Character Of Blanche DuBois In A “Streetcar Named Desire”

The play A Streetcar Named Desire revolves around Blanche DuBois; therefore, the main theme of the drama concerns her directly. In Blanche is seen the tragedy of an individual caught between two worlds-the world of the past and the world of the present-unwilling to let go of the past and unable, because of her character, to come to any sort of terms with the present. The final result is her destruction. This process began long before her clash with Stanley Kowalski. It started with the death of her young husband, a weak and perverted boy who committed suicide when she taunted him with her disgust at the discovery of his perversion.

In retrospect, she knows that he was the only man she had ever loved, and from this early catastrophe evolves her promiscuity. She is lonely and frightened, and she attempts to fight this condition with sex. Desire fills the emptiness when there is no love and desire blocks the inexorable movement of death, which has already wasted and decayed Blanche’s ancestral home Belle Reve. -Fantasy/Illusion Blanche dwells in illusion; fantasy is her primary means of self-defense, both against outside threats and against her own demons.

But her deceits carry no trace of malice, but rather they come from her weakness and inability to confront the truth head-on. She is a quixotic figure, seeing the world not as it is but as it ought to be. Fantasy has a liberating magic that protects her from the tragedies she has had to endure. Throughout the play, Blanche’s dependence on illusion is contrasted with Stanley’s steadfast realism, and in the end it is Stanley and his worldview that win. To survive, Stella must also resort to a kind of illusion, forcing herself to believe that Blanche’s accusations against Stanley are false so that she can continue living with her husband.

The Old South and the New South come from a world that is rapidly dying. Belle Reve, their family’s ancestral plantation, has been lost, and the two sisters are the last living members of their family and, symbolically, of their old world of cavaliers and cotton fields. Their strain of Old South was not conquered by the march of General Sherman’s army, but by the steady march of time, and as Blanche’s beauty fades with age so too do these vestiges of that civilization gone with the wind. Blanche attempts to stay back in the past but it is impossible, and Stella only survives by mixing her DuBois blood ith the common stock of the Kowalskis; the old South can only live on in a diluted, bastardized form. Death in A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams uses the theme of death continually in the play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ through the use of dramatic imagery and literal references. The characters of Blanche and Mitch are used the most frequently to express Williams’ own obsession with death. Though neither of the characters actually obsesses about death, Blanche’s life has been smothered by the deaths of those she loves and the coming death of Mitch’s mother is an obvious motivation for his actions.

Blanche first voices the theme of death in the very first scene whilst discussing the fate that has befallen Belle Reve. She passionately raves at length about the horrible deaths and her experience of loved ones dying around her; “all of those deaths… Father, Mother, Margaret, that dreadful way! ” The horrific visions of bloated bodies and “the struggle for breath and breathing” have clearly cast a permanent effect on Blanche’s mind. She talks of the quiet funerals and the “gorgeous boxes” that were the coffins, with bitter, black humour. The deaths of Blanch… .. middle of paper … … s’ dramatic use of death and dying is an overarching theme in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ from which everything about Blanche’s character has formed from. Without the death of Allan, Blanche would not have resorted to prostitution and the brief affairs with strangers, also the deaths of her family have driven Blanche to Stella’s where she is “not wanted” and “ashamed to be”. Therefore these dramatic deaths have lead to the past which comes back to haunt Blanche meaning that she can never find happiness until she dies and is forgotten.

A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwrighUm…death much? “Cemeteries” is pretty much self-explanatory, but Elysian Fields are basically like heaven in ancient Greek Mythology. In other words, “death” is written all over this scenery before we even jump into much of the play. For more on how “Desire” fits in there, see “What’s Up With the Title? “t Tennessee Williams (death quote 1. 16) ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, by Tennessee Williams, explores many important themes and issues in the book.

You can read also 

The main theme Williams investigates and explores to the audience, is illusion and fantasy. Each character in the book contributes to creating, adding to and destructing fantasies and illusions, and I feel it is a very important theme in the book, as it represents and symbolises other issues Williams explores with the audience. The play ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ revolves around the character Blanche Dubois; therefore, the main theme of the drama concerns her directly.

In Blanche, the audience is shown the tragedy of an individual, caught between two worlds ? the world of her past and the world of her present, unwilling to let go of the past and unable, because of her character, to come to any sort of terms with her present. The final result at the end of the play is the deterioration of her mind and character and her self-destruction. Blanche dwells in illusion; fantasy is her primary… … middle of paper … … lso have o be considered, because illusions and fantasy are not the only issues Williams deals with and raises in the play; there are the issues of death and loss dealt with; the issue of Old and New America conflicting with each other; the idea of a society of men dominating women; violence; opposing backgrounds; loneliness, alcoholism and sexuality, but most of these issues are all dealt with, represented by and can link to illusion and fantasy, so the theme is an extremely important one, within the play ? A Streetcar Named Desire?. . I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action. (p. 60) Blanche 1. This line clearly sets up the key theme of illusion vs reality. Blanche takes the naked truth – the stark bare lightbulb, the rude remark – and dresses it up prettily to make everyone happier and everything easier. That she speaks of talk and action as analogous to a lightbulb shows that she considers the remedy for uncouth behavior and appearance to be a paper lantern, an externalI don’t want realism.

I want magic! (p. 145) Blanche This is Blanche’s battle cry. It doesn’t matter whether the magic is real. It doesn’t even matter whether Blanche herself believes it. What’s important for Blanche is that she always have the option of the fantasy – that she can believe in and hope for something prettier and lovelier and kinder than the real world. She is a self-aware Don Quixote, forcing the world to be as beautiful as she imagines it. cover, rather than a change from within.