Jackline Raggi
Phillip Webster
IB English Lang. & Lit. SL
January 24, 2014
Rationale:
After reading the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, I decided to write a
psychological evaluation on the main character, Blanche DuBois, because she was taken
to the mental institution due to repeatedly stating that her brother in-law, Stanley
Kowalski raped her. A psychological evaluation can be used to explain most of Blanche’s
behavior or thoughts in the play (e.g. The Varsouviana Polka). The reason I chose
Blanche DuBois is because she was the one being taken away by the doctor at the end of
the play, and by deeply diagnosing Blanche DuBois, I can learn more about the character.
The written task will be focused on the scene after Blanche DuBois got taken to the
mental institution.
Since this is a psychological evaluation, the speaker will be the psychiatrist that
examined her and Blanche DuBois’ family along with other psychiatrists will be the
intended audience. Some stylistic features I will include are psychiatric jargon (e.g.
Palinacousis, Eosophobia, Gerascophobia), patient’s information and at the end, the
signatures from both the patient and the psychiatrist. The writing will be formal since it’s
a evaluation/report. Also the font will resemble a typewriter’s font.
My intended purpose is to show in-depth insight of the character and also to find
the reasons that explain Blanche DuBois’ behavior throughout the play. (ex. Nervous
Information was obtained from the patient, Blanche Dubois; and her family
relatives: her sister, Stella Kowalski; her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski; her
friend, Harold Mitchelle.
breakdown, inappropriate affair with a underage boy). The context of this psychological
evaluation is dated a year after the play was published, after she got taken to the mental
institution by doctors from Elysian Fields.
Rationale Word Count: 253
Written Task Word Count: 864
Work Cited:
I. "How to Write a Mental Health Assessment." WikiHow. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
<http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Mental-Health-Assessment>.
II. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: New American Library,
1990. Print.
Information was obtained from the patient, Blanche Dubois; and her family
relatives: her sister, Stella Kowalski; her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski; her
friend, Harold Mitchelle.
Case Number: 0058192
MENTAL INSTITUTION OF NEW ORLEANS
NAME: Blanche DuBois
SEX: Female
BIRTHDATE: 1918/09/15
AGE: 29
PROFESSION: Unemployed
PHONE NUMBER: (504) 636-2014
ADDRESS: Elysian Fields Avenue, New Orleans, LA, United
States
DATE OF EVALUATION: 1948/11/16
SYPTOMS: Palinacousis, Hallucinations, Eosophobia,
Gerascophobia, Mythomania, Histrionic Personality Disorder
(HPD), Anxiety, Easily Scared, Drinking Problems.
MENTAL HEALTH ANALYSIS:
Palinacousis: continuing to hear sounds inside the head
even after the actual noise has disappeared.
Blanche DuBois repeatedly said that she has been hearing
“The Varsouviana Polka” tunes inside of her head and the
tune always ended with a gunshot. The tune plays inside of
her head when she thinks of Allan Grey, her former husband.
Due to Allan Grey’s incident, where he shot himself with a
gun in his mouth, “The Varsouviana Polka” tune has been
occurring in her mind since then.
According to Harold Mitchelle, a man that was going to
marry her, Blanche DuBois talked about “The Varsouviana
Polka” tune with him. He quoted her “The “Varsouviana” The
polka tune they were playing when Allan – Wait! There now,
the shot! It always stops after that…. Yes, now it’s
stopped.” (September 18th 1947)
Hearing sounds inside the head repeatedly demands proper
treatment otherwise might damage the brain tissues.
Hallucinations: “a perception in the absence of apparent
stimulus that has qualities of real perception.”
(Definition from Dictionary) The most known form of
hallucination is disturbance; hearing faint noises or
Information was obtained from the patient, Blanche Dubois; and her family
relatives: her sister, Stella Kowalski; her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski; her
friend, Harold Mitchelle.
voices. Having Palinacousis can also lead to
hallucinations.
Hallucinations of the shooting scene of her former husband,
Allan Grey, could be the cause of her behavior later on. It
can also have consequences such as guilt, alcoholism.
Eosophobia: fear of daylight.
According to Harold Mitchelle, Blanche DuBois has never
revealed herself in the light to him. She has often kept
herself in the dark in the mental room. Harold Mitchelle
informed psychiatrists that Blanche DuBois finds the dark
“comforting”. But it might also be because she wants to
cover herself up, fear of being exposed under the light.
Gerascophobia: fear of ageing.
Blanche DuBois never wants to be seen in the light might
also be because of Gerascophobia. Being in the light means
showing everything she has clearly which means exposing her
real age. Harold Mitchelle told psychiatrists that Blanche
DuBois lied about her age in the very beginning when they
first met and by staying in the dark allowed her to not
show he real age. Also the excessive facial powder
psychiatrists found on her face has proven that Blanche
DuBois is hiding her real age.
Mythomania (pseudologia fantastica): tendency to tell lies.
Blanche DuBois has presented herself as old-fashioned,
elegant and classy everyone she met, described Stanley
Kowalski, her brother-in-law and Harold Mitchelle. But she
had consistently lied about her alcoholism and the Flamingo
hotel, how she never stayed there. Blanche DuBois has also
lied about the real reason why she “resigned” from the
school she used to teach at. Examples above clearly show
the disorder Mythomania. Mythomania allows the patient to
tell lies to bury the real self deep inside.
Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD): having behaviors
such as excessive emotions and attention-seeking.
MRI Scans and examinations of the brain of Blanche DuBois
have shown that she has HPD, which explains her attention
seeking talk.
As claimed by Stella Kowalski, the way Blanche DuBois talks
implies that she wants to hear compliments about her
appearance. (Relates to Gerascophobia)
Anxiety: “an unpleasant state of inner turmoil accompanied
by nervous breakdown.” (Definition from Dictionary)
Information was obtained from the patient, Blanche Dubois; and her family
relatives: her sister, Stella Kowalski; her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski; her
friend, Harold Mitchelle.
Blanche DuBois appears to have multiple nervous breakdowns
in the institution, just as she did, when she stayed at
Elysian Fields. Stanley Kowalski complained the number of
baths she took in a day claiming that “it calms my nerves”.
Blanche DuBois mistaken normal nerve problems for anxiety.
Easily Scared: Blanche DuBois has shown to be easily
frightened by small things or noises. This could be linked
back to the incident of her husband, which caused Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Alcohol Abuse: “recurring use of alcoholic beverages
despite its negative consequences.” (Definition from
Dictionary)
SUBSTANCE ABUSE HISTORY:
Blanche DuBois has bad drinking problems and is currently
under observation for treatments. She has tried to cover
her problems up in order to not be suspected for being an
alcoholic.
Stanley Kowalski claimed that the first time he saw Blanche
DuBois, his liquor was half missing.
Tests such as hair testing and saliva drug screen has been
conducted to confirm the alcoholism.
No significant drugs have been abused.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY:
 Financial Status: 65 cents
 Employment Status: Unemployed
 Family Background: 1 Sister (Stella Kowalski), Parents
deceased
 Martial Status: Widow
 Sexual Orientation: Male
 Cultural and Religious Background: Unknown
 Criminal History: Inappropriate affair with a teenager
TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS:
It is recommended for the patient to be treated as soon as
possible for Alcohol abuse, Palinacousis and hallucinations
due to the danger it might cause if not treated
immediately.
______________________
(Signature of Patient)
Information was obtained from the patient, Blanche Dubois; and her family
relatives: her sister, Stella Kowalski; her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski; her
friend, Harold Mitchelle.
______________________
(Signature of Psychiatrist)
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Criterion A—Rationale: 1 / 2
Very good, but you left out the most important thing: you need to explain how your
WT connects to an important theme or focus of Part 3 of the Lang & Lit curriculum: the
context of composition or interpretation (see the Written Task rubric for more
information).
Criterion B—Written Task: 6 / 8 (almost a 7)
Understanding of A Streetcar Named Desire: You clearly know a great deal about
Blanche’s mental state as revealed through her actions. You do a great job of identifying
and briefly discussing, using medical jargon, some of the mental neuroses that Blanche
has. You don’t, however, indicate why she is afflicted with these mental disorders. For
example, you state that Blanche has “a fear of aging,” a “tendency to tell lies,” and other
things, but you don’t try to explain where these fears comes from.
Appropriateness of the Content for your Text Type: Doing a psych eval for
Blanche is a very good fit in analyzing Blanche DuBois. But some of the things you say
don’t really relate to the context of the 1948 (e.g. there were no MRIs), so in some ways,
you don’t fully appreciate the context/culture of the 1940’s (which ties into Part 3 of the
Lang & Lit curriculum)
Understanding of the conventions found in your text type: Your Psych Eval looks
and feels like a real psych eval. Great job using the psychiatric jargon in your WT to
make it seem more authentic. The layout, red stamp, and signature all make it look
official.
Some weaknesses are as follows: no MRIs hadn’t been invented at that time; under
“Sexual Orientation” you list “male” rather than “heterosexual”; your treatment
recommendations doesn’t include any treatments. You could have said EST (Electro
Shock Therapy) or even the more serious frontal lobotomy, both of which were used
heavily at that time.
Criterion C—Organization of your WT: 4 / 5
Well organized! You let the psych eval form organize your information, but you
could develop your points more thoroughly (especially the “Treatment
Recommendations” section)
Criterion D—Language, vocabulary, Register, and Tone: 4 / 5
Mostly accurate use of language, but there are still some language limitations, such
as using some a banal word like “bad” in the following statement, “Blanche has bad
drinking problems…”
Information was obtained from the patient, Blanche Dubois; and her family
relatives: her sister, Stella Kowalski; her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski; her
friend, Harold Mitchelle.