streetcar Flashcards
Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.
Blanche’s dependence “on the kindness of strangers” rather than on herself is the reason why she has not fared well in life. In truth, strangers have been kind only in exchange for sex. Otherwise, strangers like Stanley, Mitch, and the people of Laurel have denied Blanche the sympathy she deserves.
I don’t want realism. I want magic! Yes, yes, magic. I try to give that to people. I do misrepresent things. I don’t tell truths. I tell what ought to be truth.
Blanche does not want to be revealed in the light of truth. She prefers the mysterious shadows of her own delusions. She works hard to avoid the merciless glare of reality by drinking alcohol, indulging in fantasies, and maintaining a “hoity-toity” tone amidst the bawdy realities of the Kowalski household.
Deliberate cruelty is unforgivable, and the one thing of which I have never,ever been guilty of.
Fantasy is her primary means of self-defense. She is not deceitful out of malice. They are created out of an incapacity to see the truth. Just as Blanche is portrayed in the beginning of the movie coming out of clouds of smoke, she presents things not as they are, but as they ought to be.
I know I fib a good deal. After all, a woman’s charm is 50% illusion.
if Blanche cannot function as a woman, then her life is invalid. She therefore tries to captivate Stanley by flirting with him and by using all of her womanly charms. She knows no other way to enter into her present surroundings.
Straight? What’s ‘straight’? A line can be straight, or a street. But the heart of a human being?
a way to live your life suggests that if you are lost in your emotions that the best way to find your way around is to focus on what you need and not what you desire. For instance, during the time that Blanche thought that she wasn’t good enough for Stanley was her focusing on what she thought could help her but Stanley isn’t was she needs, its what she desires.
I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action.
Blanche takes the naked truth - the stark bare lightbulb, the rude remark - and dresses it up prettily to make everyone happier and everything easier. That she speaks of talk and action as analogous to a lightbulb shows that she considers the remedy for uncouth behavior and appearance to be a paper lantern, an external cover, rather than a change from within.
