" I couldn't go on believing her story and live with Stanley"

In “A Streetcar Named Desire” the quote “I couldn’t go on believing her story and live with Stanley” shows how Stella moves from reality to fantasy. She chooses to not trust and believe Blanche is telling the truth just so she can stay with Stanley after having her baby. She probably knows Blanche isn’t lying but she can’t leave Stanley. She wouldn’t be able to leave him with their child and live on her own. Stella chooses leaving reality and caring for Blanche to go to fantasy and keep living with Stanley.

Stella’s actions are from the psychological defense mechanism of denial. When a person doesn’t want to accept the truth of a problem they will flat out deny it and not believe it. Stella can’t come to terms that her husband raped her sister while she was in the hospital about to have their baby so she bluntly chooses not to believe Blanche. Stella knows if she believed the story she would leave Stanley and not have anywhere to go and on top of it have to take care of a baby. Stella in denial allows her to go on with her life with Stanley.