Vanity In A Streetcar Named Desire

Blanche’s relationship with bright light reveals the most about the complexity that subsists beneath her vanity. Blanche associates bright light with both love and awakening: she describes falling in love as “suddenly turn[ing] a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow” (Williams 67). However, it also reveals the harshness of reality and she dims the lighting (with the paper lantern) to maintain an illusion of “magic” and present “what ought to be truth” (Williams 84). Blanche associates bright light with a time when her life truly was magical; Blanche was young, beautiful and in love before her life was stripped away and her persona suddenly displaced. The paper lantern not only shades Blanche from the world but also works to shade the world from Blanche. Blanche does not want to deal with reality; she cannot confront the “magic” she possessed and lost. Furthermore, throughout the play, Blanche works very hard to hide the reputation she has gained in Laurel and present Mitch with a false image. One may wonder the extent to which the darkness represents her desire to not only hide her wrinkles but hide her past: a physical expression of her wish to remain veiled on a level …show more content…
Blanche, Mary and Tyrone all seem to hide pain and the fear of confronting reality beneath a veil of vanity; whether it is Mary, Tyrone or Blanche, it is used as either redirection, pretense or façade respectively. However, the goal is often similar: avoid confronting reality for the hardship that awaits upon its acceptance. It is often easier to construct a device for denial than a coping mechanism for acceptance. These characters are not merely narcissists who believe their achievements and/ or looks deserve unbounded recognition; their mirrors are shattered and they use vanity to avoid picking up the broken