Essay On Stella And I

Comparison of Stella (from A Streetcar Named Desire) to Myself

Of all the main characters, I identify the most with Stella. She is a calm character who does not enjoy tension and arguments. All through the play, she is trying her best to keep the house in peace and keep Stanley and Blanche away from fighting each other. That is the role that I have in my own family: I am always trying to stop my mother and sister or my sister and father from arguing and fighting. Stella always puts herself in the middle of tension to break it apart, and so do I.
At the end of the play when Stella is informed that Stanley has raped her sister, she simply cannot manage to believe it, so she ignores it and pretends it did not happen. The rejection of reality is something that I do too sometimes in my life. When a reality is too harsh for me to grasp, I prefer to not consider it true. In addition to being bitter, this reality is something that reveals the animal nature of her husband - her lifetime partner who is the closest person to her right now. I think it is common between lots of women that when it comes to their partners, they tend not to see the faults. This is one of the other similarities between Stella and me. I easily find pet peeves in my family or friends, but when it comes to my boyfriend, I try to somehow justify it for myself.
On the other hand, the other side of the tension belongs to Stella’s sister, Blanche. Stella defends Blanche too, saying she has known this person from the very early days of childhood, and that “Nobody, nobody, was tender and trusting as she was”, but at the end of the day, she is more willing to be on Stanley’s side, probably because she has recently had his child. When I put myself in Stella’s shoes, I realize I would do the same thing. Stella is the most normal person in this play and I am happy that I am more similar to her than any of the other characters.