Tennessee William's, A Streetcar Named Desire, introduces us to Blanche Dubois, a former high school English teacher and owner of the family home, Belle Reve. Blanche is an agent of her destruction, causing her continued misfortune and leading to her emotional collapse and incarceration in a mental institution. This manifests itself through his numerous lies, alcoholism, desire to look young, and sexual tendencies. Blanche's destruction begins during her career as a high school English teacher. She is an elderly woman who lost her family's property and her husband to suicide. At this point in her life she is considered a fallen woman in society. She has nothing left and has little chance of remarrying due to her age. To fill this gap in her love life and desire to be young, Blanche has an affair with a 17-year-old student who gets her fired. However, this is not the only time Blanche tries to preserve her youth. He constantly bathes to "calm" his nerves and says that "a woman's charm is a fifty percent illusion" (Williams 41) referring to her clothing and appearance. Without these things Blanche's life is not worth living. Excessive bathing is a way for Blanche to cleanse herself of her problems, including her drinking and her promiscuity. Truly with nothing, Blanche goes to the Champs Elysees to visit her sister. However, Blanche's surprise visit is not taken well by her brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski, who suspects that Blanche is not telling the truth about her visit. First of all, Blanche lies about her alcoholism, Stanley asks her if she wants a drink and Blanche replies, BLANCHE: "no, I rarely touch him." (2.7) However, Stanley responds, STANLEY: "some people rarely touch it, but I... half the paper... is my limit" (1.111). when offered another drink. In reality Blanche doesn't drink a drink but a bottle, when no one is looking. Her "bad luck" continues when she thinks she's found a new man to take care of her and Stanley puts a stop to it, to protect his friend from Blanche's hunger for happiness. At the end of the game, when Blanche is kidnapped from an asylum, we can assume that her condition is permanent. He suffered from addiction to alcohol, desire and lies. She needed alcohol for self-confidence, which led her to lie to male suitors to make her more desirable, thus closing the gap of dependence on men for compliments and general happiness. Furthermore, without the constant compliments and interests of male suitors, she would no longer be able to function in life, which allowed her to self-destruct..