A Selfish Desiere

In "A Streetcar Named Desire," by Tennessee Williams, two main characters in this play reveal their desires to the extent of what they want and need. Williams further explains both Blanche and Stanley's main desires through attention and physical appeal. In addition, both characters bring plenty of attention upon themselves and merge towards their gratification in order to get what they desire.

Throughout the play, Blanche happens to bring attention upon herself through flirtatiousness and high maintenance. She worries to much about her physical appearance and try's to look her best so that she can "fish for complements" ( 1552). As for Stanley, he desires attention through power. He obtains his power by being over controlling, violent and physically sexual. Stanley makes his point clear when he hits Stella and rapes Blanche. At this point, it seems that Stanley gets what he wants without anyone stopping his actions. Furthermore, when Stanley hits Stella she immediately leaves him but eventually comes back when she sees him pleading. In scene ten, Blanche is physically raped by Stanley and this also shows how he gains power. It's as if he's walking over his wife Stella and her sister Blanche and looks upon himself as a king. Moreover, from reading this play there is a manner of selfishness in which Stanley and Blanche have in common. In other words, Stanley and Blanche desires are not viewed in a well mannered way but more on the verge of a selfish desire. Meaning, they only care about themselves without having to worry about other peoples feelings. For example, Stella desires her husband while Stanley only desires sex and power. This explains what kind of man Stanley really is and what he's only interested in. In contrast, Stanley and Blanche compare with each other when it comes to cruelty as well. Stanley is seen cruel throughout the whole play, due to his violence and rudeness towards Blanche, his friends, and Stella. At a certain point, Blanche is considered cruel in this play when she tells Allan that she feels disgusted towards him after seeing him messing around with a man. When Allan Grey hears Blanche say this he ends up feeling guilty for his own actions and ends up killing himself. In this case, her cruelty leads to Allan Grey's death.

Overall, Stanley and Blanche seem to only care about themselves and the attention around them. Knowing that there both searching for desire in different ways, they still compare to a self centered person, which they indeed are. In other words, it's as if they don't think before doing it. By Blanche showing off her looks and Stanley expressing his power, simply goes to show that they only seem to care for themselves.