A Streetcar Named Desire

"Ho-ho! There's nothing to be scared of. They're crazy about each other." said Mitch.

Isn't it true the relationship between Stella and Stanley is praiseworthy, since it combines sexual attraction with compassion for the purpose of procreation? Isn't it true that as opposed to Stanley's normalcy in marriage, Blanche's dalliance in sexual perversion and overt efforts to break up Stanley and Stella's marriage is reprehensible? Isn't it true that Stella's faulty socialization resulting in signs of hysteria throughout the play meant that she probably would have ended her life in a mental hospital no matter whether the rape had occurred or not?

In this paper it will be shown that the functionalists are correct. Functionalists argue that Blanche's self-concept, which she believes is a traditional upper class woman, eventually leads to her mental and emotional breakdown. Feminists argue Blanche is sent off to a mental hospital to hush up Stanley's crime of rape, not because of any illness. Although there is some value to the feminist interpretation, it contains several weaknesses. The following review of some aspects of the plot will reveal some of those weaknesses.

According to Parson (Hale 1995, 390), families are not prepared to help their children succeed in the working world, for family morals and values sometimes conflict with those of the workplace. A primary function of the school is to prepare the children for the transition from the family life to the competitive and tough labor world. Parson also mentions that the majority of elementary school teachers are women due to their nurturing and caring personality. Children tend to see them as mother figures which may lead to a special teacher-student bond and an overall better student success rate. In the play Stanley finds out that Blanche did not take a leave of absence from work but in reality was fired because she got intimate with one of her seventeen year old students. As a teacher, Blanche has certain limits and to get involved with one of her students is not only against the school's policies but against societies moral standards. She has crossed the line of the student-teacher relationship and can no longer be seen as a mother figure and has therefore lost her role within the society and the school system.

Goode (Hale 1995, 342-343) argues that the whole concept of a family is rooted in sexual drives and the imperative of reproduction and in the sociological imperative of creating a social being.