Male
Dominance and Illusion
It
is said that if you love something, you should set it free. Stella,
in the play “A Streetcar Named Desire”, arises to the conclusion
that she must let go of the information revealed that her beloved
husband raped her very own sister. Stella lets go of the bad choices
of her husband because keeping him is all that matters to her. Stella
states, “I couldn't go on believing her story and live with
Stanley” (Stella,1862).
Stella wants to believe in her husband
and that he did not rape Blanche. She disregards his alcoholism and
abuse claiming that it is how men are supposed to behave.
Traditionally, women heavily relied on men, yet this does not mean it
is acceptable to act this way. The reader is able to connect why
Blanche lies to block out her many life traumas including being
raped, the suicide of her husband, and the loss of her house. Despite
this, the continuous controversy between Stella's sister and husband
create a barrier from maintaining the inability to accepting reality.
Eventually, Stella understands that the conflicting ideas distributed
among her are impossible to live by, and they need to be acted upon.
How she acts upon this is by siding with her husband and by willingly
living a lie. Parallel situations that are alike to Stella's occur in
modern day such as experiencing an unplanned pregnancy.
Addressing
their dispute, Stanley and Blanche do not get along for several
reasons. Their differences in personality derive mainly by the
location they were each brought up in. Blanche, from the Old South,
arrives at New Orleans with judgement packed in her suitcase. Blanche
frowns upon the characteristics of Stella's new home and how she
lives her life because it is different from how she pursues her own.
Her intimidating and opinionated attitude automatically sets Stanley
off. “Remember what Huey Long said “Every Man is a King!” And I
am the King around here, so don't forget it!”, Stanley says
(Stanley, 1850). Stanley feels that his manhood is being threatened
by the presence of Blanche acting how she pleases. This angers him
further alongside with what he has done to her. Blanche acts in this
manner to isolate the darkness which is considered to be her past and
how her sister is in a longterm relationship with the very man who
raped her. Stella initially hopes that everything would work out by
itself. Unfortunately, their differences caused them to be doomed
from the start. Most importantly, Stella would not be able to live in
this fantasy world when she is made well aware of the reality.
Overall, Stella wishes that the certain circumstances she is under
will work out for the best, yet they are bound to failure since deep
down she knows the truth. Comparing this to an outside world topic,
unintentional pregnancy comes to mind.
Individuals that generally deal with unplanned pregnancies may assume
that everything will work out because it is what they want to be
true. In spite of this, one might not consider factors such as age,
financial status, marital status/partnership, space in their home,
and future in general. As of now, 1 out of every 4 girls become
pregnant at least once in their lives before the age of 20. Teenagers
are likely not ready to care for themselves fully let alone a child.
A child brought up by a teen is likely to face aspects such as “lower
school achievement, enter the child welfare and correctional systems,
drop out of high school and become teen parents themselves, compared
to children born to older parents. (“National
Conference of State Legislature”). Most women going through a
pregnancy resort to other options when arising at the discovery that
they might not be equipped to care for a baby. Nevertheless, women
that do wish to have a child without actually being able to do so are
living by a illusion thats usually ends with a negative result. The
reality there is that they are not able to do so even though they
believe they are able to handle it. Another reaction may be ignoring
what happened all together because they fear the judgement of
society.
Regardless,
there are always other options than to create a false illusion to
magically solve a problem. Initially, we think Blanche is at fault
for lying and carrying out her life this way. Whereas it is Stella
who should have sought an alternative plan with acknowledging the
truth of what Stanley has done. Lastly, it is significant to
understand the consequences such as lowering the quality of one's
life due to desire. Believing in a fantasy that you wish would be a
reality can compare to proceeding with an unplanned pregnancy without
the required resources. Stellas ability to live an illusion while
knowing the reality displays a comparison to this modern day
struggle.
Works
Cited:
“Teen
Pregnancy Prevention.”NCSL,
7 Dec. 17AD,
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