A Streetcar Named Desire (Feminist Lens) - Blanche and Mitch Flashcards
What sentence
Through Blanche and Mitch’s relationship , Winton examines the power struggle as women are prevented from expressing their sexual desires and manipulated by the patriarchy to rely on men.
Evidence 1
During her dialogue with Mitch in scene 6, Blanche remarks that he is “not the delicate type” and has “a massive bone structure and a very imposing physique”
Analysis 1
The adjective ‘imposing,’ with its connotations of strength and dominance, highlights Blanche belief that by settling with Mitch’s masculine appearance , she can avoid the disaster that plagued her first marriage, as the ‘delicate’ traits possessed by her previous husband ultimately led to the destruction of their relationship.
Mitch, like the other men, is entrenched in the traditional gender roles of men as providers and women as homemakers. As a result, Blanche sees in Mitch the possibility of a relationship that guarantee her safety and security. In addition, her marriage to Mitch would grant her the social legitimacy that her promiscuity has denied her, in the same way that her previous husband disguised his sexuality.
Evidence 2
Blanche pretends to have ‘old fashioned ideals’ and acts shy and embarrassed by Mitch’s advances in the urge to preserve her facade of chastity.
Analysis 2
Blanche’s attempt to fake sexual innocence in order to escape her past underscores her desire to live up to Mitch’s image of women as pure, as she tries to distance herself from her sexual past. Mitch wants to believe this lie as he wants Blanche to live up to societal expectations that equate femininity with purity.
However, Mitch rejects Blanche for being ‘unclean,’ even though she has in some way, deviated from her past subversion. In Mitch’s eyes, the fact that Blanche has expressed her sexuality in the past means she has been tainted, making her undesirable in the eye of men.
