Blanche loves living in an idealistic world, while Stanley strictly relies on facts. In the story Blanche makes up a good portion of her past for the majority of the play. When she was young she lived an eloquent life in a mansion, but she eventually lost it due to unpaid bills. She tells everyone this part of her history but neglects to tell them what she had done during the interim period, before she came to Elysian Fields. Ms. DuBois never told them about the promiscuous life she lived before she came. Stanley, on the other hand, persisted in trying to find out her true past throughout the story. Considering that this is Stanley's house, his domain, it is easy to see that this spells doom for Blanche. The difference between Blanche and Stanley would not be so bad if it were not for one of Blanches flaws. This harmful trait is Blanche’s inability to adapt to her surroundings. This is seen by noting a play on words used by Williams. In the first scene Blanche is described as "daintily dressed" and mentions that she is "incongruous to her setting" Blanche cannot adapt to her surroundings, but instead tries to change them. Later in the story she says "You saw it before I came. Well, look at it now! This room is almost-dainty!" By using the word dainty in both places Williams’s shows us how Blanche tries to change her surrounding to match her, instead of adapting to them. This will not work with Stanley. When looking at Stanley and searching for his redeeming features it is obviously important to look at his relationship with Stella. One of the biggest factors in their relationship, the thing that attracts Stella most to Stanley, is the very thing that Blanche and the majority of the Audience hate so much, his animalistic nature. Stella makes her feelings for her husband very clear showing her desire saying “when he’s away for a week I nearly go wild” Lines like this illustrate the principal emotion that will shape Stella’s later decision as to where her loyalties lie. Stella, the link between the two, must listen to the facts given to her by Stanley, and the virtues of idealism given to her by Blanche and decide who she wants to side with, predictably she sides with Stanley, “I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley”. It seems difficult to separate love and lust in Stanley’s relationship with Stella; however the animal passion that obviously attracted Stella disgusts her later in the play. The fact Stella and Stanley are mutually dependent on each other is very evident throughout the play. What is also evident is that the two have achieved a balance that is disrupted by the arrival of Blanche. In the third scene Stella is beaten by Stanley an event that obviously traumatises Blanche but Stella, who ends up spending the night with her husband, sees no problem with it, Blanche asks her "How could you come back in this place last night?" Stella answers "You're making much too much fuss about this" Stella also goes on to say that this is something that "people do sometimes". We see that this is actually a common occurrence by the fact that the same exact thing happens to the neighbours a few scenes later. It is difficult to say weather the words and actions of Stanley are motivated by true love for Stella or by selfish need to keep her for him and no-one else. It seems to me that Stanley’s feelings for Stella change between love and need and lead him to attempt to protect her from Blanche.
Although it is clear that many of Stanley’s actions are done out of Self-defence, equally many are done out of malicious cruelty. For example Stanley’s exposure of Stella’s pregnancy, which is arguably for a calculated and deliberate effect, makes it clear that the bond between the couple is stronger then Blanche had previously thought. Stanley Knows how strong Blanche’s attachment to Stella is and often uses her to weaken Blanche for example Stanley often waits until Blanche is around before showing acts of real affection towards his wife. Another example of how cruel Stanley can be is the way that he clearly takes pleasure in humiliating Blanche when he discovers truth about her. His disregard for people’s feelings is also illustrated by the way in which he tells Mitch about Blanche. Many of Stanley’s allegations and insults however can still be traced back to his protection of Stella and his territory. Stanley is without doubt the only true survivor in the play. It is the prevailing characteristics that set him apart from everyone else in the play. Stanley’s survival instinct is so powerful that in the end it turns out that the only people who manage to emerge from the play relatively unscathed are the ones that latch themselves on to him and are subsequently pulled through by him, those that try to stand against him are the ones who ultimately fall. Perhaps the most telling characteristic of Stanley is that he remains totally unchanged by the end of the play. He is the survivor, and whilst Blanche is taken away and Stella is emotionally destroyed, Stanley believes that he can re-enter the pattern of life that he previously enjoyed, the play ends with the extremely disturbing image of continuity, in this one image Williams is able to completely sum up what Stanley represents. I think that it is wrong to think that Stanley is the only person responsible for the downfall of Blanche and as such should not receive all of the blame. Stella’s involvement in Blanches decline, although not as clear as Stanley’s, is certainly there. Without Stella pledging her future to Stanley he would have been unable to launch such attacks on Blanche, the fact that Stella never openly questions or attempts to stop Stanley makes her, in my view, equally to blame. Even Mitch must accept some of the blame, the way he dumps and subsequently treats Blanche must contribute to her downfall, and it is worth noting that Blanche’s descent is hastened after she split up with Mitch. Mitch shows that he is no different on the inside to Stanley by yelling at her and trying to rape her, but she does not let him. Afterwards, she tells Stanley that she would never forgive him because "deliberate cruelty is unforgivable" To have someone who seemed so close to her turned against her must have hurt just as much if not more then many of Stanley’s taunts and attacks. Stanley is primitive in his instincts which make him more defensible. The extent to which he is acting out of self-defence determines how we should feel about him. However there are very clearly cruel intentions behind many of his actions. Stella says that her husbands animal emotions are that he has and indeed the natural reaction to the invasion of territory both physically and the intrusion into his way of life is understandable. Stanley says that “be comfortable is my motto” and Blanche clearly makes him feel uncomfortable.
Stanley’s eventual victory is not only his personal victory but a victory of the new world over the old. Just as an animal should not be judged by human standards, if Stanley really is nothing more then an animal he should escape blame and indeed he should receive some degree of sympathy from the audience. However Stanley often appears too human to be reduced to the level of an animal. He deals with Blanche not only with natural instincts but with cruel actions motivated by his own selfishness. Something no animal is capable of and so demands our judgement.