Motifs of the Play
In the play written by Tennessee Williams, "A Streetcar Named Desire", the use of his remarkable writing tactics and motifs are used to develop the main character Blanche throughout the play. As the play progresses, we gradually gain knowledge pertaining to Blanche and the type of individual she actually is in juxtapose to the facade she puts on. With clever usage of motifs such as lighting and flirtation, we can draw countless conclusions about Blanche throughout the play. Using the fore mentioned motifs we can contemplate that Blanche is developed into a deceiving, narcissistic and seductive being because of the use of motifs Williams amalgamated throughout the play.
Tennessee Williams uses motifs to help convey his idea that Blanche is deceiving, narcissistic and seductive. One can note how Blanche repeatedly wears extravagant white dresses or her red robe when she is acting particularly seductive, so that she makes people ponder that she is in fact guiltless and wholesome. Blanche's white dress is blemished which is representative of the fact that Blanche if far from being pure and wholesome even though the dress is a symbol of purity. Her world clings on misapprehension and trickery as can be understood by her emptying her heart out to Stella in scene three, "soft people have got to be seductive make a little temporary magic". She feels as if is it crucial to trick and deceive in order to persist in a world where she is "fading now" and her youthful beauty is departing. Tennessee Williams depicts Blanche as uncertain, self-conscious and hides behind her semblance of superficial beauty. With the use of the motif lighting, we can see how Blanche disappoints to live up to the facade that she po...
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...ar action". Blanche does this because she wants to appeal to Mitch who is a compassionate man. She is also illuminating much to do with her honest self in that she can not deal with the reality as it exposes her for what she in fact actually is which is a coquettish woman.
As the play proceeds, we increasingly gain knowledge of Blanche and the real person she is juxtaposed to the actual being that she would like everyone to think she is. Tennessee Williams did an amazing job incorporating motifs such as lighting and flirtation in the play and without them we would be puzzled and left confused because their would be no inside view of Blanche and her mind. Using the fore mentioned motifs, we can contemplate that Blanche is deceptive, narcissistic and seductive and the use of motifs helped develop Blanche into the character she is.
Blanche wears white to represent herself as an aristocratic Southern Belle; yet, she no longer holds the title of an aristocrat and has lost her opulence as a result of her family’s fornications and deaths. She wears white to conceal and suppress her inner sins and thus contributes to her moth-like appearance. Just as a moth is attracted to light and is so killed by the heat, it represents her defense mechanism of regression that is associated with her first husband’s suicide and her
Throughout Tennessee Williams’s play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Blanche Dubois exemplified several tragic flaws. She suffered from her haunting past; her inability to overcome; her desire to be someone else; and from the cruel, animalistic treatment she received from Stanley. Sadly, her sister Stella also played a role in her downfall. All of these factors ultimately led to Blanche’s tragic breakdown in the end. Blanche could not accept her past and overcome it.
During scene one, the audience is introduced to Blanche as Stella's sister, who is going to stay with her for a while. Blanch tries her best to act normal and hide her emotion from her sister, but breaks down at the end of scene one explaining to Stella how their old home, the Belle Reve, was "lost." It is inferred that the home had to be sold to cover the massive funeral expenses due to the many deaths of members of the Dubois family. As Blanche whines to her sister, "All of those deaths! The parade to the graveyard! Father, mother! Margaret, that dreadful way!" (21). The audience sees this poor aging woman, who has lost so many close to her, and now her home where she grew up. How could anyone look at her, and not feel the pain and suffering that she has to deal with by herself? Williams wants the audience to see what this woman has been through and why she is acting the way she is. Blanche's first love was also taken from her. It seems that everyone she loves is dead except for her sister. Death plays a crucial role in Blanche's depression and other mental irregularities. While these circumstances are probably enough for the audience to feel sympathy for Blanche, Williams takes it a step further when we see Blanche's...
Throughout the play, Blanche avoids appearing in direct, bright light, especially in front of her suitor, Mitch. She also refuses to reveal her age, and it is clear that she avoids light in order to prevent him from seeing the reality of her fading beauty. In general, light also symbolizes the reality of Blanche’s past. She is haunted by the ghosts of what she has lost—her first love, her purpose in life, her dignity, and the genteel society (real or imagined) of her ancestors.In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams uses the light motif in order to show the metaphorically and literally, shady relationship of Blanche and Mitch, as well as show the insecurities Blanche has of her age and fading beauty.
Throughout the classic American play A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams utilizes light and dark to underline the role that deception and disillusionment play in Blanche’s interpersonal relationships. Blanche is a woman in her thirties who retreats to her sister Stella’s home after supposedly losing her own home, much to the disliking of Stella’s husband, Stanley. Stanley seeks to expose Blanche for her promiscuous past. After he reveals Blanche’s affairs with a seventeen-year-old student and a multiplicity of strangers, Blanche becomes increasingly alienated from her family and is eventually sent away to a mental institution. Blanche is a vain individual who displays a strong desire to relive her time as a gorgeous and popular young lady. She refuses to be seen in direct light and by potential suitors unless she is sufficiently dressed and accessorized and has powdered her face. In the 1951 film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Elia Kazan, the use of lighting, shadows, and point-of-view further
In the play A Streetcar Named Desire author Tennessee Williams writes about Blanche DuBois, a woman who is seeking help from her older sister Stella Kowalski. Blanche comes to stay with Stella and her husband Stanley after finding out that Blanche and Stella’s childhood home had been taken from under them. The play goes on to show the dramatic downfall of what is Blanche DuBois. Throughout the play we see her slowly break down till finally she is pushed over the edge. William's uses a great deal of allusion to convey a real meaning to why characters do what they do. It’s not just an example, each allusion has a deeper meaning to the character it’s associated with. Blanche DuBois is the character used associated with allusion. Williams uses allusion with Blanche to present how she masks her true identity to the real world, saying she’s a pure southern belle when really she is truly a lost lonely soul.
