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A Streetcar Named Desire

by Tennessee Williams

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Discussion Topic

The impact of the past on the present in "A Streetcar Named Desire."

Summary:

In "A Streetcar Named Desire," the past significantly impacts the present, especially for Blanche DuBois. Her failed marriage, loss of the family estate, and tarnished reputation haunt her, leading to her mental and emotional decline. These past events shape her interactions with other characters and ultimately drive the narrative towards its tragic conclusion.

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How does the theme "past affecting the present" manifest in A Streetcar Named Desire characters?

The theme of the past affecting the present is most starkly illustrated by the character of Blanche DuBois. Blanche rocks up at her sister Stella's apartment, where Stella lives with her hulking brute of a husband, Stanley Kowalski. She wants to move into the apartment in the hope of escaping from her scandalous past. Having been run out of town after having had an affair with one of her students, Blanche desperately wants to move on with her life.

But try as she might, she can't. For one thing, Stanley won't let her. He senses straight away the danger that Blanche will come between him and Stella. And so he sets out to destroy his fragile sister-in-law. As such, Blanche cannot find the stability necessary to begin constructing a new life for herself.

She thinks that the sensitive, well-spoken Mitch is just what she needs, a haven of peace in...

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a big old scary world in which she's never really found a place. But when she tells him the sordid details of her past, he rejects her completely, forcing Blanche to realize once more that no one, no matter how ostensibly civilized and decent, is prepared to wipe the slate clean and ignore her past transgressions. Permanently trapped in the past, Blanche has no present to speak of, and certainly not much of a future.

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How does "A Streetcar Named Desire" portray that current circumstances matter more than past experiences?

I tend to think that this statement really encapsulates what it means to be Blanche.  One of Blanche's fundamental problems is that she cannot go back to where she was.  She yearns for the life at Belle Reve where she held power, control, and a certain amount of wealth.  This is something for which she craves.  Yet, her challenge is precisely that she is not at Belle Reve.  She is in a modern condition where people like her are without power and people like Stanley have it.  The text portrays that where Blanche is matters more than where she was and this causes her to feel without power in the most fundamental of senses.  Blanche wishes that where she was matters more to her being, and is dismayed to find that this is not the case.  In the constant attempt to depict Blanche's character as one out of synchronicity with so many elements, it makes sense that the text portrays the idea that where whe are does matter more than where we have been though the depiction of Blanche and her reaction to the past over the present.

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