Compare the ways in which personal trauma and mental illness are portrayed in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and the poems of Sylvia Plath.

In ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Tennessee Williams portrays mental illness and personal trauma as something to be masked and concealed. Before Stanley rapes Blanche, she reveals to Mitch; “Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misinterpret things to them. I don’t tell the truth. I tell them what ought to be the truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it! - Don’t turn the light on!” The symbolic motif of “light” and her refusal to be seen in it’s natural state is a means for Blanche to create an illusion that distances her external appearance to others from her internal personal trauma, thus masking her mental illness. This gives reason as to why she abstains from telling the “truth”, lies are a mechanism for her to forge a mentally stable appearance and she sees this act of illusion as “magic!” which is exemplified by the exclamation mark that creates a hyperbolic tone that imitates Blanche’s dramatisation of concealing her personal trauma. In New Orleans where Blanche has come to visit Stella, the late 1940s society thrived on the concept of a stronger and reborn America in the wake of a war. This type of society had no place for the mentally ill who failed to physically contribute to the idea of a new America, which led to their isolation. In reaction to this, Blanche attempts to hide her mental vulnerability in order to retain a degree of inclusiveness in a society that would otherwise have seen her as incongruous. (1) Critic Gabi Reigh explores the marginalisation of Blanche in ‘new America’ and claims that “she takes refuge in an inner world of fantasy” as a way of cloaking her trauma and mental illness in a plea to be accepted in society, but Stanley exposes this outward appearance as “mere ‘lies and conceit and tricks’”. Contrastingly, in Plath’s ‘Lady Lazarus’, the persona portrays mental illness and personal trauma as a theatrical act, which juxtaposes Blanche’s attempt to conceal it and create an artificial illusion. ‘Lady Lazarus’ is reputed to be confessional of Plath’s own struggle with mental illness and trauma (as critic (2)Ira Wells acknowledges, “Plath wrote her best poems at the worst parts of her life”) , much like Blanche. However, for this female persona she claims, “Dying/ Is an art, like everything else./ I do it exceptionally well./ I do it so it feels like hell./ I do it so it feels real.”. Suicide is a reaction to her trauma and mental illness (in the same way Plath’s own suicide attempts manifested in her mental deterioration) and death becomes an assertion of wholeness and control over her own life in the 1950s patriarchal society that she felt had ultimate control over her as a consumable commodity; the persona is finding salvation in self-obliteration. The anaphora in “I do it so it feels like hell./ I do it so it feels real” creates a measured and moderated tone, mimicking the act of control in response to her personal trauma. As well as dramatising her suicide, the persona has spectators to her death (“The peanut-crunching crowd”) which intertwines black humour and is a direct biblical reference to Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus that was witnessed by the Jews. This not only exposes her eventual downfall but also her mental illness and personal trauma which deeply juxtaposes Blanche’s act of illusion to mask her own instability. Critic (3) Kathleen Margaret Lant agrees that the female persona is offering “herself to ‘the peanut crunching crowd’ in a gesture that is theatrical”, elucidating the idea that death is an act of assertion in response to trauma and mental illness which contrasts Blanche’s attempt to conceal her own personal struggle.