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A Streetcar Named Desire Lies Analysis

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A person can not simply believe what reality is when all they have ever known is their own lies to be the truth. In the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” Tennessee Williams has multiple characters that are constantly battling between what is fact and what is fiction in the Kowalski Flat household. Blanche DuBois, a former english teacher from Laurel, Mississippi, Stella’s sister, is the main victim of this conflict. With Ms. DuBois’ character and the knowledge we have that she was an english teacher, it is easily implied that drama and romance were not only a part of her profession. Blanche’s constant fight between what is real and what is an illusion begins to spiral out of control and gets to the point that she must be institutionalized. One of the first of countless lies was shortly after Blanche arrived at the Kowalski Flat house. Blanche makes a statement to Stella, “I was so …show more content…

I call her my little sister in spite of the fact she’s somewhat older than I. Just slightly. Less than a year…” (55). In this scene Blanche portrays herself to Mitch as the younger sister only to make herself look better. Later on in the story we find that Blanche had lied once again. Mitch states, “Lies, lies, inside and out, all lies.” Blanche responds with “ Never inside, I didn't lie in my heart…” (119). When Blanche responds with this statement of never lie inside, it represents how she believed her own lies nearly as much as Mitch did. When Mitch forces Blanche into the light, he reveals he knows that she has lied to him, this represents Blanche coming to reality but still believing her delusions. In order for Blanche to tell Mitch the truth inside and out it is necessary for her to come clean about her past life. It is nearly impossible for Blanche to be free of pain and forget her past when she is in a state of

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