A Streetcar Named Desire Essay

One of the main themes expressed by Tennessee Williams in his play, A Streetcar Named Desire, is to condemn those who display cruelty and harshness in their treatment of others,especially those who are weak and vulnerable. Williams had a lot of things that happened in his life when he was young. His parents never really cared about him they were selfish drunks who had no desire to care for a kid. Then, when his grandfather was assigned to parish in Clarksdale, Mississippi Williams had to spend his early childhood spent in a parsonage there. Also, as a small child Williams’ almost died from a case of diphtheria. Much of Williams writings were inspired by his depressed life and his own dysfunctional family. He showed examples of it in A Streetcar Named Desire. He uses three characters in this play that demonstrate harsh and cruel treatment of others. Three characters who demonstrate harsh and cruel treatment of others are Blanche, Mitch and Stanley.
One person who displays cruel and harsh treatment of others is Blanche Dubois. Blanche has had a verymessed up past. Everything is going downhill for her. Her home (Bell Reve) was lost, and all her family left her. The central victim of mistreatment was herself mostly. During her young age when she was about sixteen, she married a very handsome guy named Allan Gray. One night she got a total surprise to find him in bed with another man. “Then I found out, in the worst of all possible ways. By coming into a room that I thought was empty-which wasn’t empty, but had two people in it… the boy I had married and an older man who had been his friend for years”(114). This scene was not in the book but she remembers this throughout the whole book, her emotions are targeted by this scene. The nigh...

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...nche’s downfall. No one believes that Stanley raped her, not even Stella. Blanche’s past has also contributed to her downfall. With all the lies she has told, and then when she finally tells the truth, no one believes her, this causes Blanche to go insane, totally destroying her and making her end up in a asylum.
As shown, vulnerable people like Blanche, who are victims of cruel and harsh treatment, feel pain inside and outside when mentally and physically abused. They are like time bombs ready to deploy and engage when the pain becomes too much to handle. There are way too many insensitive people in this world who fail to see their cruel nature in treating others. Society cannot be a safe and protected place until things change and people stop thinking about themselves and more about others around them. This world is not fit for the vulnerable and the fragile.