Blanche

Question 1

Blanche is the play’s…

Answer 1

… tragic heroine. Her weaknesses, coupled with the failure of others to understand and sympathise with her, lead to her breakdown.

Question 2

Blanche’s appearance

Answer 2

• ‘Her appearance is incongruous to this setting’
• ‘a white suit with a fluffy bodice’
• ‘Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light. There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth.’
• These detailed stage directions do not leave a lot of room for interpretation.
• Based on this, it may be plausible to argue that Blanche is characterised to represent something specific to Williams - the Old South.

Question 3

Blanche’s inconsistency and contradiction

Answer 3

• Blanche asks Mitch if he would like to sleep with her in French (‘Voulez-vouz couchez avec moi ce soir?’) yet minutes later claims that she has “old fashioned ideals”
• she claims that “one’s her limit” but there is dramatic irony in the fact that audiences have already seen her have more than one drink in this scene.
• there is a clash between Blanche’s outer presentation as a Southern Belle and her unstable inner world
• her flaws also make her more human: a character the audience should be able to sympathise with and understand.

Question 4

‘as though all…’

Answer 4

‘… human experience showed on her face’

Question 5

Blanche as the centre of attention

Answer 5

• though far from being a classical tragic heroine, Blanche still commands our attention.
• after arriving in Elysian Fields she is hardly ever offstage; even when she is, she is heard singing songs like ‘Paper Moon’ in the bath.
• 8 out of the 11 scenes of the play end with Blanche’s dialogue meaning that she is likely to leave a lasting impression on the audience. her role as Williams’ most important character, and everything she serves to represent and uphold, is emphasised.

Question 6

Blanche’s status as a tragic heroine

Answer 6

• Classic Greek tragedy demands the downfall of a noble hero as a result of pride
• Williams elevates a vain, self-deluded and promiscuous woman to the stature of a heroine
• as the primary focus of the audience’s attention, Blanche seems to rise above the degradation she experiences within the world of the play and inspires the pathos and phosbos (pity and fear) that is demanded in Greek tragedy.
• in the end, like the card players, we are perhaps meant to salute her.

Question 7

“I don’t want realism”

Answer 7

focus on fantasy much needed in the bleak 1930s and 1940s…
“a woman’s charm is fifty percent illusion”