Blanches declining mental state is further shown by her obvious dependence on alcohol, in the opening scene when she first enters Stella’s apartment she gulps down half a tumbler of whisky and then precedes to wash out the tumbler, this indicates that she is in denial about her drinking and that she wishes for it to remain hidden form other people. This is further emphasises by the fact that after requesting a drink form Stella she immediately voices that she isn’t a drunk without the information being requested.
Another key difference between Blanch and Stella is that they represent two completely different types of values, Blanche represents the values of the old southern Americans ware and Stella represents the new values that arose after the fall of slavery.
In the old southern states one of the most valued things was culture, and Blanche is frequently shown to be far more cultured than Stella. For a start we are told early on that Blanche has worked as an English teacher, and throughout the plan she makes references to authors such as ‘Edgar Allan Poe’, in scene 1 when Blanche states that she expects to see the ______________ out of Stella’s window the literary reference goes completely over her head and she responds in a very matter of fact way. Stella’s lack of culture is particularly emphasised in scene four of the play, at the very start of the scene Stella is shown to have been reading a comic, which contrasts with the literature we know Blanche reeds, during this scene there is also a moment when Blanche requests a pen and paper only for Stella to reveal that she doesn’t have one in the house, this shows how Stella is shunning her old background and embracing the new American values. Blanche is in fact portrayed as something of a snob; she describes Stanley a common, and focuses a lot on his polish origins referring to him at times as a polak.
One of the main similarities between Blanche and Stella is that they are both ruled over by desire; Blanche succumbed to it back in Laurel after Alan died. After his death, she tried to search for a replacement. She was in love with love, whether it was true or not. She had a desire for men even if they were complete strangers and this is the reason for her current predicament. Stella similarly is in a situation that may be looked on as bad because of her desire for Stanley. The difference between them is the way they handle their desire. Stella acts very nonchalant and honest about her desire for Stanley. She basks in the memory of him smashing light bulbs on their wedding night right in front of Blanche. She also openly talks about the way she feels when Stan leaves on business. Blanche, on the other hand, tries to cover up her promiscuity and puts on a very regal persona, when in fact it later becomes known to the audience that back in laurel she was in fact acting little better than a prostitute.
The fact that Blanche’s desire led her to her current circumstances is shown in her convocation with Stella when that use the streetcar as a metaphor for there desire, and Blanche says that it ‘Brought me here’.
