Blance Dubouis Flashcards
Who is Blanche?
•Blanche Dubois is the tragic heroine and anti hero of the play
•Tennessee Williams characterized her as a woman with a narcissistic personality disorder who uses alcoholism as a coping mechanism to forget eh guilt she carries from her past
what quote did Tennessee Williams say which relates to how Blanches character was written?
•”My heroines always express the climate of my interior world at the time in which those characters were created”
What does TW quote about his heroines show about Blanche? what does she represent?
•Williams was writing post world war 2 and in the emergence of a new economic world where southern ideals were being lost in the face of new America
•In this way, Blanche becomes the last dying requiem of the old aristocratic south
How is Blanche first introduced in the stage directions? (Costume)
•Blanche is “Daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and earrings of pearl”
•”Her appearance is incongruous to this setting”- New Orleans
•Her appearance being “ incongruous” to the setting already subtly exposes her tragic flaw as the plays tragic heroine
•Her tragic flaw is her inability to adapt to the changing world
•Her discomfort in the setting is palpable as she belongs to a decaying aristocratic world symbolized by the loss of belle reve
•The contrast between her “white bodice” and “pearls” starkly contrasts Stanley’s clothing of “blue denim work clothes”
•The white suggests purity which is ironic as she is a prostitute which shows her disconnection from reality
Quotes and analysis of Blanches relationship with light ?
•“I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action. - the light represents the truth which Blanche fears. I argue that she fears the truth because it would effectively supplant the reality she’s conjured for herself in order to survive and keep her mental state afloat- without her illusions she is nothing
In scene 4 Blanche responds to Stella’s explanation of her abuse relationship with Stanley by saying “What you are talking about is brutal desire-just desire!- the name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow steer and down another” What does this mean?
•”Rattle-trap” is a harsh noise which symbolizes how desire traps and uproots Blanche’s life and what effectively leads to her degradation.
•For Blanche, desire is a brutal mechanical force which has driven her life off course; it’s almost ironic that she tries to distance herself form desire when it’s what shapes her existence
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What quotes does Blanche use to describe Stanley in scene 4?
•She says “He acts like an animal”
•”something-ape like about him”
•Blanche condemns Stanley as primitive which highlights the clash between old south and new America
•The loss of the soft ideals in the representation of Stanley and their blatant contempt for each other fully sets the stage for the plays driving tensions
Explain the motif in the quote “she’s soaking in a hot tub to quiet her nerves”
•There’s an offstage bathing motif
•It represents purification, the washing away the guilt of the past (baptismal)
•Image if bathing is a common trope in guilt linking to lady Macbeth- the idea of female madness and hysteria which is seen in Blanche (A04)
•TW clearly adopt this motif when constructing the character of Blanche
“Soft people have got to court the favour of hard ones, Stella. Have got to be seductive— put on soft colours, the colours of butterfly wings and glow — make a little — temporary magic just in order to pay for — one nights shelter….under one leaky roof to another” Break down and explain Blanches speach
•The quote “The soft people have got to court the favour of the hard ones” is spoken by Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, and it reflects one of the play’s central themes—vulnerability versus dominance; old south vs new America
•Blanche sees the world as divided into two types of people: Soft people – those who are sensitive, delicate, and dependent on others for survival (like herself) and Hard people – those who are strong, pragmatic, and often ruthless (like Stanley).
•She acknowledges that people like her must seek the approval and protection of those who are stronger, often at the cost of their dignity and independence
•In this way Tennessee Williams exposes the cruelty of new America which is based on a meritocracy and success granting no mercy for those who can’t adapt to it
•The “temporary magic just in order to pay for one night’s shelter” part encapsulates Blanche’s tragic existence—her need to create illusions not just to maintain dignity but for basic survival
•Blanche equates her ability to shimmer and “glow” with her worth. •She knows that as she ages, her ability to attract men (her main source of security) is diminishing. •Her beauty and charm become temporary magic, tricks she uses to survive.
•The phrase “pay for one night’s shelter” suggests how Blanche has used her looks and flirtation to secure places to stay, particularly in the aftermath of her fall from wealth
•This reflects her life in Laurel, where she engaged in affairs with men (including a teenage boy) after losing Belle Reve.
•Blanche fears what will happen once her “magic” fades completely. The light symbolises truth, and she begs Mitch and Stanley and others in the okay not to turn it on because she cannot bear to see or be seen in the harshness of reality
•”under one leaky roof to the next” expose her transient nature - she doesn’t really belong anywhere
“It isn’t enough to be soft you’ve got to be soft and attractive. And I-I’m fading now!”
•Blanche’s admission, “I’m fading now!”, highlights her fear of aging and the loss of the allure that has helped her navigate life
•Throughout the play, she clings to her past as a Southern belle and tries to maintain the illusion of youth, avoiding bright lights to conceal her aging face
•However, she realizes that her beauty, which once gave her influence over men, is slipping away, leaving her increasingly powerless.
•The breaking of her voice in “I—I’m fading now!” suggests her increasing desperation and emotional fragility. •She is aware that she is losing her grip on the illusions she has built around herself
•This moment foreshadows her ultimate downfall, as she realizes she is no longer able to manipulate reality to her advantage
•Williams forces us to feel pathos for her
•”I don’t want realism… I’ll tell you what I want. Magic! (Mitch laughs)…. I try give that to People”
•Blanche openly rejects realism, preferring to live in a world of “magic”, where things are beautiful, romantic, and idealized like her life in Belle Reve
•This reflects her belief that truth is often too cruel to bear, so she creates illusions to protect herself and others from suffering- Tragic, we feel immense pathos
•Throughout the play, she covers reality with metaphorical and literal veils—such as the paper lantern over the light—to avoid confronting the truth about herself and so she creates magic and tells what “ought to be the truth”
•By saying “I try to give that to people”, she implies that her lies are not meant to deceive maliciously but to make life more bearable for herself and others
•She sees herself as a tragic figure who brings beauty into a world that is otherwise harsh and unforgiving
“I’ve always relied on the kindness of strangers”
•Blanche has spent her life relying on men for protection, financial stability, and validation.
•She depended on her husband (who betrayed her), then on various men in Laurel (which led to her social ruin), and finally on Mitch, whom she saw as a potential savior.
•With nowhere else to turn, she places her trust in the doctor leading her away, continuing the pattern of dependency that has defined her life
•Blanche’s fate is tied to the goodwill of others, leaving her powerless
•Almost ironic as she’s never encountered true kindness, she chooses to perceive that actions of people exploiting her as acts of kindness
•In this way, Blanche dies the symbolic death of a tragic hero- she undergoes the death of her psyche something she will never gain back.
