Not all the characters in "A Streetcar Named Desire" are living an unreal existence, however some are, in particular Blanche, Stella and Stanley. Blanch to some extent is living in her own fantasy world plagued with delusions and outbursts. It is quite obvious that she is living an illusion. Stella is living an unreal existence in regards to the way in which she likes to pretend she is living in a happy home. Stanley is also however to a much lesser extent living an unreal existence. He is very self-centered and towards the end he seems to be living a life nearly devoted to breaking down Blanche. We can see why and in what way these characters are living an unreal existence through exploring the major themes of this play and their relation to the characters in regards to "living an unreal existence". These themes which will be discussed later on include reality versus illusion, confronting reality, male domination and truth versus lies.

Reality versus illusion is one of, if not the major theme of the play. It also has

Throughout the play the theme of truth versus lies is quite dominant. The play leaves the reader wondering how the lives of the main characters would differ if they chose to tell the truth and believe the truth rather than tell and accept lies. Blanche to some degree is a compulsive liar, driven by her desire to be viewed as a young upper-class lady she tells lie after lie after lie. While these lies appear to no more than white lies when you add up each lie she tells you start to see that not only is she telling lies but she is living a lie. The image which she tries to project is nothing more than fake. What she appears not to realize it is clear that by projecting this image she is only digging a hole for herself which in the end turned out to be way to deep to get her way out of.

Blanche and Stella find it hard to confront the reality in which they live. Perhaps this is because they are not living the lives which they had planned when they lived in Belle Reve. Blanche in particular finds it difficult to accept the fact that she is aging and that things aren't turning out exactly to plan. It would no doubt be easier for Blanche to confront reality and take a serious look at the direction that her life is heading. But I believe that it would greatly benefit her in the long run. Also I think in the long run it would greatly benefit Stella to confront reality and have a serious think about her relationship with Stanley.

Male domination is one of the major themes of the book and in a way it too relates to the way in which the characters are to some extent living an unreal existence. In the time that the play was written

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Approximate Word count = 1101
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)