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Theme of deceit in streetcar named desire
Deception in streetcar named desire
Deception in streetcar named desire
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But don’t look at me..” and “Open your pretty mouth and talk while I look around for some liquor”. 6) Identify two examples of Blanche’s deception in this scene. What does this reveal about her character? One example is that Blanche try to seem alright
It is what is haunting Blanche’s life, it is what has made her mentally unstable. Throughout the play, she has been hiding her past from people so she looks like
Stella’s sister, Blanche, sees through the illusion and can see how toxic the marriage really is. Stanley and Blanche come from distinctly different backgrounds, Stanley is from the working class while Blanche comes from wealth. Williams uses these two contrasting points of views on marriage, to show the issues of possessiveness, class, and sexism. When it comes to Stanley’s marriage to Stella, one of the most notable characteristics is how possessive Stanley is. An example of this is when Stanley found out that Blanche and therefore Stella, lost their estate.
One major similarity between Blanche and Stanley is that they both like to manipulate or control other people, to make themselves feel better. Even though there are different ways Stanley and Blanche take control of other people they still do it in a familiar matter. For example, Blanche takes power and influence over people by lying to others and herself, to make them believe in something that actually never happened, with fantacy, therefore makes Blanche feel greater, than she actually may be. To go deeper in depth, to prove that Blanche is manipulative she also says. ¨I don 't tell the truth.
Have you read the book holes if yes then you know how stanly changes stanley and zero are best friends and goes through the same changes stanley goes from selfish to selfless Stanley was selfish and only thought of himself example is. “I want to learn to read and wright sorry i do not have the strength.” (sacher 82 )because he only cares about he is tired also”holding designs shoes he ran “ (sacher 24). He took the shoes for himself and he ran now in the story he becomes selfless Towards the end stanly becomes self less and cares about others like “what happened to the sunflower seeds i ate them by yourself”(sacher 87)
After the death of Allan, Blanche seems to have nothing to fulfill except her family’s legacy. Despite wanting to leave her legacy behind and moving on with Allan, fate and circumstances bring her back. In “panic, just panic,” (118) she chooses the path of desire. However, with age, Blanche runs out of magic. When she becomes a “[daisy] that’s been picked a few days,” (47) she goes to live with Stella, where she is introduced to the audience as a “moth”
She believes that her beauty and youth are essential to her worth as a woman, and she is afraid of losing them. Blanche’s obsession with her appearance and the illusions she creates about her past help to hide these insecurities. By presenting herself as young and beautiful, Blanche gains a sense of power and control over her situation. Her illusions allow her to maintain the appearance of a confident and desirable woman, even if it is not entirely accurate. Blanche’s illusions also help to hide her past pain.
In scene two, she sprays herself with perfume and then sprays Stanley with it playfully, to which Stanley replies “If I didn 't know that you was my wife 's sister I 'd get ideas about you”. This is just one example of Blanche’s shameless flirtation with Stanley in the scene. Blanche is so flirtatious due to her loneliness and desire to find love. Ever since Allen’s death, Blanche had no one significant in her life to provide her with companionship and love. Due to this, Blanche is incredibly flirtatious in an attempt to get men to desire her and fill the hole of loneliness in her.
Blanche feels the need to be appreciated by men at all time and seeks attention when she does not receive it, especially from Mitch. “She dupes him regarding her age and declares herself younger to Stella, tries to fool him regarding her drinking habits, avoid going out with him until after dark and manages to avoid being seen in direct bulb-light!”(Kararia 24). Blanche is portrayed as a liar and attention seeker who wants to be showered with compliments from Mitch. She tries to fool and flirt with Mitch so she can secure her future with him. “She sees in Mitch an opportunity to prove her allure and score an easy sexual conquest.
“A Streetcar Named Desire” contains a strong lighting motif that repeats throughout the play. This usually involves Blanche, a character who shies away from any light that is drawn upon her, and is especially sensitive to light when her suitor Mitch is around. To Blanche, she is still young and beautiful in her mind, but when light shines on her she becomes afraid that Mitch will notice her aging skin, her beauty falling. This motif heavily implies how Blanche sees herself and the significance to her sexual innocence. To begin, throughout the play the audience begins to understand how Blanche sees herself.
She refused to leave him when Blanche insisted and didn’t believe Blanche when it came to her being raped. Blanche, Stella, and Stanley all have the same want to be desired. The ways they act and treat each other back that up. Blanche feels the need to be desired by everyone around her, Stanley by Stella and others, and Stella by Stanley. Their lives revolve around desire.
Her appearance is described as a “delicate beauty [that] must avoid a strong light” but is quickly contrasted with her comparison to “a moth” (5). Though Williams allows the audience to interpret her equitably, he also alludes to her conflicting character; moths are typically attracted to lights, yet Blanche’s beauty comes undone when “light” exposes her (5). The unbiased perspective quickly dissolves as Blanche begins to interact with other characters in the play and starts using her various facades to appear as appealing as possible. Blanche’s insistence of avoiding light stems from her fear of being exposed and seen for who she truly is. In her first verbal reaction to avoiding light, Blanche commands her baby sister, Stella, to “turn that over-light off,” insisting she wouldn’t “be looked at in this merciless glare” (11).
When Blanche first comes to Stella’s house, she firmly demands Stella to “turn the over-light off!” as she cannot “be looked at in [the] merciless glare” (Williams 11). Although the light seems harsh, Blanche acts hardhearted and pitiless and could possibly be seeing herself in the glare. Blanche “cannot tolerate being seen in bright light” because she is “hypersensitive to her declining physical beauty” (Adler 30). In attempts to protect her own image, she buys a paper lantern to cover the harsh light in Stanley and Stella’s bedroom; Blanche’s mental state is “as fragile” as the paper lantern that protects her from her own reality (Adler 30).
This is made clear through Stanley’s insecurities about inferiority to women and his prolonged struggle to defeat Blanche. Again, this is evident with Blanche and even Stella. Stella is perceived as a static character with no real individuality, and Blanche, who is seemingly more independent, is characterized mostly by her sexuality. Tennessee Williams demonstrates society’s need for the superiority of men to women through the interactions of Stanley and Blanche in the play, their struggles, and their ultimate
Blanche’s desire for marriage stems from the happiness she felt from her first marriage when she was young. She was completely in love with her husband, and was utterly shocked to find out that he preferred men to the point where she had called him “disgusting”. In the end, he took his own life and Blanche had become widowed. Scarred by the death of her husband, she finds content in the arms of any stranger who admires her façade. Blanche’s dependence on a man is a clear representation of her desperation for a married life.
