Stella

In the beginning of the play the audience finds themselves growing a liking for Stella, she was shown as a dependable person, always taking care of those around her. She is seen

Stella's marriage to Stanley, on the other hand, seems to have given her the happiness and fulfillment, which Blanche has attempted to find in a guilt-ridden life of loneliness with promiscuity. As a result Blanche has become neurotic and alcoholic, slipping increasingly into insanity. Stella, meanwhile, appears to have been thriving in a profane, coarse, but wholly satisfying sexual relationship with Stanley. Thus, superficially, the main contrast between Stella and Blanche seems to be one between sickness and health, perversity and normality, particularly in the sexual relationship. Stella is thriving; Blanche is disintegrating. But a closer examination of these sisters begins to show more complex differences in their characters and situations. Blanche is disintegrating for reasons other than sexual perversity, and Stella is paying a rather steep price for her so-called "normal" life with Stanley.

Each character is shown to live their life in either the way of illusion or reality. Harold Mitchell, also known as Mitch buys into Blanches illusions. He is overtaken by her charm, but in the end finally faces reality. Stella who is Blanches sister is always wishing for everything to be perfect with her and Stanley even though he abuses her. She overlooks Stanley’s downfalls to escape her reality. Blanche is the center of all illusion.

Close to the end of the movie, she enters his line of vision by going opposite to the Thorwald's apartment, and becomes the point of focus for his sexual interest, giving him the chance to save her and emerge heroic. Seeing her through his lens has made Jeff reconsider his opinions on marital bliss and the adventurous side of her proves that he has a future with her.

     From the very beginning of Rear Window we encounter scenes where Hitchcock shows Stella being sadistic, but we come to realize later that it is not just Stella. Stella is just the only one who speaks out about it. You must observe all the other characters actions and reactions to truly see. Stella tells Jeffries

Stella, too, is a major character who lives in a world of hopes and fantasies. Stella’s tears over her sister as Blanche was taken away at the end of play reveals that Stella’s fantasies have been crushed by Stanley’s brutality. Stella calls her sister, “Blanche! Blanche! Blanche!”(142) , as if she does not want to let go of her sister. In spite of the fact that Stanley tried to justify and to relief her, Stella knows that something acquitted and abandoned had banished. She knows that her happy and humble world and her sister’s hopes had gone. Through her fantasy world, she thinks she could keep her sister for ever, but fantasy does not always work and makes life appear as it should be rather than what reality is. Also, Blanche imagines the doctor as a gentleman who is going to rescue her from a life that she imagines it as a life that does not want to accept her. Blanche finishes the play by saying, “Whoever you are—I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” (142). Blanche’s irony is demonstrated for two reasons. First of all, the doctor is not a gentleman; he came to take her to a mental health care. Second of all, strangers are not kind to her; they are kind only for trade of sex. Instead, they feel sympathy for her for creating a world where she is the victim. Blanche never perceives stranger’s kindness as something that people take advantage of. Instead, she thinks that Stanley is the one who does not treat her well, although he wanted

The street name would make one think Stella lives in a wealthy area or a paradise when in reality she lives in a small apartment in a half decent area of New Orleans. This explains why Blanche was surprised when she arrived at Stella’s house, she thought she had the wrong address. The play opens with Stella and Stanley going to the bowling alley which portrays their easy-going attitudes. The opening also infers that Stella lives more in the moment compared to Blanche.

