Illusions and Fantasy in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire

Illusions and Fantasy in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire

'A Streetcar Named Desire', by Tennessee Williams, explores many

important themes and issues in the book. The main theme Williams

investigates and explores to the audience, is illusion and fantasy.

Each character in the book contributes to creating, adding to and

destructing fantasies and illusions, and I feel it is a very important

theme in the book, as it represents and symbolises other issues

Williams explores with the audience.

The play 'A Streetcar Named Desire' revolves around the character

Blanche Dubois; therefore, the main theme of the drama concerns her

directly. In Blanche, the audience is shown the tragedy of an

individual, caught between two worlds ? the world of her past and the

world of her present, unwilling to let go of the past and unable,

because of her character, to come to any sort of terms with her

present. The final result at the end of the play is the deterioration

of her mind and character and her self-destruction.

Blanche dwells in illusion; fantasy is her primary means of

self-defence against her weaknesses and shortcomings. The story begins

with Blanche going to New Orleans to stay with her sister Stella and

her husband Stanley. Straight away, we are introduced to Blanche?s

illusions and the battle between the illusions and the characters

begins. We are introduced to Blanche, who immediately reveals to us

her deceptive nature, as ?she pours herself a half tumbler of whisky?

she carefully replaces the bottle and washes out the tumbler at the

sink?, yet she tells Stanley, regarding the drink: ?I ? rarely touch

it.? Already, we see that Blanche is creating illusions about her

alcohol and refuses to ack...

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...his is best shown in

scene ten, when Stanley rapes Blanche ? ?A prostitute has rolled a

drunkard. He pursues her along the walk, overtakes her and there is a

struggle? the NEGRO WOMAN appears and?roots excitedly through?a bag

which the prostitute has dropped.?

However, there are other important themes in the play, which also have

to be considered, because illusions and fantasy are not the only

issues Williams deals with and raises in the play; there are the

issues of death and loss dealt with; the issue of Old and New America

conflicting with each other; the idea of a society of men dominating

women; violence; opposing backgrounds; loneliness, alcoholism and

sexuality, but most of these issues are all dealt with, represented by

and can link to illusion and fantasy, so the theme is an extremely

important one, within the play ?A Streetcar Named Desire?.