Throughout the classic American play A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams utilizes light and dark symbolism in order to highlight the role that deception plays in Blanche’s interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships. Blanche and Mitch share a tumultuous romance. Although Mitch initially believes that Blanche may be the woman who can fill the void in his life where a partner is expected to be, he is blinded by the revelation of Blanche’s blatant lies. These lies are not only fueled by Blanche’s disillusionment and struggle to differentiate between fantasy and reality, but by her intense craving to receive validation from others. Williams extensively employs light and dark symbolism in regards to the colored paper lantern, Blanche
Blanche suffers from a mental illness and as well as having a loss grip on reality near the end of the play as she struggles to believes a wealthy man wants to take her away. Blanche lies repetitively throughout the play and successfully ruses Stella and Mitch into viewing her as a prim and proper lady. She even attempts her desire to deceive Mitch, so he would marry her, which almost works. Blanche has a habit of flirting indiscreetly, especially with younger men and even reveals to Stella that she flirted with Stanley. Blanche endlessly feels the need to bath, possibly because she feels dirty and ashamed of the past and wishes to wash it away. Blanche has a drinking problem as she cannot stay away from alcohol. She despises standing in the
Blanche, although her name in French means ‘white’, is a very dark character. She is seen as one who hides in the shadows, never wanting to be seen in the light. Blanche attempts to hide her true nature, past wrong doings, and her fading beauty from the world. By hiding from the light, she is trying to elude reality, which light clearly represents in this play. It is first known that Blanche does not enjoy the light in scene one: “And turn that over-light off! Turn that off! I won’t be looked at in this merciless glare” (Williams 120).
Now let’s talk about, tone of this screenplay i.e. what’s the zest of the feelings in this screenplay. According to me, what I felt throughout this play is “Sympathy”. I felt sympathetic towards Blanche. All she wants in her life is love and care and she mentions it in one of her dialogues she says, “I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can’t be alone! Because—as you must have noticed—I’m – not very well… [Her voice drops and her look is frightened.]” (Williams, pg.92). Blanche’s rape in the last scene is the most driving point of the play, that particular scene convinces the sympathetic approach of the play. When in the last scene, Blanche is talking to Stella, she seems totally trapped in her delusional self
Blanche may seem prideful, but it is a facade, like the rest of her. In reality, she has a very low self esteem. “Stella: And admire her dress and tell her she’s looking wonderful. That’s important with Blanche. Her little weakness.” (Williams 484). This is why she is so worried about her age and her appearance. She feels that since she is soft she must also be attractive in order to have protection and mean something. “People don’t see you - men don’t - don’t even admit your existence unless they are making love to you. And you’ve got to have your existence admitted by someone if you are going to have someone’s protection. . . . You’ve got to be soft and attractive. And I - I’m fading now!” (Williams 515). Blanche is so afraid of not being attractive enough she has relied on lies and deception to create a fantasy to escape realism. If only she saw her worth and loved herself for who she was, she would not be desiring to be acknowledged by men or to create a fantasy. Lack of self-esteem is the hidden part of Blanche’s tragic
Firstly, the reader may initially feel Blanche is completely responsible or at least somewhat to blame, for what becomes of her. She is very deceitful and behaves in this way throughout the play, particularly to Mitch, saying, ‘Stella is my precious little sister’ and continuously attempting to deceive Stanley, saying she ‘received a telegram from an old admirer of mine’. These are just two examples of Blanches’ trickery and lying ways. In some ways though, the reader will sense that Blanche rather than knowingly being deceitful, actually begins to believe what she says is true, and that she lives in her own dream reality, telling people ‘what ought to be the truth’ probably due to the unforgiving nature of her true life. This will make the reader begin to pity Blanche and consider whether these lies and deceits are just what she uses to comfort and protect herself. Blanche has many romantic delusions which have been plaguing her mind since the death of her husband. Though his death was not entirely her fault, her flirtatious manner is a major contributor to her downfall. She came to New Orleans as she was fired from...
...es and thinks that her hopes will not be destroyed. Thirdly, Blanche thinks that strangers are the ones who will rescue her; instead they want her for sex. Fourthly, Blanche believes that the ones who love her are trying to imprison her and make her work like a maid imprisoned by them. Fifthly, Blanche’s superiority in social status was an obscure in her way of having a good social life. Last but not least, Blanche symbolizes the road she chose in life- desire and fantasy- which led her to her final downfall.
Blanche portrays many emotions on page 12 that reflects onto the audience. As an audience we feel empathy for Blanche because she is portrayed as a ‘fallen woman’ who is very isolated from the world. We can also see that she has a very delicate emotional state and a need for flattery through her dramatic actions. When we become aware of Blanche’s promiscuous past the audiences feelings may go two ways. We may feel sympathy for her because she feels the need to sexually satisfy herself to feel loved, or, we may have little sympathy for her because she is her own worst enemy in the play. For example, Blanche kisses a subscriptions boy before meeting with Mitch whom she wants to settle down with. This behaviour doesn’t show that she is dedicated
Blanche uses her fantasies as a shield; and her desires as her motivation to survive. Her fading beauty being her only asset and chance of finding stability. Stella’s relationship with Stanley also emphasis the theme Williams created in this book. They’re only bond is physical desire and nothing at all intellectual or deep rooted. Tennessee Williams exemplifies that their relationship which only springs from desire doesn’t make it any weaker. He also creates a social dichotomy of the relationship between death and desire.