Sakura Kato English 10 C Date: 1/ 2/ 2013 A Streetcar Named Desire Motif: Light Through the use of a light motif, Williams demonstrates how Blanche’s aversion to light conveys the theme of illusion and reality. Light is a symbol of reality and as Blanche runs away from it, she stays in the darkness to hide not only her true self and but from reality. Blanche describes her first love as “a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow” [pg. 114] and therefore, light is used to represent love, but her first husband’s suicide, has erased love and light from her life. So metaphorically, she is hiding from reality but on a physical level, Blanche avoids light to prevent others from seeing the reality of her beauty that is now being “put out” like light.
Williams’ play is an example of a modern tragedy and Blanche is a complex tragic hero, as she is embodying both the traditional aspects of a tragic hero, but also introducing the new ideologies simultaneously. Williams introduces glimpses of an Aristotelian tragic hero in Blanche’s entrance. Blanche initially appears to fulfil the criteria of nobility; her arrival in the shabby and deprived setting of New Orleans coupled with her reaction of surprise and disbelief, ‘this- can this- be her home?’ clearly highlights her incompatibility to the surroundings immediately. Williams includes stage directions that allow the reader to build up a strong idea of Blanche’s appearance: ‘Her appearance is incongruous to this setting,’ and her distinct mannerisms. She seems to be superior compared to her surroundings, virginal and demure due to her ‘Southern belle’ upbringing and these traits are obvious in her choice of attire: ‘She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and ear-rings of pearl, white gloves and hat...’ These are expensive garments that denote grandeur and wealth and ultimately purity.
She later backs this portrayal up by hysterically saying, “And turn that over-light off! Turn that off! I won’t be looked at in that merciless glare!” The character of Blanche is being represented as something so delicate she cannot be seen in a bright light, lest she fall apart. In this way Williams is very cleverly and very effectively outlining Blanche’s fragile character and insecurities, she is being shown as unstable and very prone to falling apart completely, and indeed potentially being easily damaged, just as a moth can be injured beyond recovery if their frail wings are touched. On top of this, the fact the character is named Blanche has relevance too.
Kate Kujawa Mrs. Kahle Great Books 17 December 2014 Blanche’s Facade The first scene of Tennessee William's play A Streetcar Named Desire contains specific details that introduce the theme of false appearances. Blanche hides behind a façade to conceal her true self from others because of self-hatred, guilt, and humiliation. The sound of the blue piano and polka music contribute to this theme by revealing Blanche’s self-hatred from feeling responsible for the losses in her past. Blanche also uses dim lighting to hide her biggest insecurity, her age. Similarly, Blanche focuses on her appearance and her possessions to cover- up her humiliation and strengthens the façade.
The first time we meet Daisy she is dressed in white which is ironic because Daisy is far from “pure”. The fact that Daisy is putting on a fake persona makes the reader wonder if she really is as naive as she acts. White in the novel also symbolises materialistic insubstantial love, this is shown when Daisy chooses her marriage partner based on $350,000 string of white pearls, and this suggests that Daisy is extremely materialistic because she “chose” Tom purely because he bought her an expensive gift. Fitzgerald also uses pastel colours, “coral...and lavender and faint orange, with monograms of Indian blue”. Pastels connotes a fairytale, ephemeral quality, this represents the unreality of the Buchanans’ lifestyle and what they have, relationship wise won’t last for a long time and will eventually wither away.
Lieberman’s point is that fairy tales make beauty the basis for which reward is given, not intelligence, work ethic, or anything else a radical feminist would see as an asset. Lieberman also stresses that in popular fairy tales, beauty is associated with being kind and well-tempered whereas ugliness is associated with being ill-tempered and often jealous. This can be easily shown in one of the most popular fairy tales of all—Cinderella. In this, Lieberman argues, Cinderella is oppressed by her cruel, ugly stepsisters and stepmother who force the kind, beautiful girl to do all the chores in the house. Cinderella ends up getting the prize (marriage to the prince) based on looks alone.
From the beginning of the play, there is a building of tension amplified by the use of stage direction and music. This continues throughout and culminates in the final scene when the audience feels the sense of loss experienced by all the characters and empathises with Blanche's plight. The first thing one notices when reading Scene 11 is Williams' use of descriptive and metaphorical language to underline the tension between the protagonists, Stanley and Blanche. The description of Blanche's "tragic radiance in her red satin robe" alludes to her loss of innocence at Stanley's hands in Scene 10. In the 1940’s it would have been totally unacceptable to describe rape explicitly.
His good looks forced her to say “I’m sick of shadows” and break the curse by leaving the tower, which results to her tearful death. ‘The Lady of Shalott’ includes many magical and mysterious things, like; the curse, The Lady of Shalott herself and the fact the weather reflects the feelings of the lady of Shalott. This makes the poem super natural and it also leads onto the next question, which is the HOW part of the title- HOW did Tennyson make the atmosphere mysterious and magical? (Using the magical and mysterious things) Tennyson used some extraordinary techniques to create the poems atmosphere, the mood of the poem and vivid imagery. Such as: - Pathetic fallary and personification.
A Streetcar Named Desire Plot: A Streetcar Named Desire follows the story of Blanche Du Bois, a former school teacher. For secret reasons, she leaves her home and moves in with her sister, Stella, and her husband, Stanley Kowalski. The play deals with the culture clash between the two protagonists, Stanley, a rising member of the urban immigrant class, and Blanche, a fading but still attractive Southern Belle. Blanche’s virtue and culture thinly mask her alcoholism and delusions of grandeur. Her poise is an illusion set up to shield herself from reality, yet she still attempts to make herself attractive to new male suitors.
Firstly, Austen helps us to distinguish what is appearance, and what is reality. The bright example is Mrs. Lady de Bourgh. From the first pages we see her as a rich, bossy noblewoman, who is proud of herself, of her high blood and the social rank. But more me read her, more we learn her to be the same as the middle-class Mrs. Bennet. “Ill-natured” gossips, the only difference between them is the possession of fortune.