How does Blanche use and represent illusion? How does Stanley use and represent reality? Are the characters really as different as they seem?

Blanche is
full of mystery, spinning lies around her life to make it sound like less of a wreck to others
and also, eventually, to herself. While it's clear at the beginning of the play that Blanche
knows she's lying, it becomes less and less clear if this remains true, especially as she
dresses up in costume jewelry and talks about going on a cruise with a man who doesn't exist.
Blanche's constant drinking is also meant to symbolize her distance from reality.

Stanley believes that he represents reality, but this is also an illusion he has built.
His stereotypical gender performance is a carefully cultivated expression of what he believes
his life needs to be in order to be valid, but the speed at which his comfort comes crashing
down when Blanche arrives throws this idea solidly into question. It seems like Stanley wants
Blanche to leave so that he can return to the soothing idea that his fantasy is real. After he
rapes Blanche, he uses illusion again to convince his wife, Stella, of his innocence.

Arguably, both characters rely heavily on constructed falsehoods to live their lives;
the primary difference is that Blanche is more comfortable with that fact than Stanley
is.