trucbidule

Escapism is an inclination to retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy. It is used as a coping mechanism to survive against a cruel reality. In a Streetcar named Desire written by Tennessee William and Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller both of the main character use escapism and illusion to survive in a reality that doesn't fit their expectation of life. Is the truth and reality the only real deliverance for a tortured soul ?

In Streetcar named Desire the theme of lie and deceit is omnipresent. Fantasy and reality are in constant conflict. Those two concept are embodied by Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski the main protagonist of the play.
Blanche Dubois, the main character, embodies fantasy and make believes by constantly relying on appearances and lies. She evens says it “I know I fib a good deal. After all, a woman's charm is fifty per cent illusion, but when a thing is important I tell the truth. " And charming other is the only she knows to act around men. From the very beginning she tries to seduce Stanley and is very disconcerted about Stanley too down-to-Earth approach.
Their antagonistic relationship start from the point where Stanley refuse to play by Blanche's rule. From the very beginning he is determined to unravel all Blanches lies and crush her without any remorse. As said in scene two Blanche has to "Lay her cards on the table" to interest him.

Blanche has to find a husband to save herself from her past. As mentioned is scene four "I'm going to do something Get hold of myself and make myselft a new life !"In order to do so she lies about her past and her real motives. The circle of lies thus begins. But, when the time of redemption comes and the truth is exposed the truth is too harsh to be accepted by Mitch. In scene 9 he says " You're not clean enough to bring in the house of my mother". From this point Blanche is doomed and her last last resort shattered. Hence the truth did not set her free but on the contrary sealed her tragic ending.
But as the play goes, Blanche seem to start believing her lies and her fantasy. For her, she is not even lying, she looses grip of reality and her lies become her reality. he assures to Mitch tShat , “Never inside, I didn’t lie in my heart". Her fantasy with Shep Huntleigh help her cope with the fact that she is going to an institute.

Blanches's loss of grip in reality is also symbolized by songs . As Blanche goes deeper in her fantasy world the Polka is heard more and more frequently. In scene 9 Blance is commenting on the song she hears while she seems to be the only one to hear it. As a response Mitch asks " Are you boxed of your mind ?". The Polka symbolize Blanche's madness. "It's Only a Papermoon" sung by Blanche in scene 7 is a blatant sign of Blanche fantasy world. The lyrics describe a world of make-believe that is real if the lovers believe in it. The lyrics are actually a depiction of Blanche's approach in life thinking that her lies are harmless and just making the reality softer for her.
However Blanche is not the only character that is in denial. Stella lies to herself about her own case. She is married to a violent husband, Stanley, and refuse to see him as he is, in scene four she compares Stanley's empty bottles and poker night to her own hobby and says "People have to tolerate each pther habits" as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She also choose clearly reject the truth about her sister rape e 'I couldn't believe her story and go on living with Stanley'. Once again she excuse Stanley's violence by the passion she has for him 'there are things that happen between a man and a woman that make everything else seem unimportant'
Stanley is a peculiar characters and has his own fantasy even if he embodies the harsh reality. Blanche describes him as a "brute" "ape" and "caveman" . He refuse this depiction but only use violencee and use force to get what he wants. Being "the King" as he refers himself he has no remorse about the way he treats Blanche. His sentence “We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!” (Scene 10) is a proof tha he was determined to crush Blanche from the very beginning and in this scene he does so by abusing her, as a brute would do.



The characters from Death of a Salesman seems to be in the same case as Blanche.
Willy Loman for instance is in total denial and cannot cope with reality as it is, he needs to fib and lie about everything to make it look better. This denial will result in a tragic ending. He is a creation from the American Dream , where everybody needs to be successful and be "someone" to have value. Willy Loman