Preview

A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
333 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche Analysis
By pretending to be someone she wasn’t and ignoring her feelings, Blanche creates a disconnection between her and Mitch. When Mitch finally discovers Blanche’s truths, he comes to talk to her with unkempt appearances, which Blanche considers “the unforgivable insult to a lady” (140). By Blanche finding Mitch’s appearance an “insult to a lady”, she tries to keep her façade up as well as defines herself as a lady. Prior to Mitch knowing the truth, he viewed Blanche as a lady and gave her respect. However, once he found out the truth, he no longer viewed her as a “lady”, therefore, felt justified in his appearances. He explains to her that he “wasn’t going to see [her] anymore” (142) as a result of her “lies, lies, inside and out, all lies” (147).

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In scene four of “ A Streetcar Named Desire” Blanche attempts to convince Stella that she can get out of her situation with Stanley, but Stella insists she is not in anything she wished to get out of. Stella makes it clear that she is happy about her relationship with Stanley through their sexual chemistry by saying “ But there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark”. Stella believes that there is nothing wrong and she can’t understand why Blanche is so frantic. Blanche tries to persuade Stella that her situation with Stanley is just desire by arguing, “ What you are talking about is brutal desire- just- Desire!- the name of that rattle-trap streetcar that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another…”…

    • 212 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Streetcar Named Desire was based in the time it was written – New Orleans in 1947. The late 1940’s was a postwar era as the United States rose as a victorious superpower above the rest of the world. This era was also the beginning of the Baby Boom – a time of high marriage and birth rates in the country. There was a postwar surge in luxury with the end of rations and the emergence of better, cheaper cars and entertainment. Although there were many positive advances during the time, there was also the dark cloud of the Soviet Union as the Cold War was brewing and the atomic bomb was being threatened once again.…

    • 116 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the movie, A Street Car Named Desire, Blanche uses the quote, “I don't want realism. I want magic! Yes, Yes, magic! I try to give that to people." to explain her desire for her fantasy life to become reality. Blanches fantasy life would restore her youth, forgive her past and she would be more welcomed by people like Stanley and Mitch. I do agree with her statement, and believe that living in a “fantasy world” for a short period of time can be beneficial, but I do not agree with the circumstances Blanches is doing so by. Blanche wants to forget the death of her husband, the termination of her position as a schoolteacher caused by a discovered affair with a high school aged boy and the loss of her childhood home and plantation. Some of…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the commencement of the play, Blanche is quickly described as a damsel in distress. She is portrayed as a wealthy woman “in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and earing of pearl, white gloves and hat…” (5). She resembles an embellished white moth. The fact that she is forced to live with her younger sister Stella and her domineering husband truly shows that Blanche is in a truly desperate situation. Her overall character is depicted as a traumatized woman that is in complete desolation. Experiences such as witnessing her family on a “...Long parade to the graveyard” (21). Being forced to live with your family until their tragic demise would emotionally and mentally torment anyone. She lives inside of her own world in which she…

