Harold Mitchell or Mitch is one of the major characters in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennesse Williams. He is one of Stanley's friends and is one of the romantic interests of Blanche throughout the story. His environment, the way he dressed (blue denim work clothes), and social scope suggest that he is a working-class man. He is rather different from Stanley and friends because is well-mannered and portrays the personality traits of a gentleman, even Blanche states him as “That one seems-superior to the others”. Although he is indeed a gentleman, there are also several things that unfold under that well-mannered and gentlemanly behavior. Mitch is actually desperate to search for an escape from his sorrow and burden.

Throughout the play Mitch's character was described through direct characterization from what he said about himself. Mitch is burdened. According to George-Claude Guilbert (2004) His boyish fragility, or his whole character is an antithesis to Stanley’s brutish strength and masculinity. He is a well-mannered sensitive gentleman, and he is the way he is because he is dealing with constant burden and grief: his dying mother. Why a burden? Because it strangles him in a form of uncertainty and expectations, both internally and externally. Internally, he is fighting for the emotional turmoil of the chance of losing his mother at any time possible; it was just about counting the days. Externally, he is pressured with the expectations of his mother, people around him, and even himself.

Mitch has to bear the expectations that are due and the weights are hurting his shoulder. First, in scene 6 he stated that he is in a hurry to get to know Blanche because he is chased by the ticking time of, once again, his dying mother ; “She wants me to be settled down before she- [His voice is hoarse and he clears his throat twice, shuffling nervously around with his hands in and out of his pockets.]”. Through this dialog, it is shown that he is haunted by the thoughts of losing his mother, so he wanted to make her happy before she is gone. This has become his deep-rooted sorrow.

Like pouring salt on top of a fresh wound, Blanche, after everything that has happened to her in the past, is putting the expectation of Mitch as her beacon of hope, expectation of him becoming a good man that will be able to provide for her, to be the savior of Blanche’s messed up life. Nancy C Page (1997) agrees with the idea that Williams suggests that to some extent, Mitch is kind of a replacement of Allan Grey, Blanche’s former husband. This is because Mitch shares his “softness and tenderness which wasn’t like a man’s” not in the sense that he is feminine, but it is there. Blanche is trapped in Stanley’s house, and he sees Mitch as a sanctuary and an escape as she states when Stella asked her if she wanted Mitch. 

Another thing that may seem as nothing but is actually contributing a lot to burden him with expectations are how his friends see him taking care of his dying mother as a weakness or even mockery. Stanley blatantly said and mocked Mitch for always having to leave early to take care of his mother, and his friends agreed with him. Mitch is already shy and insecure about himself. He is easily embarrassed and self-conscious, and a mockery like that is adding the weights of his burden.

When trapped in a painful and crushing situation, it is only natural for someone to search for a way out, and Mitch’s form of escapism is not exactly the best way, but he had no choice. It is clear that he is fighting with the ticking time of him getting old, with his dying mother, and is not settled yet. The real issues here are not those, but the social biases and pressures. Drinking and gambling is one of his forms of escapism, but when he met Blanche, he saw the opportunities to finally get out from the pressures of life. He expected and hoped that Blanche would be his key to settle in and finally make her mother happy, that is why he got so mad when he found out about Blanche’s past lives and actions. He felt betrayed and even showed brutality because of how hurt he was from Blanche’s deception.

He is sympathetic and understanding of Blanche’s tragic life, he even seems to have deep regret and sorrow when he sobbed at the harsh treatment that Blanche had to endure. However, again, because of social biases and pressures, Mitch cannot be with her anymore after finding out about Blanche’s past life because she is “dirty”. He even attempted to rape Blanche out of anger because he felt like he deserved it, though he stopped and did not do anything after Blanche cried. He lost what he thought was the answer to his search for escape, a way to fulfill his dying mother’s wishes before she was gone, a way to finally fulfill the societal expectations of him getting married and settling in. All is gone, all is lost.  

In conclusion, behind Mitch’s well-mannered sensitive gentlemanly attitude, there is more than meets the eye, he is burdened by the expectations of his mother, Blanche, people, and himself. Because of that, he is in desperation for escapism and fails miserably. What he thought was his way out ended up putting him in an even more strangling situation.

References

Guilbert, Georges-Claude. “Queering And Dequeering The Text Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire.” Cercles, 10 (2004), pp. 85-116, accessed on the 01.12.2017 http://www.cercles.com/n10/guilbert.pdf

Page, Nancy C. “A Self-Psychology Analysis of Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire.” The Arts in Psychotherapy, Vol.23, No.5, 1997, pp.417-422. Elsevier Science Ltd