Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire is considered by many critics to be what is called a flawed masterpiece. This is because William's work utilizes and wonderfully blends both tragic and comic elements that serve to shroud the true nature of the hero and heroine thereby not allowing the reader to judge them on solid actuality. Hence, Williams has been compared to writers such as Shakespeare who in literature have created a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty in finding a sole "view or aspect " in their works. Because of the highly tragic elements encountered in Streetcar, many immediately label it tragedy. Nevertheless, the immense comical circumstances encountered in the play contradict the sole role of tragedy and leaves the reader pondering the true nature of the work, that being whether it is a tragedy with accidental comic incidences or a comedy with weak melodramatic occurrences. It has been said that the "double mask of tragicomedy reveals the polarity of the human condition." The contrariety of forces in the work serves to enforce a sense of both reality and drama that are present in everyday human life. The comic elements in the play serve as a form of determined self-preservation just as the tragic elements add to the notion of self-destruction. This is the true nature of a tragicomedy. By juxtaposing two irreconcilable positions, ambiguity is produced in the judgement of the main characters, most notably Stanley Kowalski and Blanche Dubois.
             Ambivalence in the play is largely caused by the relationship between Stanley and Blanche. They concurrently produce both appalling and appealing tendencies. Both characters display elements of the profane and sacred yet on two distinct levels. This is what creates the double entendre. In the social sense, Blanche can be considered the heroine of the play. In a desperate last attempt to preserve her aristocratic values, she must comba...