A Distorted Soul

Tennessee Williams, successfully skilful in psychological description, is one of the greatest dramatists in American literary history. His play, A Streetcar Named Desire has enjoyed high prestige ever since it was produced. And it has been firmly approved as one of the masterpieces of Tennessee Williams and in the American literary history.This paper uses anxiety disorders in abnormal psychology to analyze A Streetcar Named Desire, and inquires into the tangled and complex psychological state of the heroine—Blanche and the causes of her tragedy. And the paper specifically employs obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder in anxiety disorders to analyse the heroine, which can highlight Blanche's distortion. A Streetcar Named Desire shows us the acute observation of the human mental state, which relates to some psychological theories. It is very evident that the psychoanalytic themes repeat throughout A Streetcar Named Desire. Moreover, the play discovers an honest and insightful comprehension of human psychic and relations. So it is no doubt that A Streetcar Named Desire is of great significance of contemporary value.This paper focuses on the psychoanalytic interpretation of the heroine-Blanche. Some basic theoretical information will be required to appreciate the play. Obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder have to be mentioned because they are generally regarded to be the most significant in this paper. In A Streetcar Named Desire, the heroine's anxiety, depression and pain are related to the three men-Allan, Stanley and Mitch. Blanche shows the psychological characteristics which obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder can be used to fully interpret. Therefore, this paper psychoanalyzes Blanche's tragedy from the theories of anxiety disorders.There are five parts in the paper.Part One is an introduction, which observes Tennessee Williams'life and works, and introduces the relevant literature review on A Streetcar Named Desire. However, these discoveries have limitations in the course of psychoanalyzing the heroine. It is difficult for most critics to give a deeper analysis of her inner world. This paper will try to provide a relatively new reading of the work.Part Two states some relevant anxiety disorders theories, especially, obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder.Part Three is the main part of the paper, and contributes to the psychoanalysis of Blanche, and then mainly explores the crucial influence that the three principal characters (Allan, Stanley and Mitch) have on Blanche's distortion.Part Four interprets the background concerning the creation of the character Blanche and confirms A Streetcar Named Desire is an autobiographical work, and also makes comparison between the fate of the author and that of Blanche.The conclusion summarizes the arguments of the paper. Starting from a psychoanalytical perspective readers can have a better picture and understanding of the complex and tragic heroine Blanche-a distorted soul.