“Insanity” is defined as “unsoundness of the mind as consequence of brain disease; madness,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary. This is a very technical definition, however, and is not inclusive of its cultural and societal implications. The word itself carries a negative connotation and has evolved into quite a derogatory term that is not even used within proper medical context. Those who have “lost their sanity” are considered to be psychologically and/or socially deviant even in the slightest sense. The extent to which the definition imposed by society is accurate is up for debate, depending on one’s social and cultural background. The ancient Aztecs, for example, considered human sacrifices to be quite normal and even necessary in everyday life. Some would label this sacrificial ritual as morbidly insane, but to those who abided by these principles, it did not stray from the ordinary.
Blanche, from A Streetcar Named Desire, is in no way insane; she was merely a victim of unfortunate circumstances. The man she was madly in love with was having secret sexual encounters with “an older man who had been his friends for years.” That alone is a traumatic enough event to damage even the most enduring people, but then he “stuck [a] revolver into his mouth and fired,” destroying Blanche’s idealized image of love and causing her to go down a spiraling path of promiscuity. All the men she slept with were used to fill the deep, dark void in her heart caused by her husband--Blanche used sex as a tool to regain her womanhood. Her troubling past tainted her perception of love, causing her to have to forever live with the fear of inadequacy and loneliness, accompanied by crippling rejection. Finding out that her husband was homosexual degraded her self-worth so, subsequently, she turned to licentiousness as a method of redeeming her sexuality. This may be considered morally wrong to many, but Blanche had a legitimate reason for acting the way she did. In her attempts to redeem her sexuality, Blanche lost more than she had gained; her experience of rape (by Stanley) scarred her and caused her to lose her sense of self.
Blanche’s imaginary boyfriend was created as a coping mechanism, allowing her to conceal her internal loneliness. This man embodied everything she hoped for in a significant other, and since he was merely a figment of her imagination, he could not abandon her. Again, her actions are justified given the context of the situation. Blanche could not bear to face Stella and Stanley with the truth because she knew she would be judged beyond measure (even though Stanley ended up judging her anyway). She wanted to make it seem as if everything in her life was fine, partially because she did not want Stella to worry for her well-being. In a sense, Blanche was only lying to protect her little sister from the dangers of reality. Stella placed her older sister on a high pedestal, and Blanche did not want to destroy this idealized perception of her.
Your example of an "insane" in the future but sane given context is really interesting and unique. Bringing up the Aztecs' willingness to sacrifice is a sad but very real nature of people that once believed it was normal behavior whereas now we know giving up someone's life is not the way to go. I did feel that perhaps you could close the entire blog with a concluding sentence but over all well done.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Blanche's making up the imaginary boyfriend is because she wants to protect herself from other's judgement. However, her imaginary boyfriend doesn't stop others from digging what happened on Blanche, which is not very honorable. In the later part of the story, the pressure from people digging her background pushes her to emphasize her imaginary boyfriend to distract people. However, it doesn't work well with Blanche's effort, and surprisingly, the repetition of that imaginary boyfriend makes herself want to believe the story. Thus, she is insanely believing in that imaginary boyfriend at the end of story.
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