ipl-logo

Illusion Vs. Reality In A Streetcar Named Desire

315 Words2 Pages

In the play A Streetcar Named Desire Williams frequently demonstrates illusion vs reality threw his main character Blanche. Blanche is coping with her past life by creating lies to cover up her mistakes, eventually like all lies the truth is brought to light causing Blanche to have a series of mental breakdowns,eventually causing her to be mentally unstable. She is then incapable of distinguishing reality from her own illusions and has tricked herself into her own game. Blanche is introduced to the audience wearing a beautiful white suit with a fluffy bodice, pearl necklace and earrings,white gloves and white hat.(Act 1, Scene 1, Pg.15). This is placed in the play to foreshadow her ¨purity¨ her all outfit is meant to create a pure illusion

Show More
Related

  • Symbolism Of Imagery In 'Revealing Leah's Dawn'

    1334 Words  | 6 Pages

    (115). This demonstrates that using her family member's clothes symbolizes the protection it brings within her. Not only that, but the clothes also represent the protection that causes her to forget about dying and want to live more, causing her to accept her family. Not only that but her wearing her

    Read More

  • A Streetcar Named Desire Conflict Essay

    783 Words  | 4 Pages

    However the main conflict is Blanche’s inability to accept reality or her inability to let go of her past. Blanche sees herself above her sister’s life and carries a sense of entitlement that no longer fits her environment like it did in her past. Underneath, Blanche is a liar and Stanley is not. Stanley and Stella are able to able to admit what they are while Blanche is constantly trying to hide who she is. She is unable to come to her desire and sees herself superior to the people around her.

    Read More

  • Act 3 Scene 3 Of A Streetcar Named Desire

    462 Words  | 2 Pages

    In scene 3, there is a crescendo of violence which leads up to climax of Stanley hitting his wife Stella. The atmosphere at first seem to foreshadow the event that is to take place, as the men wear lurid colours such as ‘solid blues’, ‘a purple’. The scene itself has vivid colours such as ‘lurid nocturnal brilliance’ and ‘vivid green glass shade’. The vivid and lurid kitchen in the middle of the night seem to be somewhat hell-like and sinister. The drinking and poker amplify the animal nature of the men.

    Read More

  • Internal Structure Of A Streetcar Named Desire

    165 Words  | 1 Pages

    A Streetcar Named Desire was analyzed through the structuralist lens to examine the internal structure of the play in respect to the three different stages of Blanche’s downfall into complete madness. From the very beginning of the play, Blanche lied and pretended that she had a great life. She hid the fact that she was actually emotionally and financially unstable. Blanche said “I was so exhausted by all I'd been through my--nerves broke. I was on the verge of--lunacy, almost!

    Read More

  • Insecurity In A Streetcar Named Desire

    1085 Words  | 5 Pages

    It is what is haunting Blanche’s life, it is what has made her mentally unstable. Throughout the play, she has been hiding her past from people so she looks like

    Read More

  • Deception In A Streetcar Named Desire Essay

    1065 Words  | 5 Pages

    301617- A Streetcar Named Desire Lying as well as deception is a common theme in A Streetcar Named Desire for the characters. There is Blanche, whom, because of her deception and lying which has played a bigger role on the other characters than she goes and realizes. Blanche stated in scene two of A Streetcar

    Read More

  • Relationships In A Streetcar Named Desire

    1371 Words  | 6 Pages

    Williams uses the expressionist technique “The ‘Varsouviana’ is filtered into weird distortion, accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle” to parallel Blanche’s inner mind and depicts Blanche’s deranged mental state after Stella’s betrayal. The imagery ‘Lurid reflections appear on the walls in odd, sinuous shapes’ highlights her mental turbulence and the stage directions ‘mysterious voices behind walls, as if reverberated through a canyon of rock…the echo sounds in threatening whispers’ heightens tension, positioning the audience to witness the overwhelming fear and exaggeration of her senses, further emphasising the detrimental impact Stella’s decision made. The Streetcar Named Desire also examines the influence that a person’s social standing can have. Stanley’s statement in scene 2 ‘The Kowalskis and Dubois have different notions’ indicates their social upbringing has influenced the way they think, hence disrupting their connection and loyalty towards one another. The use of their family name is metonymic for their ancestry and social standing, addressing the barriers derived from a social hierarchy which have affected their relationship.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare In Love Comedy Analysis

    2753 Words  | 12 Pages

    Question 1-Shakespeare in Love Shakespeare in love as a comedy Shakespeare in love is comedy that provides a clear juxtaposition of Shakespeare’s live in Elizabethan time and creates allusions to his works and modern times with allusion to famous Hollywood films. Aspects of the Elizabethan times are evidently displayed throughout the play. The clothing worn by the actors and actresses was characterised by doublets, breeches, gowns, corsets, collars, ruffs and hats. It was evident that there was a clear class division.

