex, Desire & Gender

4.2Appearances, Fantasy & Reality

4.2.1Outer & Inner Appearances

4.2.2Fantasy & Reality

4.2.3End of Topic Test - Appearances, Fantasy...

5Writing Techniques

5.1Structure

5.1.1Structure & Stage Design

5.1.2Linking Devices

5.1.3Recurring Motifs

5.2Genre, Form & Language

5.2.1Genre

5.2.2Form & Language

5.2.3End of Topic Test - Writing Techniques

6Critical Debates

6.1Early & Modern Reception

6.1.1Interpreting Blanche & Self-Pity

6.1.2Contemporary & Modern Reviews

6.2Feminist, Psychoanalytic & Marxist Approach

6.2.1Feminist Approach

6.2.2Psychoanalytic Approach

6.2.3Marxist Approach

6.2.4End of Topic Test - Critical Debates

7Ideas About Tragedy

7.1Ideas About Tragedy

7.1.1Tragic Ideas & Villain

7.1.2Tragic Structure & Language

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