Blanche Dubois In A Streetcar Named Desire

One’s mental stability is evident through his or her actions and words. One’s habits can show what they care about. The smallest details about the person can suggest a lot about who they are and where they come from. In Tennessee Williams’ play, “ A Streetcar Named Desire,” Blanche is characterized as a delusional character that fails to accept the truth through the repetition of symbols. Through Blanche’s association to white in the first scene of the play, we begin to see how she believes that she is above everyone else. We can assume that she is not able to accept that she is unable to accept the past. Even after losing Belle Reve and all of her fortunes, Blanche does not act like she is short of money. She seems to realize that she is

One of the first things that Blanche does at Stella and Stanley’s house is cover the light bulb with a paper lantern, which suggests that she is covering up something that she does not want to make apparent. Although the lantern does the job of blocking out the light, the fragileness of the paper suggests that Blanche’s false world of security can be easily ripped and destroyed, exposing the light or the truth underneath. In scene eleven, Stanley “seizes the paper lantern, tearing it off the light bulb, and extends it toward her. She cries out as if the lantern was herself” (140). Through the symbolism of the lantern, Stanley has ripped away the lies that Blanche has told herself and the people around her, exposing her to the reality of the situation. The lantern is suggestive of the false world that Blanche has constructed for

In the opening scene, one of the very first things she does when she is in Stella and Stanley’s house is open a bottle of whiskey (18). The bottle shows that Blanche relies on things outside of herself to make her forget or numb the pain of things the she does not wish to feel. In fact, Blanche even uses the alcohol to calm her nerves. Furthermore, Blanche tries to cover up her addiction to alcohol. Having had multiple drinks that day, Blanche tries to lie that she has had far fewer than she actually has. In scene three, Blanche tells Mitch about how “[She is] not accustomed to having more than one drink. Two is the limit - and three! Tonight I had three” (54). By lying about her alcohol consumption, Blanche is making it even more evident that she is hiding her past. She refuses to let this small imperfection show when she probably has many larger issues that she is also trying to hide. By making her rely on alcohol, Tennessee Williams has created a character that shows that she is not in the right state of mind. She is trying to forget and shy away from a truth that she does not wish to see. By dowsing her senses in alcohol, she might be able to find this false sense of security from her past