The Role of Mitch in a Streetcar Named Desire

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beliefs that “the lady just entertain the gentlemen”.Even when Mitch tries to live up to Blanche’s chivalrous expectations bringing her a “bunch of roses” he still seems to unable to do it of his own accord as Blanche often guides him in how to act telling him to ‘bow to me first!” He is not able to fully connect to the highly romantic sophisticated language Blanche uses such as her calling him “My Rosenkavalier” relating to the romantic opera written in 1910 of Der Rosenkavalier. Blanche toys with his lack of intelligence shown when she teases him in French because she knows he won’t understand. When Blanche first speaks french to Mitch and asks him if he “Understand French? and Mitch replies “Naw. Naw,” she continues “Voulez-vouz couchez aver moi ce soir”, not only showing the clear contrast of sophisticated foreign language against colloquial but also how Blanche is happy to toy Mitch along with her self flattering charades.

The snare in the pair’s relationship is not only based on a disparity of intellects but a lack of sexual attraction and bond between them. Mitch is simply not able to be the romantic gentlemen to fit Blanche’s facade, asking Blanche obviously inappropriate questions such as her age and weight, “whats yours?” Even though stereotypical elements of love continue to surround them, such as candles and Blanche pretending that “they are sitting in a little artists’ cafe on the Left Bank in Paris!” they still are unable to form deep romantic connection Mitch remaining ‘anxious and solemn” instead. Mitch’ sensitivity often appears clumsy in comparison to Blanche and his awkward imitations of the romantic gestures is shown in the stage direction the scenes. He is described to be standing “awkwardly behind her” and a "dancing bear" when following the steps of Blanche’s waltz. Mitch often is unrefined in his interests and language speaking of hobbies such as muscle building and engaging unceremonious and undignified conversation with Blanche about perspiration, “I am ashamed of the way i perspire”.Mitch brags about his body to Blanche and even though Mitch does not retain elements of such violent male, like Stanley does, he is just as imposing a physical specimen, recognised by Blanche when states that he is “not the delicate type” and has a “massive bone structure and a very imposing physique.” Blanche allows Mitch to express and relieve his inner masculinity engaging him in conversation of “a man can punch me in the belly and it don’t hurt me” but still shows her intellect through sarcasm, “its awe-inspiring”. Blanche may see Mitch as male enough to radiate a carnal attractiveness yet he will never be physically or psychologically dangerous in the way that Stanley is, even when he does treat Blanche harshly. Blanche repeatedly rejects Mitch’s physical affections, refusing to sleep with him and once he discovers the truth about Blanche’s sordid sexual past, Mitch is both angry and embarrassed about the way Blanche has treated him. When he arrives to chastise her, he states that he feels he deserves to have sex with her, even though he no longer respects her enough to think her fit to be his wife.

Despite Mitch being the only possible person who is eligible to save the fragile Blanche and of being redeemed by herm, the very characteristics that make him ordinary would have been indispensable to her — his honesty, stability, loyalty, and love. It is consistent with his lack of imagination that he should leave Blanche when confronted with her past due to Stanley. Stanley telling Mitch of Blanches controversial past at ‘The Flamingo” immediately has an effect on the likelihood of Blanche and Mitch’s budding relationship as even though he may not be, in the words of Stanley, necessarily “through with her” he has still been “wised up” and so is no longer to keep up with Blanche’s façade.  Mitch’s change in his opinion of Blanche is very evident when he comes to visit, not only in the way he speaks but in the way he presents himself to Blanche. William’s suggests that Mitch is no longer interested in impressing Blanche and matching her gentlemanly standards as he appears “unshaven” and wearing a “blue denim shirt and pants”. Their incoordination is emphasised when Blanche still tries to keep up with their romantic façade disguising her alcoholic tendencies by “hiding the bottle in a closet” but then pretending to look for liquor, “what am I looking around here for? Oh yes – liquor!” Blanche once again tries too use alcohol as an escape from reality but Mitch will no longer be deluded and wants Blanche to face up to what she really is, both in a mental and physical sense. Blanche prefers to live in the illusionary world of darkness and finds “the dark comforting to me” but Mitch is eager to see her in the light. When Mitch states that he wants “to have real good look at you, Blanche” and then “tears the paperer lantern off the lightbulb” is not only symbolic of Mitch wanting to find out clearly how Blanche looks but also is metaphorical of the end of their possible relationship where Mitch is no longer willing to remain passive and in a pretence on the past and secrets that consume Blanche.The overt contrast and inevitable incompatibility of the pair is made clear when Mitch stages he wants to be “just realistic” and Blanche replies that she “don’t want realism.”

William makes it clear that even though Mitch holds positive attributes of sensitivity he still takes the role of man in a highly charged male dominated world when the reader begins to see echoes of Stanley in his behaviour towards Blanche. The fact Mitch ‘stalks into the bedroom” after Blanche is reminiscent of the rough animalistic behaviour of Stanley and the clear contrast of character of Mitch at the start, where he was portrayed as seemingly weak and foolish, only makes his behaviour towards her that much more startling and disturbing to the reader. At the removal of Blanche’s facade, Williams also shows Mitch in a new light where he takes on more of misogynistic macho version of himself both in his judgement of Blanche and his show of sexual urges. William here uses Mitch as a tool to show the evident gender stereotypes and double-standards towards women where the role of a women was to be pure and innocent, which he finds Blanche is evidently not. Mitch states that Blanche is ‘not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother” and so shows that Mitch is actually no different from the other male characters as he has failed to break free of the matriarchal world of which he is stuck in. Stanley’s rape of Blanche is foreshadowed when Mitch becomes a lot more domineering, following Blanche “purposefully” and beginning to force himself on