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Hedda and Streetcar (Both Blanche and Hedda are atypical female characters…

- - - - Both Hedda and Blanche suffer as a result of their desires.
- - - - They are being forced to leave behind the comfortable lifestyles they were once familiar with.
        
        Hedda and Blanche’s pride leads to failure and self-destruction as it prevents them from adapting to or coming to terms with their new lives.
        
        Blanche cannot cope with reality; she covers light bulbs with lanterns to hide her age and escapes to the bath tub when she feels anxious.
        
        Soaking in the tub is an integral activity in Blanche's life.
        This activity symbolizes Blanche’s strong desire to wash away the ‘dirt’ of her inner self, that desire or lust for young men, prompted by the tragedy of her young husband’s death, that has led her to her current desperate situation. The effect of this symbol is to create pity for this tragic heroine, who is unable to reconcile the past and the present, and who she is, with the part that society demands that she plays.
        
        Hedda is never able to cope with reality and the fact that she cannot control the actions of others. Thus, she commits suicide because she wants "for once in her life to have power to mould a human destiny." She wants to die "beautifully."
- - - - Stanley displays brutal and wild behaviour—from Blanche's perspective: ‘He acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one! There’s something – subhuman – something not quite the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something – ape-like about him, like one of those pictures…’ (Williams 163).
- - - - Unlike Hedda, Blanche never truly considers suicide, however, her drunken considerations hold morbid thoughts.
        
        “How about taking a swim . . . Only you’ve got to be careful to dive where the deep pool is—if you hit a rock you don’t come up till tomorrow.”
        
        This is the pinnacle of her mental instability, and with the inability to challenge the sexuality of the man who violates her, Blanche loses her mental solidity.