摘 要：本论文旨在分析探讨《欲望号街车》中社会的残酷性。这个无情的社会逼迫着布兰奇一步一步走上疯癫，其中就包括斯坦利卑劣的行径、斯特拉不愿相信丈夫强奸姐姐以及米奇拒绝迎娶布兰奇。而这些都只是残酷现实的一个映像，整个社会都漠视弱势群体和边缘人物。
关键词：残酷；《欲望号街车》；布兰奇的疯癫
作者简介：梁雁冰，对外经济贸易大学，英语语言文学，硕士学历，硕二，英语语言文学 。
[中图分类号]：I106 [文献标识码]：A
[文章编号]：1002-2139（2012）-21-0-02
A Streetcar Named Desire， one of Tennessee Williams’s greatest works， has enjoyed a large number of readers in the world since its first publication. Blanche’s madness has always been a heated topic in the academic field. Some critics think that Stanley’s violence leads to Blanche’s “madness” or destroys her physical and mental world. However， it is not so simple. Stanley representing social attitude towards Blanche ruins her. In other words， in Stanley’s small community， everyone turns their back on Blanche when she is in desperate need of help. Mitch refuses to marry her， and even her sister does not offer her a hand. Although they are dissatisfied with what Stanley has done to Blanche， Stanley’s neighbors are all siding with Stanley at last. The whole society cannot tolerate such a seamy woman.
1、Inncentive of madness
In A Streetcar Named Desire， Allan’s suicide， the result of the society’s intolerance to homosexuals， has done serious harm to Blanche. She cannot get rid of the guilt of her husband’s death， sunk in extreme feelings of guilt and shame that continue to challenge her “moral integrity” （Herman 193）. However， it is not Blanche who should take the blame. It is the intolerance of the society that incurs Allan’s death. In public opinion， homosexuality was disgraceful， ignominious and unacceptable； Blanche is also influenced by the society’s mainstream values.
No sooner has she recovered from her husband’s death than life deals her another heavy blow—her relatives’ death one after another. The loss of her siblings incurs her inner empty and loneliness， leading to her self-abandonment. Without anyone to pour out her sorrows， “the toxicity of Blanche’s knowledge of death isolates her from others at the same time that it compels her to reach out to others.”（Ribkoff 328） Her mental empty cannot be filled with. She has no choice but to indulge herself in alcohol， smoking and sexuality. She becomes a frequent visitor in “an army camp near Laurel” （Williams 361）. Later， she is kicked out of high school， for “she’d gotten mixed up with” （Williams 362） a 17 boy. At last， “she’s practically told by the mayor to get out of town！”（Williams 361） She becomes a foundling of the society. 2、Madness
However， it seems that there is a little glimmer of hope for her—to live a new life in New Orleans where her sister lives， for nobody will know her seamy past. Sadly， there is not. She is totally destroyed by Stanley， Stella and Mitch and ends her life in the asylum.
Stanley’s direct violence and malice gives Blanche no breathing spell. He tries all means to expose her and destroy her. From the moment that Blanche steps into Stanley’s house， the war between them has been triggered off. Stanley reveals her past to their living community. He finds that she is feeding them a pack of lies， such as her intimacy with strangers and her expulsion from her hometown. All of those disgraceful pasts have been exposed to Stanley’s best friend， Mitch， who likes Blanche very much and intends to propose to Blanche. It is a deliberate menace and cruelty that he tells Mitch to stop this potential marriage.
What’s worse， Stanley has pushed her into an endless abyss step by step， just as Stella says that “people like you abused her， and forced her to change” （Williams 376）. At the end of the play， Stanley absolutely destroys Blanche physically and mentally. He strips away all her illusions， saying that “there isn’t no millionaire！ And Mitch didn’t come back with roses’ cause” （Williams 397）. His last step towards her is to rape her. Stanley’s rape of Blanche precipitates her descent into madness.
Stella， just as her name suggests， is the star that leads Blanche to New Orleans， but on the other hand， she is too far to catch. In Stella， Blanche wants to seek a listener with which to mourn and get over the traumatic past. Unfortunately， Stella consistently “rejects that role， responding to her sister’s attempts to confide in her with impatience” （Ribkoff， 328）. Given Stella’s unwillingness to know her sister’s “morbid” stories， Blanche has to turn to Mitch for consolation and comfort.
In the end， Blanche is raped by Stanley. In the absence of witness， all the people choose to believe Stanley’s story， including Stella. Even knowing Blanche is telling the truth， she has to cheat herself. “Life has got to go on. No matter what happens， you’ve got to keep on going.” （Williams 406） A woman like Stella， not economically independent， is hard to support her， let alone the others. Despite his intention to Blanche， it is out of her reach. Caught between a rock and a hard place， Stella has to send her “mad” sister to the mad house.
As Blanche’s final gentleman， Mitch does not save her neither. Blanche’s voluptuous past is a blemish to her reputation， which cannot be ignored in Mitch’s point of view. Mitch learns her promiscuous past from Stanley. He “tears the paper lantern off the light bulb” （Williams 384）， exposing her to the reality. What he concerns is whether Blanche is “clear enough to bring in the house with his mother.” （Williams 390） In his opinion， Blanche is no match for him. Though sympathetic about Blanche’s deatiny， he can also do nothing to help her.
Just as Williams said in an interview that it was the society that destroyed Blanche， to put it specifically， it is prejudice and brutality of the society. Mitch has no difference from Stanley to some extent. Both of them are brutal and cruel—one is physical and the other mental， which is a reflection of the mainstream social values. The “dreams that sustain her life are stripped away， first by Mitch Hubbard and then by Stanley Kowalski.” （Crandell 100-101） In addition， Stella’s siding with Stanley against Blanche leads to her final madness. Whether she is real mad or not， asylum seems to be the only place for her to go. There nobody will care about her past and she can live a “normal” life. It is a sharp contrast that even in the modern and civilized society she cannot even get her foothold. Her madness is partly an inevitable consequence of the cruelty.