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Transcript

A Streetcar

Named...

We can see that through the employment of the motifs of light and shadow, Tennessee Williams is able to create a compelling story with very robust and dynamic characters. Blanche Dubois is a tortured soul but is not without her own sins. She is deceitful and even malevolent at times. She hides herself in the shadows and is fundamentally afraid of the light, as she fears it would expose her true nature and fading beauty. We hope we have been able to educate or at least inform you of this character-establishing motif.

T

hroughout the play, A Streetcar Named

Desire, we see the progression of the character

Blanche Dubois as she loses touch with her reality. Blanche constantly avoids light because she is concerned with how others view her. Her fear of exposing her face metaphorically represents her manipulative tendencies and delusion. Tennessee Williams uses this motif to advance the story while further establishing Blanche's character.

Light and Shadow Motifs

By: George, Anthony M, and Jonathan P

S

cene 9 marks the psychological

breakdown of Blanche's character and her ultimate "stepping out of the shadows." While Stella is giving birth, Mitch confronts Blanche in the Kowalski apartment and forces her to reveal her true intentions and manipulative nature. Blanche says that she finds the dark comforting and therefore refuses to see Mitch before 6 : 00 P.M. and will not tell him her age. These actions are the result of a fatal insecurity which causes Blanche to be guarded around others. Williams uses the element of shadows so that Blanche may avoid being upfront with other characters in the play, _ ___

I

n Scene 6, Blanche tells Mitch the story of her

further establishing her as a very manipulative

individual.

first love, Allan Grey. After his suicide, Blanche compares their relationship to a bright light that had suddenly put out. Therefore, dim light is represented by Blanche's various non-intimate sexual partners and explains her desperate need for relationship. Bright light can also represent Blanche's vivacious past; her wealth, her lover, her family and Belle Reve. All of these elements of her past are gone by the time Blanche arrives in New Orleans, which leads us to believe that most of the bright light in Blanche's life has dimmed.

"God love you for a liar! Daylight never exposed so total a ruin!”

(Scene 1, pg 21 - Blanche speaking to Stella)

“I can’t stand a naked light bulb no more than I can stand a rude remark or vulgar action.”

(Scene 3, pg 55 - Blanche speaking to Mitch)

“It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that has always been half in shadow, that’s how it struck the world for me.”

(Scene 6, pg 95 – Blanche speaking to Mitch)

“I like it dark. The dark is comforting to me”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in the light. That’s a fact!”

“What it means is I’ve never had a real good look at you, Blanche. Let’s turn the light on here.”

(Scene 9, pg 116 – conversation between Blanche and Mitch)

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