Blanche As A Tragic Hero In A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams is an outstanding representative of American Southern literature andenjoys a high prestige in the American theater. He is one of the greatest playwrights after EugeneO’Neill. During his lifetime, he created numerous theatrical masterpieces which had inextricableconnections with his life experience and historical background at that time. Among them, AStreetcar Named Desire, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in1948, is a renowned one. Itdescribes the Southern belle Blanche who leaves Belle Reve for her sister’s house in NewOrleans, where she suffers lots of hurts mentally and physically and is finally sent to themadhouse. Most of academic researches focus on the character of Blanche and the causes for hertragic life, or are carried out from the aspects of the patriarchal society and feminism associatingwith the era background. However, scholars seldom set out from the entry point “tragic hero” foranalysis. So, this thesis makes a comprehensive study of the main character Blanche from thispoint and focuses on the following three questions. Firstly, why can Blanche be seen as a tragichero? Secondly, why is Blanche shaped as a tragic hero? And thirdly, what factors lead toBlanche’s tragic life?The term “tragic hero” can be traced back to ancient Greece. With the development ofhistory, the characters that can be seen as the “tragic heroes” transform from the gods to heroesand then to the ordinary people. It is significant for the expansion of the connotation of “tragichero”, and also provides the feasibility for this thesis.Tennessee Williams, as an American Southern writer, gives lots of attention to theSouthern belles in his works. These characters own unique features. Though they are mostlylonely, weak and suffering, they have always been making unremitting struggle with theirdestiny and that era. The main character Blanche in modern American play A Streetcar NamedDesire, as the representative of the traditional Southern civilization, has made tremendoussacrifices in support of the traditional Southern culture and pursuit of women’s rights andfreedom, which reflect her heroic spirit. The shaping of this kind of spirit has an indelible linkwith the development of the theory of tragedy and Williams’ personal experiences. However,Blanche is stumbled by her personal character flaws, family bondage and social situations, andembarks on a road of “no return”.