~Bohemian Rhapsody~ with Emily

Marital Abuse and Rape

In "A Streetcar Named Desire" I observed glitches in the marriage between Stella and Stanley, which eventually led to the rape of Stella's sister Blanche by her husband Stanley. I decided to blog on abusive relationships and the growing numbers that come along with them. For some reason when I think of abuse, I register physical abuse right along with mental abuse. In this play, however I really only noticed physical abuse from Stanley. The abuse is not obvious at first. In fact, at the beginning of the play the marriage between Stanley and Stella seems almost blissful despite their less than luxurious living arrangements. The relationship is clearly very sexual and that connects the couple very strongly. But shortly after Blanche arrives, the violence becomes prevalent. Stanley, after drinking most of the evening, slaps Stella in the face because she was trying to get his poker friends to leave their two-bedroom apartment late at night.
After reading this section I thought to myself about not only abuse in marriages but rape and how it is addressed. Statistics on rape are enough to astound almost anyone. I do not mean to generalize and say that all people will be shocked by the statistics on this webpage but I thought it was fair enough to state that they are astoundingly high. Attesting to the growing number, these statistics were reported by the FBI, National Victim Center and Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, Crime and Crime Prevention Statistics along with an article for The Nursing Journal over 10 years ago so these numbers would presumably be inflated to an even higher level.
Violence in relationships is a growing problem along with drugs and obesity. This play helps to demonstrate that marital violence is not a new issue but it is growing in magnitude since the 1940's.

I've decided to edit this entry to disagree slightly with one of my peers opinions on this topic. Rebecca Villano's thoughts were of the nature that the abuse that Stella endured was a result of her own fault and his dislike of Blanche was also Stella's fault for not telling him she was coming sooner. In fact, I'm not even sure that Stella knew Blanche was coming, I didnt' think she was coming. I am of the mind that no matter what Stella did or didn't say or to do Stanley, nothing makes it her fault enough to abuse her the way Stanley did.