PUB# 2

 John Exarhos                 

Professor Brady 

English 102

2 April  2024

The Betrayals of “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams

Betrayal comes in all shapes and sizes whether it's from family friends or loved ones and can affect you in many ways. In the play “ A Streetcar Named Desire” by Williams, everyone in the play experiences some version of betrayal. A Streetcar Named Desire talks about mainly three people who are Blanche, Stanley, and Stella who are all family to each other. But as the story unfolds it does not seem so because the amount of true colors of one another's personalities is revealed causing drama, cheating, and death. 

`One particular quote that sticks out of the story is “   " I couldn't go on believing her story and live with Stanley" (Stella, Scene 11). This quote explains to the audience where betrayal takes place when Stella's husband betrays her with her sister Blanche. This quote also shows the disbelief at how her husband and sister would betray her because they are both family and thought they both loved her enough to not betray her in many ways.

Stella gets betrayed in different ways meaning that Stanley and Blanche find different ways to betray her. For example when a husband was told by his wife not to go to the bar and goes and then comes back drunk. This real-world example shows how a wife is betrayed by her husband when she tells him not to do such a thing. This also happens to Stella in scene 4 when Stella says “ Look at the mess in this room! And those empty bottles! They went through two cases last night! He promised this morning that he was going to quit having these poker parties”( Williams 4). This quote shows how similar to a real-world example Stella told her husband not to have poker games and had one anyway and trashed their home and drank a lot. This quote also shows how Stanley has no respect for Stella and deliberately betrays her after being told the day of the poker game not to have it. This level of betrayal to Stella shows how he does not care about her truly and how easy it is not to care to betray Stella the way he did in this specific scenario.  

Stella was one of the characters that were a victim of betrayal. But is also a person who betrays her loved ones like Stanley. When someone leaves or is reluctant to see their partner and does not say why to them feels like a betrayal. In this play this happens to Stanley because he says in scene three “ Stella! [There 'is a pause] My baby doll's left me! [He breaks into sobs. Then he goes to the phone and dials, still/ shuddering with sobs.] Eunice? I want my baby” ( Williams 3). This quote shows how Stella betrayed her husband Stanley by leaving him and taking his baby and also leaving him in tears. 

This play was just one example of fictional betrayal. In real life, betrayal occurs and happens in various ways. According to Betrayal in buyer-seller relationships: Exploring its causes, symptoms, forms, effects, and Therapies “ Throughout the history of humankind, betrayal has been recorded as a recurrent, unethical, and harmful phenomenon influencing many different aspects of life such as political, social, and interpersonal” (Leonidou et.al 1). This quote explains how betrayal is a cruel act that occurs constantly for example in political, social, and interpersonal situations. Betrayal in these situations and also in buyer and seller relationships has recourse towards who betrayed the other person. According to the article “Betrayal may result in the loss of trust, creation of anger, disappointment, intention to dissolve the relationship, imposition of punishment, acts of revenge, or forgiveness directed at the perpetrator” (  Leonidou et.al). This quote explains that an act of betrayal in this instance that the article talks about in the business world can cause lots of negative reactions towards the perpetrator. This quote also shows that betrayal is not only a negative act but an act that has consequences. This article shows that betrayal is in any environment, in this case, the business world where betrayal has consequences and how much it has an impact on people's business relationships and also relationships in general.

In the end, betrayal brings down many people and affects their lives in many different ways. For Stella it was her husband going against her wishes. For Stanley, it was his wife and child not wanting to be with him at a particular moment. These are actions that occur in real life and have massive effects on people. Betrayal is not an act to think that does not affect people, it causes lots of negative trauma and emotions. For instance, the article talks about how betrayal causes loss of trust, anger, disappointment, etc in business relationships and relationships in general. Betrayal can also be considered a sneaky act because people can have an ulterior motive to not only betray someone but do something way worse. Ultimately betrayal is a negative act that should not be occurring and has negative impacts on people in various ways. 

Citation page 

Leonidou, Leonidas C., et al. “Betrayal in Buyer–Seller Relationships: Exploring Its Causes, Symptoms, Forms, Effects, and Therapies.” Psychology & Marketing, vol. 35, no. 5, 2018, pp. 341–56, https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21090.

A Streetcar Named Desire, visumbrasov.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/A-Streetcar-Named-Desire-2.pdf. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.