    Read More

  • A Streetcar Named Desire Past And Present Analysis

    1547 Words  | 7 Pages

    Blanche is an old southern Belle who expects the man to be a gentleman and in her level of class, scene 10 “A cultivated woman, a woman of intelligence and breeding, can enrich a man’s life” (Williams, 1947) this is how Blanche intertwines the past and present as past women were only there to be seen, look after the house and provide children and present Blanche could be seen to be past her prime. Blanche is representing the past as she is still dress in grand dress white moth Ironically Blanche appears in the first scene dressed in white, “the symbol of

    Read More

  • Illusion Vs Reality In A Streetcar Named Desire

    608 Words  | 3 Pages

    In A Streetcar Named Desire, the author Tennessee Williams exaggerates and dramatizes fantasy’s incapability to overcome reality through an observation of the boundary between Blanches exterior and interior conveying the theme that illusion and fantasy are often better than reality. Blanche, who hides her version of the past, alters her present and her relationship with her suitor Mitch and her sister, Stella. Blanche was surrounded by death in her past, her relatives and husband have passed away, leaving her with no legacy left to continue. The money has exhausted; the values are falling apart and she is alienated and unable to survive in the harsh reality of modern society. Throughout the novel Williams juxtaposed Blanche’s delusions with

    Read More

  • Light Techniques In A Streetcar Named Desire

    1020 Words  | 5 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of A Streetcar Named Desire

    959 Words  | 4 Pages

    A Streetcar named Desire written by American playwright Tennessee Williams is a Marxist play that depicts the socio economic status of the characters and people living during that time. The play was written in 1947, two years after the second world war. The historical time leading up to the Second World War known as the Interwar period from 1918-1939 was an era classified with economical difficulties for a majority of American citizens. After the new economic system based upon capital emerged succeeding the Industrial Revolution, the United States saw a massive prosperity in the early twentieth century only to be demolished by the stock market crash of 1929 also known as Black Tuesday (source). These unsuccessful stock markets were one of the signs that showed that the new system, which depended on an extensive labor force and an open and unregulated market, was not as reliable as previously thought, this period was known as the Depression.

    Read More

  • Foreshadowing In A Streetcar Named Desire

    757 Words  | 4 Pages

    A Street Car Named Desire is a play written by Tennessee Williams, which slowly uncovers Blanche’s prior life. Her troubled past causes her a lot of trouble when she tries to start over. She used to work as a teacher in Mississippi, however, she was forced to leave after she was caught having an affair with one of the students. This was typical behavior for Blanche since she had previously taken many lovers. Since she had such a hard time in Mississippi, she decides to move to New Orleans to live with her sister, Stella, and her husband, Stanley, in hopes of escaping her past.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis: A Streetcar Named Desire

    1038 Words  | 5 Pages

    Tennessee Williams is acclaimed for his ability to create multi faced characters such as Blanche Dubois in the play, A Streetcar Named Desire. She comes to New Orleans after losing everything including her job, money, and her family’s plantation Belle Reve, to live with her sister Stella. During her time there she causes many conflicts with Stella’s husband Stanley and tries to get involved with the people there, all while judging them for their place in society, although she is imperfect too. Through her, Williams has created a complex character. She is lost, confused, conflicted, lashing out in sexual ways, and living in her own fantasies throughout the entirety of the play.

    Read More

  • A Streetcar Named Desire Psychological Analysis Essay

    1397 Words  | 6 Pages

    Psychologist Sigmund Freud developed an idea that there is more than one aspect to the human psyche. The human psyche rather is structured into three separate parts including: id, ego, and superego. In a similar manner, Tennessee Williams has three main characters in his Southern Gothic play, A Streetcar Named Desire. In addition to the human psyche as the three mentioned categories, Freud introduced psychoanalysis, which is the belief that people could be cured through developing their unconscious thoughts or motivations into their conscious decisions, receiving insight (McLeod). Characters are shaped by their thoughts and actions, as this is present in A Streetcar Named Desire.

    Read More

More about Illusion Vs. Reality In A Streetcar Named Desire

Open Document