Reality and Fantasy: Blanche’s world is all fantasy. She cannot live in reality because of her painful past. She is unable to confront the pain that her past has left her with and so she finds comfort in making herself seem pure and innocent. Blanche thinks that by taking long showers, she will be cleansed of all evil. But Blanche is not that innocent and pure. She makes up stories that a millionaire will pick her up and take her away. Her reliance on men’s attention makes her vulnerable to being controlled by others. Sexuality: Sexual relations and passion are at the core of Stella and Stanley’s relationship. Stella openly speaks about Stanley in a sexual way and is okay with that. When Blanche arrives at the apartment, she notices there is no privacy, which will make her part of Stanley and Stella’s sexual relationship. Blanche herself also has sexual desires as shown by her previous affairs. After Stanley beats Stella, she returns to him and they sleep together. At the end of the play Stanley begins to unbutton Stella’s blouse which shows their sexual attraction for each other. Stanley likes to dominate Stella in every way possible, he makes her distrust her own sister and kicks her out of their home.
The feminism and misogyny that is shown in the play is represented by the characters of Blanche and Stanley. Stanley’s macho personality makes him dislike Blanche and her materialistic life that she brings into his and Stella’s home. Stanley is threatened by Blanche’s presence because she lives a life that is very different from his and Stella’s. Blanche likes to be the center of attention and likes to have all the small things in life, while Stanley and Stella do not have all those things. The most important thing in their relationship is sex and how he controls the household. When Blanche arrives at the Kowalski’s home, Stanley does not seem pleased. It is like he is being plotted against by having two women in his home. Blanche is not the type of woman that will let Stanley step all over her, and he sees that right away, making him dislike her and not trust her. Blanche does not understand why Stanley feels that way about her and neither can she understand why her sister could be married to a man he feels he is much more superior to her. After Stanley beats Stella and she returns to him, Blanche is upset that Stella would go back to him like she has no one else to fall back on. Stanley’s misogynistic tone towards Blanche begins to be more obvious as Blanche openly tells Stella that she doesn’t like Stanley and that she should leave him. Stanley’s hatred towards influential women is shown when he rapes Blanche and denies it to stay with Stella. His careless attitude about how Blanche feels or how Stella feels about having to choose between her sister and husband becomes evident after Blanche is taken away and he begins to unbutton Stella’s blouse. Blanche seemed to be a barrier in their marriage and sexual life.
