ipl-logo

Blanche Dubois In A Streetcar Named Desire

500 Words2 Pages

Blanche Dubois is a complex character, as like her first name Blanche seems pure and innocent in the beginning, but as the play continues it is shown that Blanche is not the pure, innocent girl she portrays herself to be. In fact, Blanche has a dark past that conflicts with who she truly wants to be and be seen as. Blanche creates a façade of an angelic woman who is of high esteem, is independent and has never known indignity, however, her true self is the complete opposite of who she wants to be. Throughout the play Blanche is seen taking baths to “calm her nerves”, these baths could symbolize Blanche attempting to “purify” herself, and she wants to cleanse herself physically, emotionally and spiritually. Similar to baptisms, when an older person is baptised it is usually for them to be cleansed of their sins, Blanche who is old and is considered dirty is trying to purify and cleanse herself free of her sins. …show more content…

Though the scene begins at six o-clock in the evening it is Blanches first real day at Elysian Fields so the bath she takes is her cleansing herself for a new start and to rid herself of who she had used to be letting her sins to be washed away with the dirt. The second time a bath is mentioned in the play is when Blanche first meets Mitch on page 50, however, in this scene is does not actually bathe, instead her old self resurfaces as she tries to seduce Mitch by undressing in the light so her silhouette can be seen by the poker players, as well as when she speaks to

Show More
Related
750 Words | 3 Pages

What is Prop. 13, and how has it affected California's tax base? Should California modify Prop. 13, if so, how? In the past Proposition 13 benefited individuals, businesses, and other tax base but today that is no longer the case.

Read More
1459 Words | 6 Pages

“ “And diamonds! A crown for an empress!” “Next to a glass door” ” ( 2, Pg35). Initially, Blanche is creating Illusions that both make herself look rich and powerful, but also fool others to give a false sense of who Blanche is hiding and trying to reconcile. Blanche also lies to mitch through the manipulation of light because she is startled by the idea of her new love interest finding out about her dark past.

Read More
424 Words | 2 Pages

Blanche lives in a delusional world by neglecting the consequences of her actions. Blanche, in her younger years, comes from the south -southern belle, a symbol of beauty and innocence.

Read More
1480 Words | 6 Pages

Blanche is projecting the self-image of a person who believes that they are above others. She acts as though she is of a royal family and demands the respect of everyone around her. She loses her family's home to the government and blames it on her sister who left in order to search for her own lifestyle. From the beginning of her visit, Blanche gets an off feeling about Stanley. When she arrives, he starts to stare at her with a sense of caution then soon begins inspecting the paperwork that she brought with her in order to validate her story.

Read More
1085 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More
841 Words | 4 Pages

In the beginning of the play, Blanche and New Orleans are anticipated as totally incongruous together. The reason why this controversy is created between Stellas sister and New Orleans, is that Blanche comes from Belle Reve, a completely different city, and she is not used to the life in the place where Stella has settled down, as she is described as a highbrow person, from an elevated social class who is well refined and very delicate. Her character is also noticed from the fluffy bodice clothes and the white gloves that she is wearing, as well as the cultural language that Blanche uses to communicate with the others. On the other hand, New Orleans is a small city, with old white painted houses with rickety stairs, with an atmosphere of decay, full of bars where the loud disturbing sound of the tinny piano is heard, and people that behave differently from what Blanche expected.

Read More
1166 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
768 Words | 4 Pages

To escape from this brutal reality of the void she created from her young husband's death Blanche takes part in drinking liquor and sexual activity to hide her problems. “Well, now you talk. Open your pretty mouth and talk while I look around for some liquor know you must have some liquor on the place! Where could it be, I wonder? Oh, I spy, I spy!’’

Read More
1020 Words | 5 Pages

“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.

Read More
776 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout Tennessee William’s ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Bell Jar’ feminine ideals of appearance are associates with ablutions and bathing. This is due to the view of water having renewing properties, the mental health associations of bathing within both texts, and the patriarchal view of feminine appearances. In William’s and Plath’s literary works, water is depicted as having renewal properties in the central feminine characters of both plots. In the character of Blanche DuBois this is most notable when she exclaims, “Oh, I feel so goof after my long, hot bath, I feel so good and cool and – rested!”. Blanche’s frequent baths, along with the excessive amount of time spent in the bathroom within the play, exemplify her attempts at purifying herself from the events of past and present.

Read More
452 Words | 2 Pages

That is one way the theme can be related to the text, but another interpretation is how Blanche appears to be sane. In reality, she has trauma related mental problems that become apparent throughout the text. The author tries to portray the character’s lives different then what is actually going on in their private lives. Symbolism is used in the play by Blanche’s “fancy and expensive” items. These possessions from Blanche’s perspective look new and expensive, but they actually are worn out and cheap from the outsider’s view.

Read More
778 Words | 4 Pages

In Scene 10, she deviously claims that she has just received a telegram from the millionaire, Steph Huntleigh, to explain why she is dressed up. At first, Stanley plays along, but once Blanche musters up the audacity to say that Mitch returned to their apartment seeking repentance, Stanley draws the line. He calls her out for her fictitious tales of her past, and states, “We’ve had this date from the start,” just before he maliciously rapes Blanche. Their natures root in primal, animalistic instincts, Stanley like a dirty hog, open and free concerning his sexuality, Blanche like a fox, sly and deceitful. Despite her incessant attempts to destroy her past, Blanche is unable to stop their sexual connection as she has had so many other men.

Read More
966 Words | 4 Pages

She is, by far, in opposition with the theme of purity, the author reveals that Blanche is a liar. Indeed she is saying that she has been hiring from her job, which is not the truth. Blanche is one the most interesting character in the story because she does not fit to some gender stereotypes, this difference makes her attractive and

Read More
668 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
1547 Words | 7 Pages

Blanche is an old southern Belle who expects the man to be a gentleman and in her level of class, scene 10 “A cultivated woman, a woman of intelligence and breeding, can enrich a man’s life” (Williams, 1947) this is how Blanche intertwines the past and present as past women were only there to be seen, look after the house and provide children and present Blanche could be seen to be past her prime. Blanche is representing the past as she is still dress in grand dress white moth Ironically Blanche appears in the first scene dressed in white, “the symbol of

Read More

More about Blanche Dubois In A Streetcar Named Desire

Related Topics

Open Document