Recovering The SelfA Journal of Hope and Healing

Arts & Literature

Humanity’s Kinship with Blanche Dubois

by Jodi Nathanson

“Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise.”- George Whitman

George Whitman, the founder of the second Shakespeare and Company Antiquarian Bookstore in Paris, opened his shop in 1951 with the hopes of repaying the kindness shown to him by strangers who offered him shelter. Whitman, an American expatriate and weary world traveler, moved from place to place so often that he often referred to himself as a “tumbleweed”. Remarkably, the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore continues to provide temporary lodging for many aspiring writers who seek refuge on Paris’ Left Bank. Finding inspiration in Whitman’s precept, I recently re-visited Tennessee Williams’ 1947 play A Streetcar Named Desire. Something about Blanche Dubois’ faith and dependency on strangers continues to strike an emotional chord. Her voice, richly permeated by its Southern drawl, draws one in. This wounded heroine, whose grasp on reality is tenuous at best, is a fighter; Blanche Dubois is damaged and relatable and her tragic tale resonates.

Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois

Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois (1951). Screenshot @ Wikimedia Commons

“Dame Blanche” (Williams 99), a fading beauty, is fraught with anxiety. Like many, she wrestles with who she sees in the mirror and it is crushing because, in her eyes, physical beauty is so deeply connected to her feelings of self-worth. Although she is far from innocent, she dresses “daintily” (15) in all white clothing and even chooses to accessorize “her lily-white fingers” (99) with white gloves. Her physical features are delicate. She is desperate for compliments about her appearance and flutters around Stella and Stanley’s apartment like a self-conscious and feathery “moth” (15). Nothing terrifies this woman more than being seen in unflattering lighting, which she goes to great lengths to avoid. She refuses to let her suitor, Mitch, see her “good and plain” (117) because her anxiety regarding the natural aging process is too crippling.

This distraught woman is not given any credit for pushing through her mental health struggles at a time in our history where there was very little support for women grappling with such immobilizing challenges. Blanche displays some self-awareness when she admits to being “exhausted by all [she’d] been through” and even confides to Stella that she abruptly left her teaching job because she “was on the verge of— lunacy, almost!” (21). Stella responds somewhat dismissively by offering her sister another drink. As human beings, we should be able to empathize with Blanche’s intense emotions and the pressure she feels to keep up her physical appearance even when she is wrestling with inner demons and breaking down inside.

Moreover, Blanche Dubois may be a “fallen woman”, but she yearns to be treated with respect. “Whoever you are- I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” (142),  she famously says to the Doctor after her mental health struggles have conquered her and Stanley and Stella decide to have her committed to a mental institution. The soft-spoken Doctor treats Blanche like the dignified lady she longs to be and there is real wisdom behind her words to him. The stage directions indicate that after the Doctor calls her “Miss Dubois”, he “becomes personalized” and “the unhuman quality goes” (141), while he calmly crouches down to her level and offers her his hand. The Doctor politely and gently helps Blanche up and she goes with him willingly, trusting that he will take good care of her. As humans, we can understand the desire to be nurtured in this manner, especially after the traumatic rape Blanche has suffered at the hands of her brother-in-law, a brutish predator.

Other strangers who display kindness towards Blanche are Eunice, who calls her “honey” (15) and lets her in to the Kowalski apartment shortly after Blanche arrives in the poor quarter of New Orleans, and an African American woman who retrieves Stella from the bowling alley, so Blanche, whose image of home is a “great big place with white columns” (17) does not have to be on her own, overwhelmed, in an unfamiliar setting for too long. These neighbourly individuals cannot fully know how delicate and damaged Stella’s older sister is, but they have the human decency to show her kindness and compassion. These women can sense that this panicked Southern Belle is out of her comfort zone and they behave humanely towards her. It is a simple, yet powerful thing. Those of us who have found solace in the company of a chatty Uber driver, a gregarious Starbucks barista, a soothing flight attendant, or a smiling stranger know that the tiniest bit of goodness from anyone can provide a glimmer of light in the midst of a dark day.

Blanche Dubois makes many mistakes. She is a narcissistic, complicated and, at times, hopeless individual. Like many, she lies and hides her true and authentic self and puts on a performance for others: “I don’t want realism. I want magic!…And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it! (117). She is in a constant battle with the demonic forces inside and outside her head. She strives to survive in a vicious and savage world, where illusions are more comforting than reality, darkness is preferential to light, and strangers feel safer than family. The artificiality of the mask Blanche wears exhausts her. She uses alcohol as an escape. She makes excuses. She has endured so much grief and she does what she can to cope with the distressing losses of her family home, her husband, her dignity, and her moral compass. Blanche Dubois’ inner strength is often overlooked, overshadowed by her more outward flaws and morally deviant and promiscuous behaviour. However, the devastating legacy of this woman is perhaps misunderstood. Blanche Dubois is flawed, but she is hurting, human, and maybe even, in some shadows of light, obscured and cast through opaque paper lanterns, a hero in a fractured world.

Work Cited 

Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: Signet, 1947.

About the Author

Jodi Nathanson has been a High School English Teacher for over 20 years and currently teaches at Tanenbaum CHAT in Toronto, Canada. She received her degrees from Queen’s University, where she majored in English, minored in Drama and graduated from the University’s Concurrent Education program. Jodi holds an English Honours Specialist from OISE and has also filled the role of Co-Head of the English Department at Tanenbaum CHAT. Her articles have appeared in Canadian Teacher Magazine, The Ottawa Citizen, The Montreal Gazette, The Vancouver Sun, Wilderness House Literary Review, British Shakespeare Association’s Teaching Shakespeare Magazine, The Bangalore Review, and Jewish Women of Words. Jodi lives in Toronto with her husband, 2 daughters, a dog, and a cat. She loves reading novels (especially the classics) and believes strongly in the power of words.

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One thought on “Humanity’s Kinship with Blanche Dubois”

  1. D. rossman says:

    Insightful, and touching. This author aptly illustrates that humanity is always present even in a harsh world. She “gets it”.

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