Introduction Blanche DuBois in “A Streetcar Named Desire” is a fine example of the people trying to seek perfection in their lives, but finally ending up in unbearable trials and death. These people live in their own fantasy, failing to come to terms with reality. Unable to know the difference between appearance and reality, they drift slowly into difficult situations in life, finally ending up in tragedy. However, they are also the representatives of several such victims of the modern capitalistic society, victims of the so-called American dreams. They are the modern tragic heroes. Their villain is always money. Their tragic flaw is their inability to see the modern reality, to study the hard realities of modern society. As DuBois is a female character, her tragedy is also to be seen as a result of her helplessness to transform her desires in a male-dominated world. She is a victim of male cruelty too. In this respect, she is like some of the female characters in Shakespeare. A critical examination of the character of Blanche DuBois as a Shakespearean character is the focus of this paper. Main body Before analyzing DuBois as a fallen female character, a look at some of the women in Shakespeare will make the task easy. A modern evaluation of Shakespearean women by feminist critics has revealed some startling facts about these characters. It is found that they were not mere angels in their house as their men wanted them to be, simply carrying out their domestic duties assigned to them. There are cases where women suffered because they could not fit themselves into the pattern set by the Patriarchal system. A fine example is that of Ophelia. She did not suffer because of her fault. Gertrude violated the patriarchal norms and married again for which her son Hamlet takes her to the task. Inconstancy is the serious charge against her. In his moral judgment of his mother, Hamlet takes an extreme view. He declares the entire woman race as dishonest: “Frailty thy name is woman!” With his rigid male yardsticks, he measures the constancy of Ophelia and tortures her. The nunnery scene is seen as a famous example of that. A parallel situation develops in Street Car Named Desire. Blanche DuBois is found to be immoral. Her past is questioned by Stanley and later on by Mitch. The whole play is anchored on her past, an immoral past. She is on trial for her past life. Like Gertrude, she is interrogated by men. It is true that her past is not to the liking of men, but that does not give freedom and power Stanley to punish her. He takes the place of Hamlet in the play. Unlike the noble Hamlet, he rapes DuBois. He is solely responsible for making her insane, as Hamlet makes the innocent Ophelia mad with his verbal torture. The real fault of DuBois is her desire. That should be taken as her personal matter. The men are free to accept or reject her, but to bully her is a crime. One cannot forget the difference between the days of Shakespeare and that of Tennessee Williams. The parameters with which a woman was judged during the Elizabethan days did not exist during the time of Williams. Yet, several parallel characteristics can be found in the female characters of these two writer