MovieChat Forums > A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Discussion > Hope For Blanche!

Hope For Blanche!

posted 9 years ago by chancedelhomme
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I think her demeanor in the final scene when she tells the elderly gentleman escorting her to the asylum "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers"...gives me hope that she still had some sense of manners and grace and intelligence as he was accepting her (hopefully temporary) fate. Unlike other iconic grand dames like Baby Jane Hudson or Norma Desmond, both whom were completely bonkers...I think with therapy and maybe the eventual rescue of a former boyfriend like Shep Hubley, Blanche was going to take her life back and leave the past behind, accept her age (37 seems so young now!) and start fresh without all of the pretenses and baggage! I guess it's my love for the character and Vivien Leigh that gives me some glimmer of hope for this indelible character who deserved a better life!

[–] Venus-25 9 years ago

I think Shep Huntleigh is a closed book and Blanche would have to learn self-reliance.

The era during which this was written followed the era of "Rosie the Riveter" when women took over jobs previously held by men who went off to war. When the men returned the factory bosses dismissed the women, telling them to go home, cook, clean, and whelp. Many women resented the loss of their independence because of this. It was something Blanche never truly learned.

She would need to learn a new profession due to her past transgressions.

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