Blanche Dubois In A Streetcar Named Desire

In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois desires to be viewed as a pure and innocent girl despite her sex and scandal filled past. In Scene 5, Blanche attempts to explain the way someone needs to look if they want to come off as innocent and appealing: “When people are soft---soft people have got to shimmer and glow---they’ve got to put on soft colors, the colors of butterfly wings, and put a---paper lantern over the light. . . . It isn’t enough to be soft. You’ve got to be soft and attractive” (79). By wearing soft, not harsh on the eye colors, particularly white, Blanche is trying to show that she is still young and virtuous. Blanche is playing the part of a wholesome and angelic woman in order to appeal to the men

Similarly, Blanche Dubois has some of the same characteristics as Willy Lowman. She lies about the reason for her coming to visit her sister. Blanche said," I was so exhausted by all I'd been through my-nerves broke. [ nervously tampering cigarette] I was on the verge of-lunacy, almost! So Mr. Graves-Mr. Graves is the high school superintendent- he suggested I take a leave of absence. I couldn't put all those details into the wire . . . [She drinks quickly.] Oh, this buzzes right through me and feels so good!" (Tennessee Williams, page 1120). Later on the story, we discover that Blanche had a sexual altercation with a student and that was her cause for leaving town. Also, Blanche likes to keep up with her self-appearance. Therefore, she flaunts

I would like to analyze a tragic heroine Blanche DuBois appearing in a play A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) written by Tennessee Williams. My intention is to concentrate on the most significant features of her nature and behaviour and also on various external aspects influencing her life and resulting in her nervous breakdown. I would like to discuss many themes related to this character, such as loss, desire and longing for happiness, beauty and youth, pretension, lies and imagination, dependence on men and alcoholism.

Blanche arrives in Elysian Fields in New Orleans in Stella and Stanley’s home daintily dressed in a white suit and white gloves and hat. It’s a poor and run down area where she looks totally out of place. She doesn’t like where Stella is living. She tells her, “I thought you would never come back to this horrible place…Why, that you had to live in these conditions “(Williams, 19, 20). She tries to portray herself as superior and after already having a drink and ready for second drink, she says, “Now don't get worried, your sister hasn't turned into a drunkard, she's just all shaken up and hot and tired and dirty….. No, one's my limit.”(Williams, 19, 21). She tries to hide that she’s been fired from her job, instead she tells she left on her

In spite of the fact that desire means to have a strong connection towards something and or someone and are willing to fight for it , Blanche was fighting for her desires in all the wrong ways. She was getting around with men to get that sense of idolization. Notwithstanding the somber reality that this is not a big deal nowadays; however, this was a momentous thing back then. Blanche was willing to lose everything to get her desires. A huge example is when she slept with one of her underaged students and was asked to leave the town. This just gives you an idea of how desperate this beautiful and not mention intelligent women was. It’s grueling to understand that she couldn’t find happiness after her last husband. Movies nowadays portray the beautiful women to get the man or to find a man automatically; however ,his wasn't the case for Blanche. One would make an inference as the movie was starting that Stanley would go after Blanche. Seeing how desperate and vulnerable Blanche was , she probably wouldn't repudiate over this idea; however, this was not the case for Stanley. Stanley's desire , surprisingly, was more than just a beautiful face. His desire was dominance which

The name “Blanche” comes from a German word meaning white which is a color that represents purity and innocence. But the color white is also one that can easily stain. Blanche wishes to hold onto her essential goodness as well as her Old Southern roots. She grew up in an upper class family on a large plantation called Belle Reve. The plantation symbolizes the tradition of the Old South and when the DuBois family loses it, Blanche must watch her source of home and security slip from her fingertips. This loss represents an ever changing society which Blanche fears, causing her to hold onto the one thing she can attempt to maintain: her physical appearance. She wears flashy clothes and expensive perfume as a facade to hide the fact that she is

From this point forward, Blanche has lost touch of reality, and Stella has no choice but to send her to a mental institution. Blanche is a tragic character who can be seen as both the villain and the hero of Tennessee Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” through her misunderstood ways, more specifically, her reluctance to modern city-life, promiscuity, and relationship with Stella and

In the beginning he is thought of being a down-to-earth character, but in the end he is proven as disturbing and immoral. Blanche’s idea of herself being better than Stanley is what triggers his animosity towards her. He is filled with class resentment. In reaction to this, he investigates her life to prove that she isn’t who she says she is. He finds a man from their hometown that has known Blanche, which he tells Stanley about her interaction with her student and that is her reason for losing her job.

