English Literature I A Streetcar Named Desire Essay on Mitch

LAURA ORTEGA

Question 10: “Mitch may be a weak character, but his treatment of Blanche is still disturbing and harmful.” In the light of this comment, explore William’s dramatic presentation of Mitch. In your answer you must consider relevant contextual factors.  

   Tennessee Williams presents Mitch in an opaque way as he never fully physically describes him throughout the play. The audience knows he is tall, “a heavy build” and that he perspires easily. Mitch is Stanley’s friend and workmate at the factory and they were in the same regiment in the war. This shows Mitch has had a past of violence and he is probably become used to it as well as the society which demonstrated acceptability for violence. The fact that Mitch is presented in this way is so the readers at the time could identify with him and to any character of their lives. Mitch is presented as a tamed version of Stanley and could be an in between of Blanche’s ideals and Stanley’s. He is shown to be soft-hearted by the way he explains that her mother is ill and unable to sleep until he comes at night. The affection and care he shows towards her mother demonstrate he is more sensitive and comprehensive than Stanley and the other men towards woman’s difficulty. Williams uses this character to explore the gender roles of society in 1940s. After the 1920s throughout the Depression feminist rights disappeared and a new promotion of the belief that women belonged in the home and not in the workplace was brought back. These ideals were set when both Blanche and Stella were young and they grew with them which explain why they have the need to be supported by men and how their high status in society didn’t even make them contemplate getting a job as they had the plantation. Women after gained the right to vote but in the 1940s the opposition to equal rights were still greater to the support of it. Women were forced to accept lower payment, if not supported by their husbands it was hard for them to survive. This is relevant to how attitudes to women during the transition from the old world to the new are not only because of the values they could have themselves but because society made it hard for women to survive without a man’s financial help. Blanche solution to her problems is Mitch which then turns out badly. In 1939 in lower level professions such as elementary and high school teachers, men were paid 559 dollars more than women per year. This demonstrates that Blanche did have to work after Allan’s death for a living but her work was never considered equal as that offered from a man. She is undervalued by the characters in the play put also by society as women. Both Blanche and Stella see male companions as their only means to achieve happiness and depend on men for both economic and psychological reasons. Blanche demonstrates this in; “I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers” which shows how Mitch implication in her life was important and the fact that he turned her away was then harmful for her. 

   Tennessee Williams had a difficult childhood and didn’t have a good father figure; this is then shown in how he doesn’t seem to include a structural character which one could have support from in his plays. In “A Street Car Named Desire” , Stanley is violent and alcoholic like his father and Mitch is a representation of how his father didn’t support females , refereeing to when women need support in their most critical point as for example in the case of Williams’ sister Rose and her mental illness. Blanche is a fictional representation of Rose. Mitch could also be a representation of Williams himself which remained quiet when his parents decided to put Rose in that situation and ended in a tragic event for Rose which never returned to herself

again. Blanche is a reflection of William’s live; referencing to how Blanche who lives in a world full of illusion and unreality ends in a similar state to Rose.  

   Mitch is similar to Blanche in the way he also has sentimental attachment to a dead figure which is the girl of the cigarette case and the poetic inscription. His words describing the romance and sorrow that inspired it seem trite and inadequate shown in “she knew she was dying “and “the girl’s dead now.” He explains this in a detached way and not romantically as expected. Both of them need each other as misfits in the violent world of Elysian Fields. Mitch and Blanche are an example of a co-dependent relationship that is founded on mutual loneliness and the desire to be with someone this is to distract them from previously suffered emotional damage. The only reason they were together was out of mutual need. This is emphasised in “You need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be—you and me, Blanche?” Blanche draws him to the subject of love, seeing in him warmth and "capacity for devotion this is what differences him from the rest. Blanche needed Mitch as a measure of escape demonstrated in: “I want to rest! I want to breathe quietly again! Yes—I want Mitch… very badly! Just think! If it happens! I can leave here and not be anyone’s problem…” this demonstrates that their relationship is purely for mutual need and that it has a harmful psychological effect to Blanche when this doesn’t happen. Mitch and Blanche do have an attraction between them because she thinks he is a gentleman, something which only in the rough society of men like Stanley he can be considered a valuable discovery and Mitch thought she could be decent but their relationship is more what can each other do for each so what can Mitch offer rather than what he actually is. It’s more about being married than about each other. 

