Catharsis in a Streetcar Named Desire
To what extent would you consider A Streetcar named Desire to be a tragedy? There are many types of tragedy, traditional – such as Aristotelian – domestic and modern day tragedy. A streetcar named desire does not conform to the traditional definition of tragedy but does contain some components that relate; such as, the play does have a tragic hero and a tragic villain – it is just ambiguous as to whom they are – and they all have tragic flaws. A streetcar named desire is more of an adaption of tragedy rather than a traditional tragedy.
Whilst it may not conform to Aristotelian conventions of tragedy it is clear that the play goes some way to redefine the genre in a modern setting, making it a modern day tragedy. In order for it to be a tragedy, the play needs to have a tragic hero – a tragic hero needs a fall. In Streetcar the tragic hero is unclear but can be argued to be Blanche or her sister Stella. Blanche gets progressively worse throughout the play which can be shown by her appearance in the stage directions. she is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and earrings of pearl, white gloves and hat, looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea…’by turning up in the play with many layers of clothes on and all in white, Blanche appears to be the picture of innocence. The pearl jewellery also adds a sense of wealth but with this shows that not everything is as they appear. Although pearls are expensive and are supposed to mean precious things, they are also grey – almost white- with a bluish tinge; blue being the colour of depression and grey the colour of sickness.
This shows the audience that although she may seem composed at the beginning, there’s already many moments that have happened to lead her to be damaged and seeking refuge with her sister. When we compare this to her appearance at the end of the play we see that she ‘…appears in the amber light of the door. She has a tragic radiance in her red satin robe following the sculptural lines of her body. ’ This is the complete opposite of her appearance in scene 1 with the amber light and form fitting robe, she seems quite seedy.
Red is the colour of passion, lust and blood – a complete contrast to her white pure depression, the blood also symbolises her loss of virtue. This contrast shows the decline of her mental ability to keep up with her facade and provides the instrumentals for her character to be the tragic hero. Stella could also be seen as a tragic hero but the one difference is that Stella’s downfall is not shown; the audience only see the outcome of what she’s decided to do about her downfalls. Although her downfalls are behind the scenes we get shown her decisions through Eunice and Blanche.
When Stella says ‘I don’t know if I did the right thing […] I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley. ’ The audience finally see the effect the situation has had on Stella and finally are able to feel empathetic towards her character. The fact that she is unable to make a decision on whether she ‘did the right thing’ proves to the audience that she’s had to make a great sacrifice. When Eunice says ‘what else could you do? […] Don’t ever believe it. Life has got to go on. No matter what happens, you’ve got to keep on going. ’ The audience see that she is the main influence to Stella, her only support system.
We also get an insight on what Stella has finally sacrificed – her sister – in order to stay in her domestic bliss. As a result of Eunice being her support, it allows Stella to have a brief catharsis which none of the other characters seem to get and therefore making her more of a tragic hero than Blanche. Both Blanche and Stanley can be considered to be the antagonist – another key component in a tragedy. However, like with the protagonists, the role of the antagonist is unclear. Blanche can be seen as the villain when she attempts to convince Stella to leave Stanley.
By Stella saying ‘your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go and wash up and then help me clear the table. ‘8-40-41The audience see for the first time that she finally has the strength to stand up to Stanley and this is only because Stella has Blanche to back her up. The audience also sees for the second time within 10 pages the repulsion Stella feels when she says ‘disgustingly greasy’. The drawn out syllables in ‘disgustingly’ give it a feeling of superiority, showing that with Blanche there, she has restored some confidence that she may have had back at Belle Reve.
This highlights the difference in class between Stella and Stanley which had not been highlighted before Blanche came into the scene. Blanche is also seen as an antagonist by the way she compares herself to a tarantula, ‘yes, a big spider! That’s where I brought my victims. ’ Another name for a type of tarantula is a wolf spider and when they bit their prey they brought on a deadly envenomation called Tarantism. Tarantism caused it’s victims to feel heightened excitability and restlessness.
This tells us a lot about Blanche’s character as she is mostly surrounded by sexual confrontations –Mitch in scene 6 and Stanley in scene ten – that tell the audience that she causes excitement in others and an impatience. Blanche can viewed as both the antagonist and protagonist as she is the main character and everything revolves around her, therefore the audience do not get to visualise the other characters as more than parts that help Blanche play her role. Stanley can also be viewed as a villain when he tries to get rid of Blanche and separate her from Stella.
We can see this specifically in scene 7, ‘Honey, I told you I thoroughly checked on these stories! Now wait til I finish […] regarded as not just different but downright loco – nuts. (Stella draws back)’ Stanley is so absorbed in what he knows that he does not question whether Stella wants to hear it or not, only assumes that she does as much as him and practically orders her to listen to what he knows and he carries on until Stella has to physically draw back from him; showing her repulsion towards him for the first time.
The use of punctuation in Stanley’s speech in scene 7 shows how self-absorbed he is, ‘the same old lines, same old act, same old hooey! But the town was too small for this to go on for ever! And as time went by she became a town character. ’ The exclamations and commas indicate a triumphant tone and because he is so absorbed in his own glee at the thought of finally revealing Blanche’s secret past, he is oblivious to Stella withdrawing from him. In traditional tragedies the tragic hero is supposed to have a tragic flaw that leads them to their inevitable downfall – in Othello it was his easily jealous nature.
However, in Streetcar all the main characters have tragic flaws. Blanche has her obsession with youth, ‘a cherry soda […] you make my mouth water’ ‘young man! Young, young, young, young man! ’ the repetition of young highlights her obsession with youth and also her mental instability – her inability to be normal in a social situation. Her mental instability is another of her tragic flaws and is highlighted by the music that starts playing when Blanche starts slipping into a frenzy. ‘I’ll just – [she touches her forehead.
The polka tune starts up again. ] – pretend I don’t notice anything different about you! That – music again…’ the fact that the music starts up again when she touches her forehead shows that the music is all in her head and seems to appear whenever she’s distressed – showing that she is not sane. Throughout the play Stanley is constantly described as an animal. Whereas Blanche is conscious of the fact she’s luring in her victims, like a spider, Stanley seems a bit more conscious to he fact that he’s predatory and this is his tragic flaw. Catharsis is a crucial part of a tragedy where the characters undergo a purging of emotions where they may redeem themselves by the end of the play. Only Stella seems to undergo catharsis in scene 11. Blanche attempts it but by that time it is too late, and Stanley does not attempt to change. Blanche with Mitch as her catalyst is able to attempt to undergo catharsis – if not for him she would not be talking about Allan and therefore would not be able to attempt to redeem herself.
By him asking questions and implying them, he is continuously coaxing information out of her, allowing her to feel some emotions. The reason why the characters are not able to undergo catharsis is because they are stuck in 2 claustrophobic rooms, which means they have no time alone to themselves to come to a realisation as to why they are in their situation and come to a conclusion. Stella can be viewed as a tragic hero but it is difficult because the audience find it difficult to relate to her character and therefore are unable to picture her as the tragic hero.
Stanley is easy to be viewed as the tragic villain as he is obnoxious and animalistic but that may be because we see him from Blanches point of view and she sees him that way. Therefore, Blanche can easily be viewed as both the protagonist and antagonist as she is the main character and all of the events happen around her and because of her. I conclude that although the play does not conform to the traditional sense of tragedy, it can still be viewed as modern tragedy as it has a modern twist that all modern audiences can relate to.