A Streetcar Named Desire: Dramatic Irony 2 key examples

Stella's confession to Blanche about her relationship with Stanley reveals her own knowledge of the open secret in her marriage: it’s based on physical compatibility and nothing else. The dramatic irony in Stella's statement lies in her juxtaposition of "darkness" with her physical interactions with Stanley. For Stella, the physical and sexual aspects of her relationship with Stanley, which occur "in the dark," justify and overshadow his violent behavior. The audience, though, can see that Stella and Stanley's marriage is the opposite of how Stella describes it: the violence that happens "in the dark" is what overshadows "everything else" about their relationship, rather than everything else overshadowing the violence. In this sense, they understand the misguidedness of Stella's words in a way that she herself does not.

Deepening this irony is the fact that when these two characters revert to the primal state of sex, they refer to it as “getting the colored lights going.” In this sense, Stella and Stanley are never really “in the dark” when they’re alone together. When they’re forced to communicate with words is the only time they struggle, and in this way, they're in the shadows when they talk and in the light when they can touch. Because of this, and because she's not a particularly deep or thoughtful woman, the way Stella enjoys sex with her husband makes other concerns seem trivial.

This contrasts sharply with Blanche's association of darkness with comforting deception. Blanche is all interior thoughts, and she  views darkness as a means to hide the truth. When Stella refers to “darkness” here, however, she’s not really talking about an absence of light. She means privacy, which is where her marriage functions best. By asserting that the physical connection she shares with Stanley makes everything else unimportant, she is, in a way, convincing herself that his violence is worth the pain. The dramatic irony of this self-deception is evident to the audience and to Blanche, but Stella can’t see it.

The dramatic irony here stems from the reality of Blanche’s situation. While Blanche claims to have always relied on the “kindness of strangers,” it is precisely this delusional reliance that has led to her downfall. Blanche struggles to do anything alone. Therefore, her dependence on others for emotional and financial support has left her exposed to manipulation and betrayal. She certainly got this from “strangers,” but she was betrayed most notably by her brother-in-law, whose cruelty and sexual assault directly result in her being sent away.

Blanche's statement is also ironic because the “strangers” she now depends on—the doctor and the hospital staff—are not rescuing her but institutionalizing her. As Blanche loses her grip on reality, Stanley uses his position as head of their household to seal her fate. In the end, he makes the decision for her about where the “dark march” of her path to the future will lead. It’s a decision facilitated by Stanley’s unkindness and Blanche's own misguided choices, but one that also partially stems from her deliberate, stubborn refusal to accept change.