   Mitch‘s awkward courtesy and embarrassment show a consciousness of manners seldom seen in that raffish section of New Orleans. He is not a “natural gentleman” from Blanche’s perspective but his devotion for his mother contrast with how he is incapable of understanding Blanche‘s explanation of her past behaviour. He rejects her with contempt: “You’re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother”. The way he treats women such as her mother as protective and gentle contrast to how judgemental he is with Blanche and it shows how he is prejudiced and his weakness. Blanche’s reaction to Allan’s sexuality is very similar to Mitch reactions to her own, this foreshadows how society ridded with sexism and homophobia, violence is a constant danger, suggesting why Mitch could be harmful for Blanche. He has eliciting sympathy with Blanche before and after he knows about her promiscuous past with his inability to understand that she never lied; “Never inside, I didn't lie in my heart." It makes the psychological gap between them even further apart. Mitch himself crumbles and unable to perceive the actual depth of Blanche's feelings shows how he is no better than Stanley and how that possible marriage wouldn’t have turned worthy. He acts violently; “tears the paper lantern (…) she utters a frightened gasp” showing how Blanche is completely exposed and how the truth and her light is not accepted by Mitch explaining why she needed a paper lantern which is a metaphor for her psychological defence which are the illusions she creates to protect herself. Furthermore the act of “tear” mirrors the rape in the next scene. Blanche is surrounded by the dangers of violence in Elysian Fields in order for William to expose the domestic violence in that era and it emphasises how women didn’t have the means to escape. Williams already shows how promiscuity wasn’t accepted by society when he first incorporates

the sailor and the “I have a date” to show unacceptability of sexual promiscuity in 1940s America.   In society at the time there was a brutal cultural clash between the New Orleans industrial worker and his aristocratic intellectual rival. Stanley tries to destroy old fashion values Blanche’s embodies and Mitch contributes to this by the way he gives up Blanche because what Stanley has told him and how at the end of the play when everything is already planned he decides to rise up; “your God damn interfering with things you” showing he couldn’t have protected Blanche in a world dominated by men like Stanley. Mitch is miles away from Blanche intellectually as he can’t continue a conversation with the fantasy of Paris and he is unable to understand her explanation of herself. A marriage between them would have ended badly as they are intellectually different and Blanche would’ve found him dull. 

   Mitch foreshadows how he could be harmful for Blanche by showing how she finds her sexually desirable in “moves closer” and “you’re certainly not an old maid” in Scene 3. Mitch blames the “poker” game and not Stanley for the violence he had with Stella. In the quote: “Poker shouldn’t be played in a house with women” Mitch demonstrates how he is used to seeing and living under game and violence with this Williams tries to imply that society were aware of this and not everyone was in favour. Mitch is another example of what domestic relationship Blanche could’ve had. He is a "dancing bear" following the steps of her waltz. But this first appearance does characterize Mitch as the most sensitive member of the Kowalski world. This imagery of the dancing bear could be interpreted as comical and a clumsy attempt of dancing but failing. The fact that is an attempt shows that if he tried so he would fail foreshowing how his inability could disturb Blanche .However, bears are capable of extreme violence when pushed too far implying that Mitch can be a dangerous character. When bears do turn the consequences are deadly showing that Mitch is a huge danger to Blanche. This eventually happens and the consequences are that Blanche is psychologically destroyed as her safe haven is now reduced to nothing and her only hope is gone. The imagery of the bear is effective as it creates fear in the audience. Although a bear could also resemble to a teddy bear and how he could’ve been that supportive and gentle man that Blanche really needed.

   Mitch chooses his friendship with Stanley over Blanche when he decides to remain at the poker game table with him at the end of the play. He has shown this preferences before when he stated that :“I don’t want Stan’s liquor” which demonstrates how when he knew that Blanche had alcohol problems and she struggles with this he would rather let her drown in her own problems than betray his friend. Stanley describes Mitch as “no millionaire “ as act of jealousy towards Blanche because she is taking him his best friend and that will mean that Blanche’s Old Southern world wins over his. Mitch ends showing up as a pathetic figure, sobbing on the table, “Mitch collapses at the table, sobbing” which implies he is not mentally stable himself to then support Blanche meaning he is too morally weak either to confront Stanley effectively or to save Blanche.

   The character of Mitch through film adaptations has changed symbolically for example Karl Malden in the film adaptation of 1951 had more temper and demonstrated a closer similarity to Stanley’s world whilst John Goodman in the film adaptation of 1995 is shown sensitive and is shown more vulnerable and pathetic towards the end. Malden shows a manlier and secure man to Blanche than Goodman does. The change of a more sensitive and romantic interpretation is due to the changes in society when they interpret them. In closer society the concept of manhood is more abstract and before in 1951 being seen as sensitive was something bad and made the man seem weaker, this is why Stanley makes fun of Mitch. Probably 1951 Mitch would’ve been more appropriate for Blanche in terms of financial security and manhood but 1995 would’ve been more appropriate in intellectual and mentality towards Blanche. Both of them are incomplete as their character is designed this way therefore none of them could’ve saved Blanche which needed both of both worlds.