Yes, Stella is really irritating. I'm happy that you all agree, I always thought I was the only one who had the same opinion, I thought I had some kind of a weird dislikeness. Perhaps, she understands Blanche's influence, the way Stanley is attracted to her, and she acts completely out of jealousy. Furthermore, she is so so different from Blanche that there's really no point of communication between them.
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe that they are free.
-Goethe
Jealousy may play a small part in Stella's betrayal, but surely the whole play pivots around Stella's words:Originally Posted by amalia1985
EUNICE: What else could you do?
STELLA: I couldn't believe her [Blanche's] story and go on living with Stanley [the rapist] .
EUNICE: Don't ever believe it. Life has got to go on. ...
Stella's "couldn't" boggles the mind. No wonder Mitch is infuriated: "I'll kill you!"
Poor Blanche!
Stella chooses lust over her own sister.
I don't think it's that simple. After all Stanly is her husband. She does love him beyond the sex.
LET THERE BE LIGHT
"Love follows knowledge." – St. Catherine of Siena
My literature blog: http://ashesfromburntroses.blogspot.com/
As Stella would like to understand the situation at the arrival of the shrink, Blanche, her disreputable and neurotic sister, has slandered beloved Stanley by accusing him of rape. A convincing accusation? Mitch and Pablo don't think so, nor interestingly does Stella herself.
Last edited by Gladys; 01-20-2009 at 12:59 AM.
I know she loves him beyond the sex, but it's a destructive love. Stella should have helped poor Blanche, even though Blanche turned out to be a nymphomaniac.
I loved Williams' style in writing. I'm not too fond of Stanley (though Marlon Brando did do a hell of a job...I love that man). I really pitied Blanche by the end of the play. The reading of this play gave me the feeling that I'm reading a thriller book, don't know why though. It's a good read (though not the best play I've ever read)
I'm the patron saint of the denial,
With an angel face and a taste for suicidal.
I never read the play but the film is amazing. Brando pegged it perfectly. All the actors were superb; first rate production. I loved it. My library owns it so I should watch it again soon. I was totally engrossed the entire time.
"It's so mysterious, the land of tears."
Chapter 7, The Little Prince ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Few would read the play and not pity Blanche. For me, the genius of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' lies in its temptation to evoke our pity for Stella, a truly horrific yet desperately pathetic character by the end. Yet isn't Stella more culpable than Stanley?
It's amazing how Williams manages to get sympathy for potentially unlikeable characters.
I think it's a great play. Loved Marlon Brando in the movie version. I did not like Stella, but I did like Blanche. Felt very bad for her. Brilliant writing.
That bit where Brando calls out 'Hey Stella!' in that ripped t-shirt...that has to be the best moment in film history.
Should we like Stella?
- STANLEY [bellowing]: Hey, there! Stella, Baby! Emotionally little sister Stella is still a baby. She has been raised to shirk responsibility.
- BLANCHE: Oh, my baby! Stella! Stella for Star! The mediocre Stella lacks Blanche's pride, arrogance, independence and euphoria.
- STELLA: And when he comes back I cry on his lap like a baby... Stella, even more than Blanche, lives in a fantasy world.
- BLANCHE: Oh, Stella, Stella, you're crying! Confronted with Belle Reve or any other matter, Stella cannot face anguish or death.
- STELLA: I'm sorry he did that to you. Stella is impotent to protect her sister from Stanley's brutish attack concerning the fate of Belle Reve. Stella uses Stanley to insulate her from the world.
- MITCH: About the same, thanks. She [mother] appreciated your sending over that custard.--Excuse me, please. Stella goes to family funerals and sends custards, but is terrified of deeper involvement.
- STELLA [slowly and emphatically]: I'm not in anything I want to get out of. Stella is addicted to Stanley, so much so that she eventually allows her only sister to be carted away to a mad-house.
- STELLA: I hope you're pleased with your doings. I never had so much trouble swallowing food in my life, looking at that girl's face and the empty chair! Stella is distraught that Blanche has been stood up by Mitch, but as always recovers rather too quickly.
- STELLA: She is. She was. You didn't know Blanche as a girl. Nobody, nobody, was tender and trusting as she was. But people like you abused her, and forced her to change. Stella is tender-hearted but shallow.
- STELLA: I don't know if I did the right thing. A naive but traitorous Stella voices the understatement of the play.
- EUNICE [whispering to Stella]: That must be them. [Stella presses her fists to her lips.] Stella has the moral backbone of a toddler. Stella closes her eyes and clenches her hands.
- STELLA: Oh, my God, Eunice help me! Don't let them do that to her, don't let them hurt her! Oh, God, oh, please God, don't hurt her! As Blanche is committed, Stella's naivete is stark: she runs away as she once did from Belle Reve. Blanche, now relying on a shrink, is about to be hurt in many ways for many years to come.
- STANLEY [a bit uncertainly]: Stella? [She sobs with inhuman abandon...] Stella reacts like the baby she is given to hold.
Last edited by Gladys; 04-14-2009 at 06:05 AM. Reason: minor changes only
I'm not sure I agree with that. I mean, when Blanche saw Stanley hitting Stella, and lateron she confronted her, Stella simple said "But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark-that sort of make everything else seem unimportant". It doesn't seem like a healthy relationship, and it sure doesn't seem like pure love to me. It's the same story with Steve and Eunice, he beats her, she runs away then she comes back to him for the same reasons.
I'm the patron saint of the denial,
With an angel face and a taste for suicidal.
And tellingly the play continues:
[Pause.]
BLANCHE:
What you are talking about is brutal desire--just--Desire!--the name of that rattle-trap streetcar that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another....
Blanche speaks from experience. Earlier in the same exchange are words which foreshadow Stella's plight at the end:
BLANCHE:
In my opinion? You're married to a madman!
STELLA:
No!
BLANCHE:
Yes, you are, your fix is worse than mine is! Only you're not being sensible about it. I'm going to do something. Get hold of myself and make myself a new life!
STELLA:
Yes?
BLANCHE:
But you've given in. And that isn't right, you're not old! You can get out.
STELLA [slowly and emphatically]:
I'm not in anything I want to get out of.
BLANCHE [incredulously]:
What--Stella?
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