Whiskey and Image On the Rocks

Tennessee Williams presents Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire as a dainty woman who appears “incongruous” in the poor New Orleans neighborhood that her sister, Stella, lives in (5). She appears in a suit fit for a party and is very shocked by the quality of the neighborhood, which makes Blanche appear as a sophisticated woman who is superior to these surroundings. Throughout the play Blanche consciously acts superior to the people around her to keep a positive image. For example, she wants to appear like she rarely drinks so that she opposes Stella’s husband Stanley and his lowly friends who often get drunk: “Stanley: Have a shot? Blanche: No, I—rarely touch it” (26). However, Blanche is actually a heavy drinker. She is not fully able to uphold this image because Stanley is suspicious of her drinking habits despite her attempts to hide them. The course of Blanche’s drinking habits—specifically the first encounter with alcohol—suggests the ultimate exposure of Blanche’s original sophisticated and superior image that she is presented with.

Blanche explicitly vocalizes that she drinks infrequently unlike the other characters. Before Blanche has met Stanley and his friends they are heard talking about where they should play poker, when the location is decided Stanley assigns Mitch to “bring the beer” which suggests that they often drink alcohol during their gatherings (24). Shortly after, Blanche declines a shot of whiskey from Stanley because she claims she rarely ever drinks (26). In refusing a shot she is appearing to be able to resist the temptation of alcohol unlike Stanley and his friends. This is obviously a lie in order seem superior because before Stanley arrived Blanche had consumed that very liquor two different times—once before Stella arrived and then again with Stella (10-4). The manner in which she drank the whiskey suggests further that she is lying when she claims to rarely drink. Her first drink is a half of glass of whiskey in which she “tosses it down” (10). And her second drink is again straight and she drinks it quickly (11-4). Both of these drinks suggests that she is a frequent drinker because she has become custom to the taste of straight liquor and drinks a large amount at once. Blanche’s words do not reflect her actions furthering the idea that she is attempting to portray this image that she is first presented with.

After Blanche refuses a shot from Stanley, he suggests that she is lying, which suggests that her original image will eventually be destroyed. Blanche says responds to Stanley’s offer with, “No, I—rarely touch it” to which he explains, “Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often” (26). He is proposing that a person—Blanche—may claim they do not drink often, but in reality they are greatly affected by alcohol. This is Stanley’s first suspicion of Blanche, which leads to further doubting and causes the destruction of her image as a whole.

Stanley later accuses Blanche of being associated with a promiscuous hotel despite the sophisticated image she continues to uphold. She seems nervous but argues that she would never been seen in that “sort of establishment” (89-90). Blanche is appearing as though she sophisticated and superior, but like her image of a non-drinker it is not true. Stanley is not fooled by Blanche and eventually learns that she indeed did spend time at promiscuous places and got “mixed-up” with an underage year old by (122). Because Stanley sees through Blanche’s attempt to appear as a non-drinker despite her true drinking habits, her original appearance of a sophisticated and superior woman is ultimately destroyed.