Explore How The Themes Of Desire Is Presented In A Streetcar Named Desire And Goblin Market 
Janith Thanthulage
Explore how the themes of desire is presented in “A Streetcar named desire” and “Goblin Market”
Desire, the need to have something so much as to lust for it, seems to play a key part in the decisions of all characters seen in both these plays. T he power of sexual desire is the engine propelling
A
Streetcar Named Desire (AD)
. All of the characters are driven by “that rattle-trap street-car” in various ways: towards a set fate.
This is especially so with the leading protagonist, Blanche, presented as a fallen victim of her desires for solace in the form of a man: the root cause of which stems from scars left from her tragic past. A similar fate enwraps Laura in
Goblin Market (GM)
. Her desire stemmed through a curiosity for unknown knowledge and experience leads to her own fall from society. In both texts, we see the sexual desire of these feminine protagonists cause their individual fall from society leaving them vulnerable and alone. However, the two texts differ in the way in which the sisters presented in each react to their downfall which can then be argued to be the true cause for their ultimate fate.
Arguably, much of Blanche’s interactions with men throughout
AD are initiated through flirtation hinting at a deeper desire. One of her very first interactions with Stanley was flirtatious despite him being married to Stella. “[...sprays herself with the atomizer; then playfully sprays him with it…]” The stage directions here clearly emphasise her flirtatious behaviour. It could be argued that this then shows a complete inability to interact with the opposite sex without any sexual desires linked from
Blanche which in turn could be said to reflect a very childish attitude to her character. Perhaps this being an early sign in the play of her broken mental state where she is not able to completely let go of her past romance and childhood tragedy resulting in the stasis in which she appears to be trapped in: an age where childish
Explore how the themes of desire is presented in “A Streetcar named desire” and “Goblin Market”
Desire, the need to have something so much as to lust for it, seems to play a key part in the decisions of all characters seen in both these plays. T he power of sexual desire is the engine propelling
A
Streetcar Named Desire (AD)
. All of the characters are driven by “that rattle-trap street-car” in various ways: towards a set fate.
This is especially so with the leading protagonist, Blanche, presented as a fallen victim of her desires for solace in the form of a man: the root cause of which stems from scars left from her tragic past. A similar fate enwraps Laura in
Goblin Market (GM)
. Her desire stemmed through a curiosity for unknown knowledge and experience leads to her own fall from society. In both texts, we see the sexual desire of these feminine protagonists cause their individual fall from society leaving them vulnerable and alone. However, the two texts differ in the way in which the sisters presented in each react to their downfall which can then be argued to be the true cause for their ultimate fate.
Arguably, much of Blanche’s interactions with men throughout
AD are initiated through flirtation hinting at a deeper desire. One of her very first interactions with Stanley was flirtatious despite him being married to Stella. “[...sprays herself with the atomizer; then playfully sprays him with it…]” The stage directions here clearly emphasise her flirtatious behaviour. It could be argued that this then shows a complete inability to interact with the opposite sex without any sexual desires linked from
Blanche which in turn could be said to reflect a very childish attitude to her character. Perhaps this being an early sign in the play of her broken mental state where she is not able to completely let go of her past romance and childhood tragedy resulting in the stasis in which she appears to be trapped in: an age where childish