Blanche Dubois Flashcards
What is the significance of Blanche being like a moth in Scene 1? (1 quote and 2 points)
“There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth.”
A moth is a fragile creature of the night that flits around light and is eventually scorched by it
Blanche flits around men (her “light”) like Allan, Stanley and Mitch who eventually destroy her
How does Williams demonstrate Blanche and Stanley’s dynamic in Scenes 1 and 2? (3 quotes and 2 points)
Scene 1:
“Some buttons in back! You may enter! [He crosses through drapes with a smouldering look.] How do I look?”
“That was why, when you walked in here last night, I said to myself - “My sister has married a man!”
Scene 2 - “I called him a little boy and laughed and flirted. Yes, I was flirting with your husband!”
Suggests that Blanche in some ways could be attracted to Stanley as a man - does fish for his attention and compliments and openly flirts with him
All these instances are important as they play a role in Stella’s scepticism about the rape at the end of the play
How does Williams indicate Blanche’s opinion on relationships in Scene 4? (1 quote and 2 points)
Scene 4 - “What such a man has to offer is animal force […]. But the only way to live with such a man is to - go to bed with him! And that’s your job - not mine!”
After Blanche sees Stanley’s violent and explosive nature, her attitude towards him changes - possibly, in her loneliness, jealous of what Stella has
Reflects Blanche’s understanding that a relationship with Stanley is based on sex and she cannot have that
How does Williams use fading light to characterise Blanche in Scene 4? (1 quote and 2 points)
“I never was hard or self-sufficient enough…It isn’t enough to be soft. You’ve got to be soft and attractive. And I-I’m fading now!”
Blanche avoids light to keep her physical reality hidden - she cannot cope with ageing and hence believes that dim lights will hide the physical signs of it
“Fading” is also light imagery - Blanche uses this to signify her deteriorating beauty, power and her hold on reality
How does Williams demonstrate Blanche’s affinity for young men in Scene 5? (1 quote and 3 points)
Blanche calls men ‘little boy’ or ‘boy’ in the case of Mitch - a glimpse into her obsession with young men
Scene 5 - “Now run along, now, quickly! It would be nice to keep you, but I’ve got to be good–and keep my hands off children.”
Her obsession could come from her love for Allan (refers to him as a boy in Scenes 1, 2 and 6) and her desire to feel young - her way of reliving what she once had and wants back
How does Williams use light to characterise Blanche in Scene 6? (1 quote and 3 points)
Scene 6 - “It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow…”
Blanche understands love as a blinding light that entered her otherwise dim life
“Light” generally has a positive connotation and symbolises truth - particularly in Christianity - but negative words like “struck” “much too” “unlucky” “deluded” are used
Her love for Allan ended in a violent tragedy - the “light” blinded Blanche and forced her into a world of “delusions”
How does Williams portray Blanche’s feelings about her marriage in Scene 6? (2 quotes and 1 point)
“It was because–on the dance floor–unable to stop myself–I’d suddenly said-.”I saw! I know! You disgust me..”
“All I knew was I’d failed him in some mysterious way and wasn’t able to give the help he needed but couldn’t speak of!… Then I found out. In the worst of all possible ways.”
Blanche blames herself for the failure of the marriage - not only due to her insensitivity towards her discovery of his sexuality; but also her inadequacy as a wife
How does Williams use the metaphor of a “blinding light” to portray Blanche’s marriage in Scene 6? (1 quote and 3 points)
“And then the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light that’s stronger than this–kitchen–candle..”
Too much “blinding light” in her marriage led her to believe it was a perfect life - the same light exposed the truth
Blinding lights cause us to have to squint and adjust our sight to accommodate them so we can see clearly - Blanche couldn’t see what was happening initially, only saw reality clearly later on
This caused her to snuff out the light entirely - she now prefers the darkness
How does Williams hint to Blanche’s character before her mental decline in Scene 6? (1 quote and 3 points)
Stella: “You didn’t know Blanche as a girl. Nobody, nobody was tender and trusting as she was. But people like you abused her, and forced her to change.”
Blanche is presented at the end of her gradual mental breakdown but Williams suggests an innocence once existed within her that was slowly buried over the years
Stella is a credible source for Blanche’s character before the trauma of Allan’s death - repetition of “nobody” shows an insistence that Blanche was once as pure as her name suggests
Her stating that it was people like “you” (Stanley) that “abused and forced her to change” implies the brutality of men altered her
What is the significance of the Paper Moon song in Scene 7? (3 points)
It adds to the tense dramatic irony - its lyrics about reality and illusions could symbolise her developing relationship with Mitch
Her relationship with Mitch is built on deceit and lies and will crumble when the truth is revealed - Williams uses this juxtaposition to foreshadow its bitter end
The “paper-moon” - much like the “paper-lantern” - symbolises Blanche’s need to hide reality and it being paper emphasises its fragility which allows Stanley to destroy the lantern
What is the significance of bathing to Blanche as shown in Scenes 7-8? (3 points and 3 quotes)
Bathing and water in the play are symbols for purification
Scene 2 - “Here I am, all freshly bathed and scented, and feeling like a brand new human being!”
Scene 7 - “A hot bath and a long, cold drink always give me a brand new outlook on life!”
Scene 8 - “I take hot baths for my nerves. Hydro-therapy, they call it.”
She states that it helps “calm her nerves” - frequency with she showers connotes that she is constantly disturbed by something.
Can be interpreted as her wanting to purify her past due to the guilt she feels for it
What is the significance of the line “I don’t want realism. I want magic!…” in Scene 9? (3 points)
It is Blanche’s admission of her deceit
Her tone indicates a lack of malice in her deceitfulness - “Yes, yes. Magic” suggests a childish nature to her mischief
There is juxtaposition in Blanche’s ideas of realism and magic, and irony in her belief that she is right in telling lies
What is the significance of Blanche mentioning having “many intimacies with strangers” in Scene 9? (1 quote and 2 points)
“Yes, I had many intimacies with strangers. After the death of Allan–intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart with… think it was panic, just panic, that drove me from one to another, hunting for some protection…”
Her state of dependency is triggered by Allan’s death - she indulged in intimacies to fill the sense of emptiness she was left with
Glaringly obvious that those strangers were kind to her as they were offered sex - even in Elysian Fields, she’s denied sympathy from everyone apart from Stella, just like those who exiled her from Laurel
What is the signficance of Blanche and Mitch’s argument in Scene 9? (4 points)
It shows Blanche’s desperation to be married, even if it’s Mitch, someone who just tried to force himself on her
Crucial exchange from a feminist lens - shows how women were raised to be dependent on a patriarch
Mitch believes he is entitled to casual sex because Blanche was previously engaged in it - prepared to take it by force as well
Casual sex makes Blanche dirty but Mitch, who forces himself on her, is still “clean” enough to go back to his mother - gender discrimination and male entitlement
What is the significance of Blanche’s monologue ending with “pearls before swine!” in Scene 10? (1 quote and 2 points)
“A cultivated woman, a woman of intelligence and breeding, can enrich a man’s life–immeasurably!…”
As she speaks to Stanley, she tries to convince herself that she is who she wants to be
She is overwhelmed with her emotions and feels the guilt of her past indiscretions
Her insecurities are embedded in the above quote:
+ Economic status
+ Ageing
+ Loneliness
