Eros y Tánatos en la teatralidad de Blanche Dubois en "A streetcar named desire", de Tenesee Williams

Abstract

In order to properly analyze Eros and Thanatos as related to Blanche DuBois, the character created by Tennessee Williams in A Streetcar Named Desire, the path of destruction that this main character follows throughout the play, from beginning to end, must be discussed. This play by Tennessee Williams is the main point of reference for this doctoral dissertation, which also references the works of philosophers and psychoanalysts such as Freud, Lacan, Sartre, Faucoult and Žižek, among others, as they offer similar views to those of Williams. This work also incorporates the theories of women, including Helen Cixous, Judith Butler, Teresa de Lauretis, and Camille Plagia, which sometimes convey very different views. Williams explores the essence of his characters using his own life, as well as that of his sister. Williams was fixated on his sister Rose's mental illness, and, as such, based the character of Blanche DuBois on her. Blanche’s repetitions, including taking hot baths and listening to “The Varsouviana,” the music that was playing when Allan, her young husband, killed himself, the dullness in her face, etc., illustrate the tormented world in which she lives. Blanche lives in a world of illusions and attempts to draw everybody around her into this world, but nobody plays along. She drives herself to Thanatos, the god of non-violent death. Williams is not only worried about his sister but is also scared that he could become just as ill as Rose. Rose and Blanche both pose a threat to their families' status quo, and both must be eradicated...