Blanche DuBois appears in the first scene dressed in white, the symbol of purity and innocence. She is seen as a moth-like creature. She is delicate, refined, and sensitive.

What does Stanley Blanche represent?

The DuBois clan, embodied in the play by Blanche, represents the genteel society of the Southern plantation owners that presided through the nineteenth century. Stanley Kowalski, the son of Polish immigrants, descends from new Southerners. ... Blanche and Stella are remnants of Southern aristocracy's decadence.

How is Blanche presented in A Streetcar Named Desire?

Behind her veneer of social snobbery and sexual propriety, Blanche is an insecure, dislocated individual. She is an aging Southern belle who lives in a state of perpetual panic about her fading beauty. Her manner is dainty and frail, and she sports a wardrobe of showy but cheap evening clothes.

What does white symbolize in A Streetcar Named Desire?

White is typically considered to be a symbol of purity, so let us first consider the name of Blanche DuBois, a central, symbolic character. The name Blanche means "white, pure." It is a word associated with purity, innocence and beauty.

In what ways does Blanche represent the Old South?

Blanche represents the “old” South because of her way of thinking, values, and lifestyle. Contrary to Blanche, Stanley Kowalski is a main character that is portrayed as being dominant, aggressive, and sexual. Stanley represents the “new” South because of his dominance and control over Stella.

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams | Summary & Analysis

22 related questions found

How does Blanche represent the past?

Blanche is described as a 'southern belle' and stands for past American values of refinement, manners, aristocracy and high culture. This is illustrated through her constant references to music and literature.

What does the New South represent in Streetcar?

Old Southern values stem from a genteel, romantic, idyllic time of plantations, culture, and etiquette/propriety – of aristocracy. New Southern values stem from a “survival of the fittest” rather than the inheritance of power and class.

What does Blanche symbolize?

Blanche DuBois appears in the first scene dressed in white, the symbol of purity and innocence. She is seen as a moth-like creature. She is delicate, refined, and sensitive.

Why is Blanche red?

Blanche is described to be wearing her red satin robe. Again, the colour red symbolizes love and desire. Blanche is visited by Mitch, who is the man she desires to get married to.

What does bathing symbolize in A Streetcar Named Desire?

Bathing. Throughout A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche bathes herself. ... In light of her efforts to forget and shed her illicit past in the new community of New Orleans, these baths represent her efforts to cleanse herself of her odious history.

What is Blanche wearing in scene one?

Dressed in a fine white suit appropriate for an upper-crust social event, Blanche moves tentatively, looking and apparently feeling out of place in Stella's neighborhood.

What is Blanche hiding?

But Blanche is hiding more than the age lines on her face - showering herself in darkness is a means of hiding away from society - a society she knows she's offended. She's ashamed of her sexual behavior, her loss of dignity, and tucks herself away in the dark. ... The paper lantern becomes a metaphor for Blanche herself.

What happens to Blanche at the end of A Streetcar Named Desire?

The ending to A Streetcar Named Desire is all about cruel and tragic irony. Blanche is shipped off to a mental institution because she can't deal with reality and retreats into illusion—yet Stella is doing the very same thing by ignoring her sister's story about Stanley.

How does Stanley destroy Blanche?

As the play progresses, Blanche's instability grows along with her misfortune. Stanley sees through Blanche and finds out the details of her past, destroying her relationship with his friend Mitch. Stanley also destroys what's left of Blanche by raping her and then having her committed to an insane asylum.

Does Stanley cheat on Stella?

Stanley immediately distrusts Blanche to the extent that he suspects her of having cheated Stella out of her share of the family inheritance. ... A short while later, Stanley is remorseful and cries up to Stella to forgive him. To Blanche's alarm, Stella returns to Stanley and embraces him passionately.

What is the relationship between Blanche and Stanley?

The antagonistic relationship between Blanche and Stanley is a struggle between appearances and reality. It propels the play's plot and creates an overarching tension. Ultimately, Blanche's attempts to remake her own and Stella's existences—to rejuvenate her life and to save Stella from a life with Stanley—fail.

Why are Blanche's love letters yellowing with antiquity?

Blanche's love letters are “yellowing with antiquity” because they are aging and old after a “dead boy wrote” (p.

What does the blue piano represent in A Streetcar Named Desire?

The blue piano is usually invoked in scenes of great passion; Williams states in the opening stage directions that it "expresses the spirit of the life" of Elysian Fields.

What does colored lights mean in Streetcar Named Desire?

For Blanche, the light represents the truth behind her aging. In order to hide from the truth, Blanche uses colored paper to cover the lights in the room. These lanterns allow Blanche to hide from the truth by shading her physical appearance.

What does Elysian Fields symbolize in A Streetcar Named Desire?

Blanche DuBois takes a streetcar named Desire and then a streetcar named Cemeteries to reach Elysian Fields. In mythology, the Elysian Fields were the place where heroes went to rest after their death. In this play, the Elysian Fields represent Blanche's final resting place.

How is Blanche's name ironic and symbolic?

What does Blanche's name mean and why is it ironic? It means white woods. It's ironic because white is pure and she is the farthest from pure. ... Stella means star and she is Blanche's sister and last hope.

WHAT DOES A Streetcar Named Desire symbolize?

The Streetcar Symbol Analysis

Williams called the streetcar the “ideal metaphor for the human condition.” The play's title refers not only to a real streetcar line in New Orleans but also symbolically to the power of desire as the driving force behind the characters' actions.

What is the difference between the New South and the Old South?

From a cultural and social standpoint, the "Old South" is used to describe the rural, agriculturally-based, slavery-reliant economy and society in the Antebellum South, prior to the American Civil War (1861–65), in contrast to the "New South" of the post-Reconstruction Era.

What is Belle Reve in Streetcar?

Belle Reve is the name of the former plantation where Stella and Blanche grew up in faded post-Civil War splendor (or decay, depending on your point of view). It is described as a southern mansion with tall columns. Its name means "beautiful dreams" in French.

What is meant by the New South?

The term "New South" refers to the economic shift from an exclusively agrarian society to one that embraced industrial development. ... These natural resources drew investors to Alabama, and from 1880 to 1890, the manufacture of iron products came to dominate industry in Alabama.