Untitled Essay Research Paper By Mike mcmireztopic

Untitled Essay, Research Paper

By: Mike mcmirez

topic: blanche dubois

paper:

Tennessee Williams was once said: “Symbols are nothing but the natural speech

of drama…the purest language of plays” (Adler 30); this is clearly evident

in A Streetcar Named Desire. In analyzing the main character of the story,

Blanche DuBois, it is crucial to use both the literal text as well as the

symbols of the story to get a complete and thorough understanding of her.

Before one can understand Blanche’s character one must understand the reason

why she moves to New Orleans and joins her sister, Stella, and brother-in-law,

Stanley. By analyzing the symbolism in the first scene, one can understand

what prompted Blanche to move. Her appearance in the first scene “suggests

a moth” (Williams 96). In literature a moth represents the soul. So it is

possible to see her entire voyage as the journey of her soul (Quirino 63).

Later in the same scene she describes her voyage: “They told me to take a

streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride

six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields” (Quirino 63). Taken literally this

does not seem to add much to the story. However, if one investigates Blanche’s

past one can truly understand what this quotation symbolizes. Blanche left

her home to join her sister, because her life was a miserable wreck in her

former place of residence. She admits, at one point in the story, that “after

the death of Allan (her husband) intimacies with strangers was all I seemed

able to fill my empty heart with” (Williams, 178). She had sexual relations

with anyone who would agree to it. This is the first step in her voyage-”Desire”.

She said that she was forced into this situation because death was immanent

and “The opposite (of death) is desire” (Williams, 179). She escaped death

in her use of desire. However, she could not escape “death” for long. She

was a teacher at a high school, and at one point she had intimacies with

a seventeen year old student. The superintendent, “Mr. Graves”, found out

about this and she was fired from her job. Her image was totally destroyed

and she could no longer stay there. “Mr. Graves” sent her on her next stop

of the symbolic journey-”Cemeteries”. Her final destination was “Elysian

Fields”. Elysian Fields are the mythical resting place of the gods. This

is the place of the living dead. Blanche came to Elysian Fields to forget

her horrible past, and to have a fresh start in life (Quirino, 63). In fact

Blanche admits in the fourth scene that she wants to “make myself a new life”

(Williams 135).

By understanding the circumstances that brought Blanche to Elysian fields

it easy to understand the motives behind many of Blanche’s actions. One such

action is Blanche’s constant bathing. This represents her need to purify

herself from her past (Corrigan 53). However, it is important to note that

Blanche’s description of her traveling came before she actually settles into

Elysian Fields. The description therefore represents the new life Blanche

hoped to find, not what she actually did find.

Tennessee Williams describes this place as having a “raffish charm”, but

this eludes Blanches (Corrigan 50). She describes it as a place that “Only

Mr. Edgar Allen Poe!-could do it justice!” (Corrigan 50). From the beginning

Blanche does not fit in with neither the people of her new community, nor

the physical surroundings of her new home. One can see that she does not

fit in by comparing the manner in which women in the story handle their social

life with men. In the third scene, Stella, who is pregnant, is beaten by

her husband Stanley. She immediately runs upstairs to her friend’s apartment.

But, soon Stanley runs outside, screaming, “Stell-lahhhhh” (Williams 133).

She returns and they spend the night together. The next morning Stella and

Blanche discuss the horrible incident. Blanche asks: “How could you come

back in this place last night.” (Williams 134). Stella answers: “You’re making

much too much fuss about this” and later says that this is something that

“people !

do sometimes” (Williams 134). One sees this is a common occurrence when the

same thing happens to the neighbors a few scenes later. Later in the story,

Mitch- Blanche’s boyfriend- yells at her and tries to rape her. Afterwards,

she tells Stanley that she would never forgive him because “deliberate cruelty

is unforgivable” (Williams 184).

The person whom Blanche is most directly contrasted with is Stanley. Blanche

loves living in an idealistic world, while Stanley strictly relies on facts.

In the story Blanche makes up a good portion of her past for the majority

of the play. When she was young she lived an eloquent life in a mansion,

but she eventually lost it due to unpaid bills. She tells everyone this part

of her history b

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать