Table of ContentsIntroductionRelationship between Blanche and MitchConclusionReferencesIntroductionIn the 1947 play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the relationship between Blanche and Mitch is a key subplot in the story of Blanche's descent into madness and isolation. While Williams initially presents Mitch as the answer to all of Blanche's problems and as a viable suitor, it soon becomes clear that Blanche and Mitch are not meant to be together. Mitch, in the larger progression of Williams' work, is just another man who will ruin Blanche's life. This is why the relationship between Blanche and Mitch is analyzed in this essay. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The relationship between Blanche and Mitch Williams first presents Mitch as Blanche's potential savior, and indeed this is how Blanche initially wishes to see him as well. Mitch might not only be able to support Blanch financially, but emotionally as well. Blanche notes that Mitch is "sensitive" and that they share a tragic romantic past. Additionally, Mitch seems to fit Blanche's ideal of the Southern Handsome in comparison to other men, whom she considers "monkeys". Mitch is formal and respectful, calling Blanche "Miss DuBois" and Blanche admits that she appreciates his "chivalry". It seems that Blanche and Mitch are somehow united by their shared loss and brought together by mutual experience. They both need to fill a void in their lives and find each other easily to ensure their emotional (and financial) security. Mitch responds by stating, “You need someone, and I need someone – could it be you and me Blanche?” ". There is even a brief tenderness in their relationship and Blanche finds comfort in Mitch; she “huddles” against him and lets out “long sobs of gratitude” before exclaiming “sometimes, God is there, so quickly”. We see the closeness of the bond that unites them both since Mitch is the only character to whom Blanche tells the truth about "Alan", and it is after this outburst of emotion that they unite. However, Blanche and Mitch's relationship is doomed due to the nature of Mitch's incomplete pseudo-masculinity. In telling Alan's story, Blanche reveals that she couldn't be with him because he wasn't "like a man" – obviously alluding to his homosexuality which was taboo and illegal at the time. Yet throughout the play we see that Mitch is not “like a man” either. From the beginning, we see that Mitch works in "the parts department", a possible reference to his incomplete masculinity according to Kolin; he seems to have never matured, still living with his “mother”; and when he dances with Blanche, it is “awkwardly”. Likewise, his conversation is awkward and unromantic, as he remarks how much he "sweats" and how much he "weighs." It quickly becomes obvious that Mitch is therefore not the “Knight of the Rose” or “Armand” that Blanche describes him as. That's the problem. Blanche, who "does not want realism" but "magic", makes Mitch the mold of the Southern Beau that she desires through her literary allusions despite the fact that he belongs to the new order of men of the post -World. World War II era. She demands that he “bow” and orders him to “dance.” Mitch becomes Blanche's companion whom she shapes into her ideal of masculinity which is, like Blanche, "incongruous" to contemporary ideals of masculinity which promoted strong men who were veterans and defenders againsttyranny after World War II. Blanche, as with everything, obscures the relationship with Mitch in illusion, which Williams symbolizes with the scene where Blanche invites Mitch to place a "lantern" over her bedroom light. She says "I can't stand a bare light bulb", a metaphor for her refusal to accept reality, and placing the lantern above the light symbolizes Blanche hiding the truth about her age and past from Mitch. Mitch's masculinity is even more called into question compared to Stanley. Stanley is the stereotypical ideal man of the time: he is very sexual; he brings home “meat” for his wife, a symbol of the hunter-gatherer dynamic; and he plays sports. Furthermore, as far as Blanche is concerned, Stanley asserts himself and succeeds in asserting himself in the implied rape of scene 10, thus asserting his sexual dominance. Mitch is unable to do so, however, and in his attempt to rape him, he "gropes to kiss her." It is therefore clear that, either because of Mitch's incomplete masculinity or because of the veneer of chivalrous romanticism under which Blanche lives, she will ultimately fail. At the end, Mitch screams that it was “lies, lies, lies!” » This tore them apart and the relationship ended. Yet Williams uses Mitch and Blanche's relationship more than just as a subplot, doomed to failure. Thematically, Mitch, like Stella, becomes a battleground for the ideological clash between Stanley and Blanche, who represent the New and Old Worlds, respectively. Stanley: the immigrant worker, “100% American”, war veteran. White: The upper-class Southern Belle of the United States' French colonial past. When Stanley and Blanche meet, it is clear that their two ideologies cannot live side by side, and a battle ensues for dominance. Stanley wins the first battle, after convincing Stela to "come back" to him after hitting her, and the battlefield shifts to Mitch. Initially, through her deceptive seduction and emotional appeal, Mitch falls in love with Blanche, but Stanley manages to convince Mitch to seek the truth from Blanche. Indeed, he does, and Mitch adopts Stanley's speech patterns and physical movements in scene 9, a maneuver that symbolizes Stanley's success in exerting his influence over Mitch: he speaks monosyllabically ("Me. Mitch") and with interrogative statements ("Why?", "Are you crazy?" and "Should we have this fan?"). Eventually, Mitch "rips" the "lantern" from the lamp, symbolically raping Blanche and foreshadowing the subsequent rape scene by shattering her illusions and pretenses. After Stanley takes Mitch away from Blanche, she has lost everything and appears in "stained" and "wrinkled" clothes, symbolic of her stained purity and helplessness. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.Get a Custom EssayConclusionUltimately, Williams creates Mitch as someone who has good intentions regarding Blanche and is one of the few characters who sympathizes with her, but he doesn't never realistically does anything to help him. His well-meaning but impotent stance is epitomized by the end-of-scene instructions as he "sobs" as Blanche leaves, and in his failed attempt to criticize Stanley ("You...boast...boast...boast...bull!" "). have carried some weight and helped Blanche, but she is castrated by Mitch's inability to even form a sentence. Mitch was Blanche's last opportunity to break away from the old world of the colonial South and embrace the modern, post-industrial world in the aftermath of World War II..)