    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Characterizing – it is a daily occurrence that many do not realize is taking place. Whether it appears by describing someone’s new hair or explaining a person’s personality, characterization is frequently happening. Yet, representation of an individual does not only take place in the real world, it appears in numerous literary works as well. For example, in the written matters of A Streetcar Named Desire, A Separate Peace, and “Everyday Use”, where character interactions, such as arguing and having conflicting beliefs, bring out strong depictions and central messages. While some readers of these pieces of literature may believe that character interaction shows no relation to theme relativity; a closer inquiry demonstrates that through characters such as Stella and Stanley, Mama and Dee, and Gene and Finny, an…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The main character in a drama entitled "Street Car Named Desire", written by Tennessee Williams, is an emotional woman by the name of Blanche, who has many afflictions. The setting of this play is in the state of Louisiana. Blanche has the potential to be a very vigorous woman, if she chooses to tap into that unidentified strength. All her life, she’s managed to face scrutiny from every possible direction. She has been ostracized from her community, lied to throughout her entire marriage, lost her inheritance, battling with alcoholism, and invests her fate and well-being in men. Blanche is a wandering soul, who’s wrapped up in life’s misfortunes, and is commonly misunderstood.…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Critics have praised Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire for its characters. Crude, sensual Stanley; dreamy, burned-out Blanche; bashful, meek Mitch. That being said, the successful portrayal of these characters is the mark of an excellent Streetcar performance. According to many readers, the stunning characterization is what makes A Streetcar Named Desire so compelling and legendary. Yet I would like to disagree. I think it is the play’s setting that makes the story so fascinating.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyone wants to live a life they do not have. Some people want to be rich, while others want to travel the world and never work a day in their lives. In order to live the lives they do not have, many people create their own fantasies. Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar Named Desire depicts Blanche and Stella’s lives as lies, while revealing how they do not wish to face their own realities, for they will never to able to live the life they have always hoped for.…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The play “streetcar named desire” written by Tennessee William in 1949, which was received the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1948. The play commenced on Broadway on December 3, 1947 in the Ethel Barrymore Theater. This play is about life of a woman in 19th century who could not come out of the fantasy to the real life that her self instinct and her surrounding creates extra problems in her life that makes her hide her historical and physical appearances and lied her sister and suitor. On the other hand, the poem “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” by Emily Dickinson, in 1890, this poem believed toHhave been written in 1862, a year during which Dickinson supposedly produced more than 300 poems. This poem suggests the persona of this poem in order…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once Mitch meets Blanche he instantly feels an attraction. Blanche, trying to seem like she still has some innocence, manages to convince him that she is not the kind of girl who easily falls into temptation and therefore causes Mitch to walk on eggshells around her. Mitch is constantly trying to find a balance between a sick mother, his best friends, and now his new girl. This stress added to Blanche’s constant back-and-forth flirting eventually wears him down. Then Stanley comes in and tells him that Blanche has been fooling him he refuses to believe it at first until he does his own research. Mitch shows his instability in scene nine when he says, “I don’t think I want to marry you any more. You’re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother” (Williams 150). This amount of stress would cause anyone to be driven…

    • 298 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A Street Car Named Desire” written by Tennessee Williams was a tragic play about sister’s Blanche and Stella. It also included and abusive husband, Stanley. Williams described many sad details and shined a light on mental illness and spousal abuse. “Street Car” shocks people to their very core with emotional and tragedy throughout the whole play. It showcases tragedy thru certain elements including the symbols, themes, and setting.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism is an important literary device used to give the reader an understanding of a character. Tennessee Williams, with the use of symbolism, brings his character’s alive in his play, A Streetcar name desire. In the story the reader follows a young southern woman by the name of Blanche Dubois as she moves to New Orleans to live with her sister, Stella, and her brother-in-law, Stanley. From there the reader slowly sees the Blanche’s descent into madness as she begins to lose her grip on reality. In the play Blanche is characterized using symbols like, bathing, light, and music.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    We can feel sorry for Blanche throughout the play because she was a victim to a high extent. She was victimized by Stanley, the death of Allen and by Mitch. Stanley’s raping of Blanche was a physical crime to which Blanche was the victim of. Allen Grey’s death left Blanche with feelings of sadness. Blanche was the victim of rape, the feelings associated with death and rejection.…

    • 67 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Blanche often fails to tell Mitch the truth about her past which he ignores and uses illusion by regarding Blanche as the perfect woman in order to escape her lies and false reality. In a criticism written by Joanne Woolway she states, "It appears that the connection in Blanche's past between violence and desire in some way contributes to the events within the time scale of the play." (292) This suggests that Blanche uses illusion to escape the bad memories of past violent relationships. “I guess it is just that I have old fashioned ideals! [She rolls her eyes, knowing he cannot see her face.]” (108) Blanche leads Mitch on by choosing to appear sexually naive, and this is apparent when she lies to Mitch about her past, adding to her facade. Mitch falls for Blanche’s charm which becomes evident when he says, “You need somebody. And I need somebody, too. Could it be- you and me, Blanche?” (116) He is blind to her deception and even defends Blanche when Stanley tells him the truth about her life and promiscuous relationships with men. Mitch is too consumed by her beauty and his fantasy of marrying a perfect woman to consider she is lying to…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    To what extent do the Kowalskis and the DuBois represent a clash of cultures in “A Streetcar Named Desire”?…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays