Blanche and Stanley

Both Blanche and Stanley both desire similar things in the play. They want stability and power. Blanche desires power over men, using her attractive figure and flirty nature to lure and control them. Stanley desires the same over women. He shows his power when he demands Stella's presence even after striking her and when he rapes Blanche after revealing her lies. Blanche tells her lies because she is driven by the desire for power. She knows that in order to control men the way she does, she has to seem sexy but somewhat innocent. Blanche puts out a constant effort to stay out of the light and hide her age and lies about her past. Stanley shows his desire for power when he reveals all of Blanche's lies and rapes her.

On the other hand they both want a peaceful life. Stanley desires a healthy relationship with Stella. With a newborn baby boy, Stanley desires to be a good father figure. Blanche desires a relationship like the one she once had with Alan. She wants steady relationship with Mitch so bad that she puts her sexual desires aside.

Stanley

Stanley is portrayed purely as a controlling, brutal man in the play. Although when Stanley has common small chat with Blanche when they first meet, he is blunt in his talking and sees right through her lies and desire for attention. He shows that he would much rather be with his wife, Stella instead. He always tries to control Stella, and doesn't believe her word. Even though Stella and Blanche have the same story about what happened to Belle Reve, Stanley doesn't trust either of them and thinks that Blanche took money from Stella. When he finds out about Blanche's past life, he uses it against her. He goes out of his way to buy Blanche a ticket back to Belle Reve, even though she cannot return back to that community. He also tells Mitch about Blanche's past, maliciously trying to ruin her image for other people. Even though Stanley has love for his wife and is popular among the guys, he is a rude person to everyone around him. He is portrayed as a brute and can only be seen that way in the play.