The Role of Alcohol in A Streetcar Named Desire Essay

I was so drunk last night that I cheated on my girlfriend, but I don’t remember it, so does it count? People instinctively try to place blame on anything but themselves, and alcohol presents itself as the perfect escape route for a guilty conscience. People often find themselves making impulsive decisions more frequently while under the influence of alcohol. However, how much poor behavior can alcohol excuse before a person must accept the consequences for their own actions? Tennessee Williams delves into the theme of alcohol dependence throughout his play, A Streetcar Named Desire. Throughout the play, both Blanche and Stanley seem to rely heavily upon liquor. Alcohol is used as both a crutch and an excuse for poor behavior in A†¦show more content†¦Feeling dejected, Blanche turns to alcohol to numb the unforgiving feelings of loneliness and despair. She used alcoholism to â€Å"...blot out the ugliness of her life† (Marotous). Whiskey seems to be the only thi ng that is constant in her life and she uses it as a crutch to avoid the circumstances of her reality. Although Miss Dubois seems to grab the spotlight in terms of alcohol abuse, the reader must not overlook the play’s other abuser: Stanley Kowalski. However, Stanley’s dependence is quite different from Blanche’s as noted in a literary critique, A Streetcar Named Desire and Other Plays: Stanley’s drinking is social: he drinks with his friends at the bar, during their poker games, and to celebrate the birth of his child. Blanche’s drinking, on the other hand, is anti-social, and she tries to keep it a secret. She drinks on the sly in order to withdraw from harsh reality. (â€Å"Drunkenness†) Stanley drinks frequently to escape the lack of control he has had in his average life upon the arrival of Miss DuBois in Elysian Fields. The male dominance of the American household in the 1940’s served as a societal predisposition that Stanley would always be in control. However, when Stanley lost control in his household he became enraged and used alcohol to drown out his frustration with his circumstances. Blanche soon becomes an outlet for this anger in both a verbal and physical manner. It isShow MoreRelatedEssay on Iain Banks the wasp factory958 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿ - English Essay Compare the ways the writers present the disconcerting behaviour in both texts so far. Firstly, in Tennessee Williams’ â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire†, the writer presents disconcerting behaviour throughout the text. Tennessee Williams uses Stanley to display different types of disturbing behaviour, and the events that occur due to his attitude. Stanley is presented having a masculine, animalistic nature, which includes his open violent behaviour. 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