Outline of A Streetcar Named Desire

Thesis: Why does the author Tennessee Williams from A Streetcar Named Desire referee to imagination and reality, throughout the play between Blanche and Stanley.  

Topic sentences 1: Blanche Dubois one of the major characters in the play likes to live in her own little world in order to make herself feel good.

1.   Panic about her beauty

·      She is very insecure with how she looks so she hides behind demined light so no one notice she is ageing.

·       “I brought thus adorable little colored paper lantern at a Chinese shop on Bourbon. Put it over the light bulb!” (38)

·       She also feels if she hides who she is in the dark no one would see who she really is in the light.

2.   Her reputation is destroyed

·      Stanley discovers that Blanche is known for sexually promiscuity acts in Laurel and had an affair with a teenage student. This causes Mitch to dislike her and not want to marry her any more.

3.   Does not like to face the fact of reality.

·      “I don’t want realism. I want magic.”  (84)

4.   Set her mind to live in a imagination world

5.   Tells lies on top of lies so that it sounds believable to people

·      “Yes, yes magic! I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be the truth.” (84)

6.   Her fantasy’s are failure to overcome reality  

 Topic sentences 2: Blanch tends to rely on men for sexually desire for her sense of self-esteem.

1.   She feels loved and appreciated

·      “Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”

2.    When Blanche feels the urge for a sexually act is when she get nervous around men.

3.   So therefore she takes a lot of bathe to claim her nerve

4.   Blanche believe bathing a lot will wash away her sinful acts

Topic sentence 3: How come Stanley makes it his business to expose Blanche to the world.

1.   He does not believe nothing Blanche says

2.   Always wants evidence proven to him

·      “What do you mean she didn’t show you no papers, no deed of sale or nothing like that?” (22)

·      “in the state of Louisiana we have what is known as the Napoleonic code according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband also in vice versa.” (22)

3.   Stanley is a straight forward guy and does not like being lied to or played.

Topic sentence 4: Stanley drinking leads him into committing acts that he believes are only in his imaginations.