SND - Illusion vs Reality Flashcards
how to write an introduction?
A Streetcar Named Desire’ is a play written by Tennessee Williams. It involves our protagonist Blanche, who visits her sister Stella and her new brother-in-law Stanley in New Orleans over the summer period. Throughout the play, William explores the theme of Illusion versus Reality through our central character Blanche, with the use of language and word choice to highlight how delusional Blanche is and how she cannot come to terms with the reality that she now lives in.
Blanche: “you thought I’d been fired?”
Stella: “no I thought you’d— resigned…”
Blanche: “ I was so exhausted after all I’d been through my— nerves broke” ‘nervously tamping cigarette’
makes the audience suspicious of Blanche as she has gone straight into defending herself to Stella
indicates that Blanche hasn’t been fully honest here with the stage directions emphasising that she is portraying to be extremely anxious with her awkwardly fidgeting with her cigarette and her broken voice which signifies uncertainty
later on we find out that Blanche has indeed been fired from her job due to being caught having intimate relations with a pupil. This conveys the theme of illusion versus reality as Blanche’s evasive manner is making her unable to separate herself from the magic in her mind through all the lies that she tells throughout the play.
Blanche: ‘I can’t stand a naked lightbulb anymore than I can stand a rude remark’
its clear blanche is in denial of her age - she cannot stand the truth.
‘naked lightbulb’ - word choice - suggests she refuses to to go anywhere brightly lit like sunlight in the afternoon, this highlights how stubborn she is.
compares it to something she has no tolerance for to emphasise further how she feels - highlights how delusional she is.
she is afraid of people seeing what she truly looks like.
‘he turns on the light… she cries out and covers her face’
emphasises that even though Blanche realises that she has been caught out she still desperately tries to hide away from the light as if it is burning her
this obsession of hiding away from the light is stemmed from losing her husband Allan at a young age.
To Blanche bright light is a symbol of real love and her youthful sexual innocence and the shadows are insignificant encounters which has been the result of the guilt she feels over the death of her husband as she feels responsible.
This further conveys the fantasy over the realism in blanches world as she perceives herself to be young and beautiful due to pain she has endured in the past. Also, Blanches inability to tolerate light means that her grasp on reality is nearing an end.
“I don’t tell the truth. I tell what ought to be the truth”
“ I don’t want realism…I want magic”
emphasises that to Blanche she never tells lies to people as in her own mind she’s telling the truth
emphasises to the audience that Blanche is somebody who cannot emotionally handle what is truly infront of her and instead needs to convince herself that she is living in a dream world where everything goes her way
This level of self inflicted delusions again would stem over the death of Allan, which has left her emotionally scarred. She hasn’t fully been able to come terms with his death. This is further reinstated when Mitch is trying to expose Blanche and she states
“ I don’t want realism…I want magic”.
emphasises that Blanche wants to live in a somewhat fantasy world shown by the word choice of ‘magic’ which suggests something that is only romanticised and fantasised
emphasises that Blanche wants to live in a somewhat fantasy world shown by the word choice of ‘magic’ which suggests something that is only romanticised and fantasised
‘murmuring excitedly as if to a group of spectral admirers’.
Blanche: “ western union? Yes!- I want to – take down this message”
Stanley: “you left th’ phone of th’ hook”
‘spectral’ - suggest ghost like which indicates that the ‘group’ she is talking to is actually not real and is instead imagined.
These hallucinations are the result of her deteriorating mental state that has been on the decline since the very beginning on the play.
Throughout the entire play Stanley has displayed cruel nature towards Blanche and as he has returned home from the hospital and is alone with Blanche he has decided to get his revenge on her for the disrespect she displayed on him earlier in the play
dialogue emphasises to the audience that Blanche has fully been deluded into her own thoughts and voices to the point where she can even recognise the person she thought she was talking to wasn’t even on the other line
example to the audience that Blanche has reached her breaking point and Stanley’s impending attack will be her ultimate downfall for her lack of ability to realise what’s real and what’s not.