Voyeurism in its generic form, has long been considered unethical due to its invasive nature. Most people would agree that spying on others is an invasion of privacy, and would look down on those peering into other’s lives. This viewpoint is expressed in the opening scene of the film by Jefferies’ insurance worker, Stella. She makes her entrance stating that ‘‘The New York state sentence for a peeping tom is six months in the workhouse...’. She goes on to say that his behaviour has her smelling ‘trouble right here in [his] apartment’ and mimics his hypothetical court appearance. Lisa Freemont, Jefferies’ girlfriend, also comments on the issue, first when Jefferies’ tells her of his suspicions of Lars Thorwald; labelling his ‘wild opinions’ as ‘diseased’ while defensively giving alternate reasons for all of Jefferies’ questions about Thorwald. Including these women, no character in the film, initially, encourages Jefferies’ voyeurism. Instead they explicitly downplay and dismiss it. Both Stella and

Much like Mitch, Stella does nothing to address Stanley’s overemphasized masculinity. Stella has convinced herself that she enjoys her role as Stanley’s sexual object, which allows him to continue his problematic behavior. She is there for his gratification and her well-being is irrelevant. To be fair, during this time period Stella did not have many options for herself if she were to leave Stanley, but her complacency speaks volumes. Stella is the example of what happens when no one challenges a patriarchal society. She is complacent and therefore in part responsible for her own downfall as well as Blanche’s. Her failure to acknowledge the assault Stanley carried out on her sister is almost just as bad as the assault itself. The reader is left to assume that because she has refused to stand up to Stanley for herself or for her sister, her son will grow up to be like his father, creating another generation of Kowalski men who believe that being a man means being brutal and oversexualized. Stella is undeniably in a tough situation and her fear of ending up like her

As she enters the country club, many people are staring and they begin to talk about her negatively. Stella does not realize she has become a spectacle at

She is often ‘narcoticized’ by him, connoting that he is a drug and she is addicted to him, blinded by his masculinity. No one, even Blanche can persuade her otherwise. It is only when their bubble is broken by him that she starts to see him for who he really is. At the start of scene 4, Stella is said to have a ‘narcoticized tranquillity that is in the faces of eastern idols’ this suggests that she is in a fabricated peace, a drugged peace. This quotation further links to the idea that Stanley believes Stella is a possession to be admired evident by the use of ‘eastern idols’, which could suggest that Stella and Stanley’s love is mythical – too good to be true.

It is clear from the beginning that Blanche is not a very honest character. She lives in a fantasy world of her own design. One of the very first things she does when she enters Stella’s

Stella-Rondo brings out jealousy in Sister that causes tension between them. Sister hates that Stella-Rondo married Mr. Whitaker since Sister supposedly had him first. She feels like Stella-Rondo broke them up by lying. Most likely, Sister is upset because she was not the one to end up with the guy she liked, but she displays her feelings childishly. Sister’s

The reader may view Blanche as someone who tried to escape her sordid past in Laurel and wanted to start a new life with her sister, yet due to the continuous investigations from Stanley, was unable to do so. Stanley reveals Blanches’ lies and deceits, commenting on them as her ‘same old act, same old hooey!’ This tells the reader that his research of Blanches’ past is way of stopping her from finding a new life. Blanche attempts to redeem her life by finding love with Mitch, yet Stanley again reveals to Mitch that she was not ‘straight’, resulting in Mitch not wanting to be with her and also contributing to her fate. Stanley, after mercilessly divulging all her truths and bringing her to the edge of her mental capacity, rapes Blanche which brought about her final collapse. The reader may view Stella as someone at blame for her sisters’ fate, as though she shows some moral support of Blanches’ situation and listens to what she has to say, Stella continuously throughout the play neglects to notice Blanches slow mental deterioration and ignores Blanches’ outcries and incessant need for attention. Stella chooses Stanley over Blanche, despite her warnings about him being ‘volatile, violent and sub-human which represents not

Although Stanley’s power works mainly to downgrade Blanche, his violent and aggressive nature also disempowers Stella. She is abused during poker night, a moment of masculine bonding. Following the poker night she is made powerful when she retreats to Eunice’s Flat. However, she returns to disempowerment when she leaves Eunice’s flat and Stanley ‘bears her into the dark flat’. Stella’s decision to stay with Stanley is not based on choice, but rather on the fact that she must. This enforces the dominant belief that women are unable to support themselves, emotionally and financially.