In A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, Blanche Dubois’ destruction and eccentric behavior can be justified through a psychoanalytic lens, arguing that her unhealthy interactions with others and her eventual departure from reality can be attributed to societal factors that affects her upbringing and molds her personality. Psychoanalytically, it is her lack of self-realization as well as failure to balance her psyche to achieve her desires that causes mental chaos. Altogether, Blanche’s effort to repress her memories from the past causes her to lead a chaotic and confused life before experiencing her psychological departure. When analyzing how Blanche’s delusional behavior can be justified, it is important to consider the environment

Many people would say that Blanche is innocent and pure; however, through her lies and difficult experiences, it is proven that the way Blanche portrays herself is pure act. The play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams portrays Blanches dramatic shift in beliefs, which through her encounters, figuratively and literally destroys her. Blanche, originally, grew up as an innocent and honest young girl, but her hardships and tough journey from innocence to insanity encouraged this to change her and cause her to become crazed. Blanches own actions are what lead her to her tragic downfall by the end of the story, but many may consider Blanche a “victim”. From the beginning of the play, Blanche considers herself to be innocent, but through many conflicts she begins to suffer and regress mentally and physically. Experiences such as loss, desire, and violence all lead Blanche to insanity, which ultimately annihilates her.

In the play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Blanche’s reaction to stay away from the light is obvious. When she walks into a room and sees a naked light bulb, she overs the light by saying, “I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action.” Blanche, is in a dating relationship with a gentleman named Mitch. When Mitch and Blanche go on dates, Blanche insist that they go anywhere that does not have well-lit locations, and anywhere she can stay hidden from the light. But why would a lady like Blanche want to stay hidden? Blanche has a past that will haunt her forever. From sleeping with many men, to being done wrong in many relationships, to being forced to move from New Orleans, it seems like she is trying

One of the main themes in A Streetcar Named Desire is madness. Blanche is used to depict madness throughout the play. Her madness stems from one specific event: the suicide of her late husband, Allan. She feels as though she was the one who pushed him to kill himself. While telling the story of Allan to Mitch, she says, “It was because of－on the dance-floor－unable to stop myself－I’d suddenly said－‘I saw! I know! You disgust me…’”(96). The tremendous guilt that she feels contributes to her downfall. Throughout the play there is polka music playing in the background showing her unstability and that she can’t escape her guilt. When Mitch comes over and she starts hearing the music again, she says, “The ‘Varsouviana’! The polka tune they were

She hides everything from everyone so she is responsible for her own tragedy. Blanche hides many things from Stella for example, she said that she took a leave of absence from school, but in real she gets kicked out of school for abusing a young boy. “Mr. Graves is the high school superintendent, he suggested I take a leave of absence. I couldn't put all those into the wire” (14). If she tells the truth of what was happening in her life to Stella it might bring some changes in her life, but by hiding everything she builds more lies and ruined her life. She also hides everything from Mitch. "Yes Stella is my precious little sister. I call her little spite of the fact she's somewhat older than I. Just slightly less than a year"(66). After Mitch

Many people would say that Blanche is innocent and pure. However her lies and difficult life experiences, it is proven that the way Blanche portrays herself is a pure show for the others. The play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams portrays Blanche’s dramatic shift in beliefs, which through her encounters literally destroys her. Blanche originally grew up as an innocent young girl, but life was just simply a tough journey encouraged this to change her and cause her to become insane. Blanche’s own actions is what lead her to her tragic downfall by the end of the story, but many may consider Blanche a “victim”. Blanche’s dramatic shift in beliefs, which through her encounters, figuratively and literally destroys her. From the beginning, Blanche considers herself to be innocent, but through many conflicts she begins to suffer and regress mentally and physically.