How Does Williams Use Diction In A Streetcar Named Desire

This passage has been extracted from Act I Scene I of Tennessee Williams’ play, A Streetcar Named Desire. In this extraction, Blanche sees and interacts with her younger sister, Stella, for the first time in many years. Upon this reunification, Blanche is forced to take in the discrepancies between her fantasy expectation of what their reunion will be like and the reality of how her baby sister looks, acts, and lives. As Blanche dwells on how different the Dubois’ plantation Belle Reve is compared to Stella’s current social status and living conditions, Blanche’s unadulterated character is easily scrutinized. Williams utilizes diction and foreshadowing to depict the two sisters’ rather awkward reunion on the street of Elysian Fields. Throughout

For instance, prior to Stella getting a single sentence into the conversation, Blanche commands that she “turn that over-light off [because she] won’t be looked at in this merciless glare” (Line 5-6). As the play progresses, Blanche’s opposition to lights foreshadows the audience’s eventual discovery of her ex-husband’s suicide. Subsequent to the revelation that Blanche’s ex-husband committed suicide partially due to her drastic statement that he disgusts her, the light in her life eternally died out. Additionally, her preference of dim lights plays into her utter insecurity and fear of her peers viewing her as anything less than perfect. Moreover, Blanche insists that Stella does not look at her “till [she’s] bathed and rested”, which ensures that Blanche is looking her best possible (Line 5). The supplementary fixation with being cleansed and freshly washed is significant, as it foreshadows Blanche’s overall desire to remain pure, despite her adulterated past. Unfortunately, no matter how many baths Blanche participates in, her surfeit of mistakes and wrongdoings will forever plague her and diminish the infinitesimal amount of sanity she has