A Streetcar Named Desire

Blanche Dubois is the central protagonist in the play, arriving almost instantly seeking her sister`s hospitality. Williams juxtaposes Blanche with her new surroundings, `Her appearance is incongruous to this setting.` The mundane area of New Orleans makes her stand out as a social outcast, to reinforce her victim-like status. Stanley belittles Blanche through his questions, `Where you from Blanche?` he interrupts Blanche`s previous sentence and puts her on the spot, the fact that he does not introduce himself puts Blanche in her place; and shows that he controls the conversation, as well as what happens in the house, immediately displaying his dominance. This makes the audience ponder whether or not Blanche was ever even in control of her own fate, or whether it was down to her self-delusions, which are clearly displayed throughout the play not only in what she says but in the form of symbols and motifs, such as Blanche being described as a `moth` which gives the impression that she is drawn to things of deceiving beauty, and just like a moth this deception is her hamartia. Blanche`s obsession with bathing is prominent from the start `Blanche is bathing.` It`s the first of many times that Blanche bathes; it is a way of her coping with the past as she tries to cleanse and purify: this imitates the actions of Lady Macbeth whose obsessive hand washing is symbolic of her need to remove her guilt in the play Macbeth. Blanche also looks for comfort in alcohol, and she drinks excessively, `she springs up and crosses to it, and removes a whiskey bottle` this is almost the first thing she does at the Kowalski home; the use of `springs` makes it seem like a necessity, the delusion here being that she thinks her problems will be washed away. Similarly the mention of perfume during Scene 5 is a metaphor for Blanche`s mind-set, `Twenty-five dollars. remember my birthday.` Perfume is used to cover up bad smells, and Blanche tries to cover up the past; the word `cheap` makes her more tragic, because she has unintentionally called herself this, and `running out` implies that her time is running out and foreshadows eventual events.

Stanley influences Blanche`s actions, as his actions and language become more blunt as the play progresses; consequently leading to a worsening of Blanche`s delusions, `He crosses to the small white radio and snatches it off the table.` Blanche disobeys Stanley, aggravating him so much that he reacts violently. `He tosses the instrument out of the window.` The radio is a metaphor for Blanche, not only because it doesn`t stop talking, but in addition Stanley wants to throw her out! Stanley has many reasons for wanting to throw her out, one such example (although he didn`t hear it) is `maybe he`s what.lost Belle Reve` this shows that under normal circumstances Stanley isn`t good enough for an uptown Stella. Another example is when Blanche calls Stanley a Polak and he snaps with the response of `I am not. me a Polak` this shows that Stanley is embarrassed of his past connections with Poland; he`s only Polish by name. The fact that Blanche is told this puts her in her place, and that being from the South is no longer prestigious.

Stella is used to promote dramatic irony, `Why! I`ve been half crazy, Stella!` it shows that Blanche is unaware of her mental state, which is her hamartia. Stella tells Blanche a story from their wedding night `Why, on our. light-bulbs with it.` This reinforces the importance of light in the story, and juxtaposes the covering of light-bulbs done by Blanche `I bought this. the light bulb!` Light represents reality, and by covering it up, Blanche is hiding the truth, and without removing it will never be able to move on with her life. Light can also portray Stella as being a tragic figure, by `smashing` the light bulbs, there is no way, in which reality can change, like their relationship, which highlights her reliance on Stanley. Blanche constantly refers back to `the boy` and `Shep Huntleigh`. By calling her ex-husband `the boy` shows how Blanche is unwilling to let go of her past, yet by not giving him a name makes him seem like a possession or something that she wants to forget, shown when Blanche alludes to his homosexuality. This is not directly discussed because of the social issues that this would raise during the time. `There now, the. stops after that` the polka music regularly plays when Blanche is talking about her late husband, `the shot` represents the gun shot, and the polka music is what they were dancing to when the incident occurred, because the music ends after the shot, the polka music represents her sanity- now Allen`s dead her sanity is too. Shep Huntleigh is mentioned a lot, however the audience is never introduced to him nor are other characters in the play; as a result of this he is only a pigment of her imagination, questioning whether or not Blanche has just completely made him up, or maybe she met him very briefly and is just hanging onto the positives.

