A Streetcar Named Desire Notes | Topic Tracking: Loneliness

Scene 1

Loneliness 1: Blanche cries to Stella that she cannot be left alone. She wants and needs to be near her sister, and cannot live alone in a hotel. This initial cry is not as overt throughout the rest of the play; however, Blanche's need for companionship is evident in all of her relationships.

Scenes 2 and 3

Loneliness 2: When Stanley touches her old love letters, Blanche becomes frantic and upset. Her loneliness is apparent as she speaks of her dead husband. She has had no special person in her life since his death, and yearns for that lost companionship.

Loneliness 3: Mitch is the only one of the four poker players who is not married. He intimates that he is lonely since all he has is his sick mother. When she dies, he will be left alone.

Loneliness 4: After Stella returns to Stanley's arms, Blanche once again is left alone on the steps of the house . Mitch arrives and offers her cigarettes and companionship. She tells him how much she needs that kindness. The kindness she looks for masks her loneliness.

Scenes 4 and 5

Loneliness 5: Blanche writes letters to Shep Huntleigh, her college sweetheart. She makes up facts about herself to verify the façade she presents to everyone. She also writes these letters to cover up for her loneliness. By writing to "friends," she doesn't have to sit alone in a house or think of her nonexistent list of friends.

Scene 6

Loneliness 6: Mitch comforts Blanche by telling her that he, too, is alone. He understands her feelings of loneliness and thinks that they can have each other. Together, they will no longer be lonely.

Scenes 7 and 8

Loneliness 7: Mitch does not attend Blanche's birthday dinner. She realizes that she is now truly alone and must cover up her sadness. Again, she presents the façade that she has many friends and is not lonely by saying that she has never been stood up. She does not want her sister to see her loneliness.

Loneliness 8: Stanley presents Blanche with a one-way bus ticket away from New Orleans. He is handing her a sentence for loneliness. Blanche has already said that Stella is all Blanche has in the world. When she leaves Stella, she will have nothing and be completely alone.

Scenes 9 and 10

Loneliness 9: Blanche sees the Mexican woman selling flowers for the dead. She reminds Blanche of all the people she loved who have died and left her alone. The woman reaffirms Blanche's self-realization of her loneliness.

Scene 11

Loneliness 10: As the doctor escorts Blanche out of the house, she sees the kindness in his face. She associates kindness with the end of loneliness. The doctor instills strength in Blanche and does not force her to walk out of the house alone. Through the kindness and companionship of the doctor, she willing walks out of the house.