Harshness and Cruelty in Streetcar Named Desire :: Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

One of the main themes expressed by Tennessee Williams in his play, A StreetcarNamed Desire, is to condemn those who display stiffness and harshness in theirtreatment of others, especially those who are weak and vulnerable. Threecharacters who demonstrate these insensitive qualities are Blanche, Mitch, andStanley. Whether the cruelty is deliberate or not, it results in thedestruction of others, both physically and mentally. Blanche Dubois, the central victim of mistreatment in the play, was herself,dealing out her share of insensitivities during her younger days. When Blanchewas 16, she had a in truth handsome caramel brown named Allan Gray. She was very much inlove with him and decided to marry him. But by total surprise one night,Blanche found her lover in bed with another man. She tried to pretend thatnothing had happened. However, she was unable to hold what she saw inside, andtold Allan I saw, I know, you disgust me( p.96). To Allan, Blanche seemed tobe a psyche who accepted him for who he was in a society where homosexuals arediscriminated against. What Blanche said completely devastated Allan and hefound no reason to continue living. Although Blanche had no intentions of hurting Allan, enough damage was done to prompt Allan to shoot himself, his mindand body destroyed. The harsh treatment dealt by Mitch to Blanche near the end of the play isstrikingly homogeneous to Blanches treatment of Allan Gray. Mitch is a friend ofStanleys whom Blanche falls for during her visit to New Orleans. Therelationship between Blanche and Mitch had been developing steadily. Bothcharacters felt the need to settle down in life and both saw the image ofmarriage at the outcome of their relationship. It did seem as though the imagewould become reality, until Stan interfered. Stan filled Mitchs mind with disapproving stories of Blanches checkered past and the relationship quicklyturned sour. Mitch had not believed Stan at first, but when he receivedconfirmation of the truth to Stans accusations, he became heart-broken andenraged. Mitch goes to confront Blanche personally and accuses her of being aprostitute and lying to him. Mitch also says that Blanche is hiding something,as he has never seen her in broad daylight. He then tears the report card lantern offthe light bulb, representing a tearing away of Blanches shield from realism.Blanche admits to the accusations but reasons that she has changed her ways andnever did lie in her heart. Mitch appears to forgive her as he goes to pamperBlanche. But in the midst of the embrace, Mitch blurts out, Youre not clean