Blanche doesn`t realise her animalistic nature, `He acts like. with the brutes.` This is her rant in scene 4, here Williams has used dramatic irony to amplify her delusions, she is also an animal- she`s a man eater. An `ape` is used to describe him, as is `stone age` this is ironic because of how Blanche is living in the past and is stuck in `the stone age`, this is considered tragic because she could move on, but instead chooses to hold on to her faint memories. The use of stichomythia during the passage creates a tenser scene heightening the drama, also speeding up the pace showing the overflow of emotions given off by Blanche. However it can be said that she is speaking the truth that Stella is too blind to see, that Stanley is `a brute`. Blanche thinks that she is above Stanley, even in Gods eyes, `Maybe we are. some little beginning.` The reason may be that Blanche doesn`t like not being the centre of attention, shown by her constantly fishing for compliments, `You haven`t said. for a liar!` Blanche thrives of this, which is tragic because she uses others to cover up her own flaws. When Stanley confronts Blanche during the denouement, pathos is created, `As a matter. you hear me?` her one word answers show that she is lost for words, making the audience fear for Blanche`s wellbeing- and rightfully so. One word answers are also used to show how she`s scared of what Stanley would do if she elaborated on anything and in some ways is almost lost for words.

It can be argued that Blanche is aware of what she`s doing, when in scene 5 she says `Myself, myself for being such a liar` this is basically a confession that she knows what she is doing is wrong, yet chooses to continue playing the fool; on the other hand it can be argued this is what makes Blanche so tragic, because even though she knows what she`s doing is wrong, she continues with it, with disastrous consequences, therefore showing how she can`t contemplate the consequences of her actions. She tries to find excuses for Stanley`s bad nature in astrological signs, which are based purely on coincidences. `I bet you were born under Aires.` She makes presumptions and if she was right, in that Stanley was Aries, then she would have forgiven him for his nature. However peripeteia is used by Williams; as Stanley is Capricorn and Blanche says `the goat` almost questioning whether he is sure, because it doesn`t match what she thinks about him. Irony is used yet again to dramatic effect `Virgo is the virgin`, this is ironic because she was a prostitute before she came to her sister. Her hubris is her upper class nature, because she feels too above Stanley and Stella to ask for help in the first place, which has a knock on effect to her eventual rape. These old south attitudes play a role when Blanche is first introduced to the Kowalski home `Oh, I`m not. woodland of Weir.` She uses metaphors to build up awkwardness between Blanche and Stella, and Blanche has "lowered" herself to this standard which only worsens the situation.

In conclusion Blanche`s life is a cover up, of what has gone wrong. She is so deluded that she creates people in her imagination, which is tragic because her sister is her only friend, who is willing to help. Blanche brings it onto herself, as she constantly emasculates Stanley; an example of this is when she insults his nationality. The fact that she identifies everyone`s flaws but her own shows that she thinks she is perfect, which is clearly a misassumption, `you`ve put on some weight`. Foreshadowing is used to create tension, `How much longer is this game going to continue?` Blanche is unaware of the game that she is playing, which is dangerous. During the catharsis, the audience feel pity for Blanche, despite bringing it onto herself she still knows no different, `I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.` As a result I believe that Blanche is the most tragic character due to her self-delusions and old South attitudes.

Words: 1555

Bibliography:

Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, Penguin Classic, 2000

Jesse Lichtenstein and Deirdre O`Dwyer, A Streetcar Named Desire,

Sparknotes website: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/streetcar/, 2009 http://plays.about.com/od/plays/a/A-Streetcar-Named-Desire-Act-One-Scene-One.htm