Light In A Streetcar Named Desire

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is a play which mostly revolves around Blanche’s delusional states. As from the beginning of the play till the end we are propelled into a world of truth and reality which is being hidden through the use of light.

Light is a symbolism of truth and reality and thus avoiding light could be interpreted as hiding the truth. This is evident in the line “her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light”. The use of the adjective “Strong” allows the reader to visualize the scene of Blanche shying away from the light. “Delicate beauty” leads the readers to believe that Blanch is still young and fragile but this is contradicted by the next line “suggests a moth”. This could be a metaphor to Blanche, implying that although she

“Claps her hands to her ears and crouches over” through the alliteration used Williams evokes harshness allowing the readers to visualize the scene of Blanche franticly trying to block out the light, whilst also leading the readers to believe that Blanche also fears light, connoting that she could be mentally unstable as she doesn’t dread darkness but instead she is afraid of light. Williams uses kinaesthetic imagery to lay more stress on how severe Blanche’s state of mind is. This is further supported when Blanche admits that she cannot stand a light brighter than candlelight, accentuating on how her fear for light has gone to the extent where she cannot face a bright light without remembering her late husband. This accentuates on how unstable Blanche is for one moment she hates the light and the next she fears it with all her life, this is further backed up with the actions she did

Blanche allows herself to be seen when she is undressing connoting that she only wants to be seen in light to attract other men, by her “beauty”, that are around.“The portières” emphasizes on how she is not clearly visible to the onlookers but her outline is thus, not revealing her true self to them. This could also be interpreted, that she craves for the sexual attraction that she once had when she was younger.

The alliteration “Leave the lights off” permits the readers to feel her desperation for the lights to be off, whilst giving a sense of “lust”. Furthermore this accentuates on how Blanche managed to acquire what she wanted, the dim light. It also lays emphasis on how it allows Blanche to be who she chooses to be, implying her that she feels superior to Mitch whilst also allowing her to be attractive to him in the dark.

To conclude we can say that Blanche’s delusional state is emphasised through the theme of light throughout the entire play. It accentuates her desperate attempts to escape the