The area, Stella and her husband, Stanley, live in is a rather poor, deprived one and it becomes no surprise, when we discover Stanley is determined to get away from it and fulfil the American dream. He is then disgusted, when he receives the news that Blanche ‘lost’ Belle Reve, as it may have been the only chance he gets to rid of the appalling life he has. However the reason that makes Stanley despise Blanche is the fact he has a suspicion that she got the money from Belle Reve and spent it on herself. The tension and conflict between Stanley and Blanche begins to rise, as Stanley decides to get his revenge by investigating her past. At this point Mitch, a friend of Stanley, is dating Blanche, giving Stanley the perfect opportunity to cause havoc between the two, by revealing secrets to Mitch about Blanches’ past. As a result of this Mitch decides not to marry Blanche. Stanley is still infuriated with Blanche and rapes her and Stella refuses to believe this, for her deep love of Stanley.
Conflicts
I will now analyse a selection of conflicts in detail, which occur in the play. The first being situated in scenes 1 and 2 (Pg 2-30), as Blanche arrives she tells her sister, Stella, the location where she lives in is “horrible”, insulting both her and her husband preference of lifestyle; it’s as though she believes she is superior to them and lives in far better house conditions. However what really disturbs the ‘peace’ between Blanche and Stanley in this scene, is when she confesses that she ‘lost’ Belle Reve, Stanley has his suspicions and believes Blanche spent the money on herself, the story of revenge and dispute begins from their.
Moving on to scenes 3 and 4 (Pg 31-55), Stella and Blanche return to the apartment, where Stanley is having a drunken poker game. Instantly Stanley is rude and inconsiderate towards Blanche he says “You could not play….” when she politely asks if she can. Stanley obviously does not want Blanche to be around.
Stella and Stanley then have an argument over the radio, Stanley wishes it to be off whilst Stella would like it to be switched on. This petty argument develops and results in Stanley giving a blow to her. The men are then forced to pin him down, like a vicious beast and calm Stanley, until he comes back to his senses.
During scenes 5 and 6 (Pg 56-77) Stanley does not appear in the scenes and there are no dramatic points of conflict. This shows that the only real reason there are disputes and conflicts is because of Stanley and without him the characters are seen as peaceful individuals.
The last and without a doubt biggest conflict in the play is the rape of Blanche, scenes 10 and 11(104-124). By the end of the play Stanley has had enough of Blanche. The jungle voices swell as Stanley slowly advances towards Blanche, ignoring her cries that he stay away. She grabs a bottle and smashes its end on the table, threatening to smash the remaining fragment on Stanley’s face. He jumps at her, grabs her arm when she swings at him, and forces her to drop the bottle. “We’ve had this date from the beginning,” he says, and she sinks to her knees. He picks her up and carries her to the bed. The pulsing music indicates that Stanley rapes Blanche.
Conclusion
In conclusion to the play, I feel Tennessee used a great variety of conflicts in the play, which are presented in a careful way e.g. when Stanley isn’t around, there are no disputes. In my opinion I thoroughly enjoyed the play and liked how the different forms of conflict were represented.
