A Streetcar Named Desire Mental Illness

Analysis of Mental Illness in American Literature
"The Yellow Wall-paper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, are both stories that involve their protagonists as characters suffering from mental disorders. These stories were written during different times with the authors under different circumstances disorders are portrayed, both characters illustrate representations of these author's experiences.
One major difference that had an affect on these two stories and their authors is that they were written during different times. "The Yellow Wall-paper" was first published in January 1892 and "A Streetcar Named Desire" was published in 1947. This equates to over 50 years difference in the time these

She exhibits William's dependence on substances. For example, the first thing she does when entering the Kowalski home is drink. "Suddenly she notices something in a half opened closet. She springs up and crosses to it, and removes a whiskey bottle. She pours a half tumbler of whiskey and tosses it down." (Williams 2303). Another very interesting detail in the story is the relationship between her and her sister Stella. She attempts to hide her apparent alcoholism and the only person she doesn’t try to hide it from is Stella. "Now don’t get worried, your sister hasn't turned into a drunkard, she's just all shaken up and hot and tired and dirty." (Williams 2303). Blanche also gets choked up when being waited on by Stella claiming that Stella is so good to her. This bond between Blanche and Stella is an obvious mention of William's strong connection with his own sister. In addition to this Blanche's name is an allusion to the word blanch, which means to make white or pale. Throughout history many cultures considered the color white to resemble "purity". This is a reference to William's puritanical upbringing. Blanche is a both a representation of his sister's and his own sexual repression because of the way she expresses herself sexually. Take, for instance, the scene with her seductive exchange with the newsboy. She blatantly comes on to him and mentions that he "makes her mouth water" and she wants to kiss him "just once, softly and sweetly" on his mouth. (Williams 2332). This scene shows the evident tension between her southern demeanor regarding how she was raised and her very hidden sexual self. This is a clear portrayal of William's early struggle with his sexual identity in which he thought homosexuality was forbidden. Just like Blanche he attempted to hide it because it went against his early puritanical beliefs as well as being harmful to his public image as a