In the drama, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, the theme of illusion and creating an alternate reality shows to be recurring throughout the play. In terms of psychology, A Streetcar Named Desire includes the subject matter of superego, Id and ego. Before the final scene comes to an end, Stella says “I couldn’t go on believing her story and live with Stanley” (Stella 1232). This is to be found interesting because Blanche creates this certain persona to the world yet Stanley knows it is all a lie. Stella does not want to accept the truth when it comes to the rivalry between her sister and husband and as a result it leads to the downfall of Blanche emotionally.
“I couldn’t go on believing her story and live with Stanley." Stella is blind when it comes to Stanley because she is convinced they have it good, but in reality, it is all about their physical attraction. This is terrible on Stella's part. She has good reasons to think her husband raped Blanche, but she’s pretending it never happened . She does not want to destroy the idea of her "perfect relationship." On the contrary, Stella's neighbor Eunice says “Don’t ever believe it. Life has got to go on. No matter what happens, you’ve got to keep on going” (1125)In other words, Stella has to forgive and forget and keep moving forward. In addition, Stanley's approach to marriage is not considered to be in equal partnership. He wants to be in complete control."Stanley doesn’t give me a regular allowance, he likes to pay bills himself(479). Taken as a whole, does Stella really have a choice when it comes to facing reality and accepting the truth ,in spite of the difficult environment and circumstances she is in?A Streetcar Named Desire relate to the concepts of three parts in human psychology:
"Superego", where one idealized self image, "Id" which is based on the pleasure principle and "Ego" which is our conscious decision making process. Blanche represents superego because she is constantly worried about her self-imagine and social standards. She states, "You know I haven’t put on one ounce in ten years, Stella? I weigh what I weighed the summer you left Belle Reve (1123)." In other words, looking good is all about maintaining her formative years and the illusion that she has not changed. Stanley represents Id because he craves to be in control and when his desires are not met, he gets aggressive and violent. He does not think about the consequences of his actions because he's a drunk and also a Capricorn. Stella states, "…You come out with me while Blanche is getting dressed" and Stanley replies "Since when do you give me orders?" This shows that Stanley is taken off guard by Stella's demand due to gender roles at this time. Lastly, Stella is passive throughout the story and represents ego because she shows that a mixture between her background at the Belle Reve and Stanley's background could mix and be practical and holds true to her character throughout the play.
Overall, two worlds are combined in this play and yet one character can handle the mixture and the others cannot. When it comes to the three main characters of the play, they each acquire different characteristics, attitudes and approaches towards certain situations. Blanche is the stronger character of the two sisters yet the weaker one when she is defeated at the end of the play emotionally. Stella remains submissive and Stanley who holds stereotypical gender roles and sexual desires exhibits dominance as his life gets disrupted the moment Blanche walked into his life.