Essay On Symbolism In A Streetcar Named Desire

Blanche, from A Streetcar Named Desire, knows the pain of light all to well. Blanche flees a failed company and a failed marriage in attempt to find refuge in her sister’s home. Through her whirlwind of emotions, the reader can see Blanche desires youth and beauty above all else, or so the readers think. In reality, she uses darkness to hide the true story of her past. In A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Williams uses the motif of light to reveal Blanche’s habit of living in a fantasy world until the light illuminates her reality.

In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams, uses the motif of light to reveal Blanche’s obsession with living in a fantasy world until the light illuminates her reality. Blanche uses darkness to block her past from onlookers as to control her image. In particular, she hides her age and past relationships from onlookers, unable to reveal her genuine face to her biological sister. When Blanche first comes to Stella’s house, she firmly demands Stella to “turn the over-light off!” as she

I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!” Blanches magic is seen through her illusions and delusions. In Blanches world Mitch doesn’t fit however she has reached a point of intimacy by being honest about her first husband and the guilt she endures as she begins to share the painful moment of her life with him. Stanley’s intrusion ruins her plans of marriage with Mitch and yet again she had to retreat in the world of her delusions. Stanley who represents realism in this novel and play pops Blanche’s illusion bubble through seeing the realism in scene ten he says: “not once did you pull any wool over this boy’s eyes!” Not only Stanley had broken her world of illusion, but also Mitch who is influenced by Stanley and destroys the protection of darkness by exposing her to the bright light.

It starts when she is lying to save herself from being accused of practicing witchcraft but after some time she is starting to use power of the fact that others believe in her lies. She accused Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft so she can be with John and she is lying to force Mary Warren to join their side again. In the beginning of the play, when the girls are just about to try to wake up Betty but Mr. Parris will come in while, Abigail says, “No, he’ll be comin’ up. Listen, now; if they be questioning us, tell them we danced-I told him as much already” (Miller 174). She is lying to save herself and she is expecting others to do the same and they will.

No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; It’s God’s work I do” (875). That is until Mary caves under the pressure and accuses John Proctor of being the Devil 's man, so nothing bad occurs due to Abigail. In addition, Abigail tells lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town, and eventually sends nineteen innocent people to their deaths. Throughout all of the hysteria, Abigail’s motivations are based off of a simple jealousy and a desire to have revenge on Elizabeth Proctor. There are a few background

She states that she “won’t be looked at in this merciless glare” (Williams, 11) and as she starts getting more comfortable at the Kowalski’s, she puts a paper lantern over the lightbulb to soften the light. The subdued glow allows her to play the role of a virtuous and coquettish ingénue while hiding her true age and her sordid past. Moreover, Blanche is of the opinion that “a woman’s charm is fifty percent illusion” (Williams, 41), which might explain why she is so attached to the idea of purity, considering her promiscuous past (which was revealed when in Scene 7, Stanley confronted Blanche about her work as a prostitute in Laurel). This continues throughout the play until, in Scene 9, Mitch says “I’ve never had a real good look at you” (Williams, 144) to Blanche and tears the lantern off the light bulb putting her in full exposure in terms of her looks and her true personality. The Southern belle defends herself saying that she prefers magic over reality, so she tells people “what ought to be truth” (Williams,

“A Streetcar Named Desire” contains a strong lighting motif that repeats throughout the play. This usually involves Blanche, a character who shies away from any light that is drawn upon her, and is especially sensitive to light when her suitor Mitch is around. To Blanche, she is still young and beautiful in her mind, but when light shines on her she becomes afraid that Mitch will notice her aging skin, her beauty falling. This motif heavily implies how Blanche sees herself and the significance to her sexual innocence. To begin, throughout the play the audience begins to understand how Blanche sees herself.

There is a rising action as Blanche and Stanley 's relationship becomes more and more difficult, with Blanche constantly belittling and insulting him, and Stanley becoming more aggressive and angry. Blanche grows to despise Stanley when she sees him beating her pregnant sister and Stanley permanently hates Blanche after he overhears her trying to convince her sister Stella to leave Stanley because he is common. There is also a rising action in Stanley’s revealing of Blanche 's secret past to Stella and Mitch. The climax of the play occurs when Stanley rapes Blanche. This brutal act marks the completion of her mental decline, pushing her over the edge from sanity to madness.

“A Streetcar Named Desire” is a play which mostly revolves around Blanche’s delusional states. As from the beginning of the play till the end we are propelled into a world of truth and reality which is being hidden through the use of light. Light is a symbolism of truth and reality and thus avoiding light could be interpreted as hiding the truth. This is evident in the line “her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light”. The use of the adjective “Strong” allows the reader to visualize the scene of Blanche shying away from the light.

In contrast to this, Macbeth is consumed by his ambition after being influenced by the witches and his wife. “I murdered you, my son, against my will- you too, my wife…”(1461-1462) Creon regrets his actions by the end of the play. From these lines Sophocles made it even more clear that if you defy the gods, you will surely regret your actions. “Though Birnam Wood be come to Dunsinane and thou

Even though they both love each other, it is almost like they are even more lonely when beside one another, because they are excluded from the rest of society, which is what makes them so alike. When speaking to Isabella Linton, Catherine tries to display Heathcliff’s true insanity before her. She says, “Tell her what Heathcliff is: an unreclaimed creature, without refinement, without cultivation; an arid wilderness of furze and whinstone” (102). Even though Catherine tries to sway Isabella away from Heathcliff so that their love can be again,