The play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, takes place in New Orleans around the nineteen-forties at the home of Stella Kowalski and her husband, Stanley Kowalski. Stella and Stanly live a very simple life in New Orleans. They have a very codependent and unhealthy marriage. Blanche Dubois arrives at her sister Stella 's apartment and comes off as being slightly judgmental at first. Stanley takes an instant dislike to Blanche and feels threatened by her because she really wrecks their marriage and the relationship he has with his wife. We then discover that Blanche and Stella 's family estate has been ruined. Blanche is penniless and an alcoholic. During a poker game at the Kowalski 's ', Stanley goes into a rage at Blanche
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Around this time, it was quite common for playwrights to use symbolism as an approach to convey personal thoughts, through the attitudes of the characters and the setting. The play has several complicated character traits and themes which is why they have to be symbolized using figures or images to express abstract and/or mystical ideas. Blanche DuBios is one of most Tennessee Williams had several motifs in his play that had great significance such as: music playing, Blanche 's constant bathing, and her phobia of …show more content…
DuBios spends a ridiculous amount of time avoiding bright light. When she first made contact with her sister, she did not want to be seen."Now, then, let me look at you. But don 't you look at me, Stella, no, no, no, not till later, not till I 've bathed and rested! And turn that over-light off! Turn that off! I won 't be looked at in this merciless glair" (Williams 96). One of the first things she does when she gets to her sister 's home is to put a paper lantern over the bare bulb in her bedroom. She also prefers to see Mitch, the guy she is dating, after dusk. Blanches behavior might seem a bit odd, but Williams makes an important point with Blanche 's phobia of light. We can see throughout the play Blanche slowly losing her grip on reality. She is in such despair over what she has become that she retreats into a world of fantasy where she is still a beautiful young lady being pursued by handsome millionaires. "I don 't want realism. I want magic" (Williams 143). This fantasy is what causes Blanche to avoid the light. She wants to hide her fading beauty both from herself and especially from men. Unfortunately, her deception only works for so long. Blanche is confronted by Mitch in scene nine about the sins of her past and complies with his wish to see her in direct light." I don 't mind you being older that what I thought. But all the rest of it-- Christ! That pitch about your ideals being so old-finished and all the malarkey that you 've dished out all summer,
Around this time, it was quite common for playwrights to use symbolism as an approach to convey personal thoughts, through the attitudes of the characters and the setting. The play has several complicated character traits and themes which is why they have to be symbolized using figures or images to express abstract and/or mystical ideas. Blanche DuBios is one of most Tennessee Williams had several motifs in his play that had great significance such as: music playing, Blanche 's constant bathing, and her phobia of …show more content…
DuBios spends a ridiculous amount of time avoiding bright light. When she first made contact with her sister, she did not want to be seen."Now, then, let me look at you. But don 't you look at me, Stella, no, no, no, not till later, not till I 've bathed and rested! And turn that over-light off! Turn that off! I won 't be looked at in this merciless glair" (Williams 96). One of the first things she does when she gets to her sister 's home is to put a paper lantern over the bare bulb in her bedroom. She also prefers to see Mitch, the guy she is dating, after dusk. Blanches behavior might seem a bit odd, but Williams makes an important point with Blanche 's phobia of light. We can see throughout the play Blanche slowly losing her grip on reality. She is in such despair over what she has become that she retreats into a world of fantasy where she is still a beautiful young lady being pursued by handsome millionaires. "I don 't want realism. I want magic" (Williams 143). This fantasy is what causes Blanche to avoid the light. She wants to hide her fading beauty both from herself and especially from men. Unfortunately, her deception only works for so long. Blanche is confronted by Mitch in scene nine about the sins of her past and complies with his wish to see her in direct light." I don 't mind you being older that what I thought. But all the rest of it-- Christ! That pitch about your ideals being so old-finished and all the malarkey that you 've dished out all summer,