Realizing The Traumatic Psyche Of The Protagonist In The Play A Streetcar Named Desire

Abstract

This paper uses Blanche DuBois, a character from Tennessee Williams’ play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” to investigate the notion of the new women of 20th-century American society. Based on Clara Thompson’s psychoanalytic ideas of character development, it also examines Blanche’s mental collapse at the play’s conclusion. Rather than actively resisting them, societal and economic standards shape women’s mentality, Thompson argues. Defiance of these standards poses a danger to the established patriarchal order and forces women into unfair competition with males, which may lead to psychological distress. When Blanche DuBois’s emotional condition is consistently undermined and stifled by the old or traditional culture, she finally experiences a mental breakdown that exemplifies the spirit of the new women demanding independence and privilege like the male members of the society.