In A Streetcar Named Desire we have the central conflict between Blanche and Stanley but to have them crossover we have to have a commonality between the two, which gives us Stella. Stella is Stanley’s wife and Blanche’s sister. When Blanche arrives in Stella’s New Orleans apartment off of The Streetcar Named Desire we see that Blanche lost the Belle Reve and now has nowhere to go and needs a roof over her head so she puts herself unknowingly on Stella. We do see however that in a way Blanche blames Stella for the loss of Belle Reve because, in Blanche’s eyes, Stella abandoned her for this awful life in New Orleans. Stella seems to be on her tip-toes when it comes to Blanche, especially when it comes to asking questions, I think this may be because Stella knows about Blanche’s delusional past and mental issues. We also see through Stella that she has a sense of peace in the conflict because she understands both sides, the sophisticated side and the blue-collar side, which seemingly dulls the conflict for at least a little bit. We that Stella is the reasoning in a way for this conflict also because Blanche is trying her damndest to get Stella away from Stanley in any way possible, but mainly by belittling him, then it turns into trying physically to get Stella away after Stanley hits her drunk at a poker game. Stella is seen as the pawn in the chess game between the two which is why in my opinion she went into labor after the fight over the bus ticket at the birthday party.
Stella herself is a strong character even though she never seems to have a definitive plan of action. She seems to be able to handle both Stanley and Blanche well, especially in Blanche’s hectic moments with her clear sense of being able to handle her delusional moments. She never agrees with either one of the badgering from either her sister or her husband and only breaks down fully when Blanche gets escorted to the psychiatric ward. Like we said in class I wouldn’t think of Stella as the main protagonist but I did root for her to get out of her marriage with Stanley and live and happy life with her baby.