She very clearly does not belong to the society-her constant need for approval and admiration are typical of a southern Belle-she both completes an image of it and at the same time, opposes it by her problems and deceitful nature. Blanche tries to play the role as a victim and cast herself as vulnerable. [She springs up and crosses it, and removes a bottle of whiskey. She's fickle, she's manipulative, she's a snob, she constantly resorts to sex and alcohol to deal with her problems Blanche has weaknesses in spades. For Blanche his death opened up a floodgate of fear and desire which she could not manage. Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. Kurt Hutton/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Behind her veneer of social snobbery and sexual propriety, Blanche is deeply insecure, an aging Southern belle who lives in a state of perpetual panic about her fading beauty and concerns about how others perceive her looks. And Blanche's entire life has been affected by this early tragic event. for a group? Her false propriety is not simply snobbery, however; it constitutes a calculated attempt to make herself appear attractive to new male suitors. Although the light seems harsh, Blanche acts hardhearted and pitiless and could possibly be seeing herself in the glare. Her family fortune and estate are gone, she lost her young husband to suicide years earlier, and she is a social pariah due to her indiscrete sexual behavior. Blanche shows up at her sister Stellas house, claiming that she is taking a leave of absence from her teaching job on account of her nerves. In reality the authors gives a false impression of her in order to affirm that stereotypes or first impression are not always true. She still plays the role of the ideal type of person she would like to be. The syntax of this sentence, a statement followed by a question, seems leading and manipulative; Blanche clearly wants him to believe that he will be lonely so that he pursues her more urgently, perhaps more out of her need for his provision and stability than out of love and desire for him. In Tennessee Williams play, A street Car Named Desire, the author introduces a character named Blanche Dubois who is described as a southern bell. How Do I Know If My Mother In Law Is Manipulative? for a group? Social Concern of Feminism: Women are treated as property, not individuals. Stanley quickly sees through Blanches act and seeks out information about her past. Shop Full Width; Shop With Sidebar; . She bathes several times a day and goes through many bottles of perfume during her stay with Stella. Whereas Blanche acts like a seductress, at first sight she seems to be pure by wearing a daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice (Williams 3). She sees herself the way she wants to be, rather than for the way she is. Blanche was constantly fantasizing about the traditional values of a southern gentlemen, proving her dependence on this sex. This panic "drove [her] from one [man] to another, hunting for some protection(117). WebBlanche DuBois is manipulative by pretending to be something she is not in order to get what she wants. It is evident throughout the play that she tries to keep up her aristocratic faade by only drinking whiskey, which is an expensive and strong form of liquor. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. What are the social issues directly related to A Streetcar Named Desire? Ace your assignments with our guide to A Streetcar Named Desire! Strong as she may be, Blanche DuBois is ultimately no match for the brute strength of Stanley Kowalski. How is block randomization done? She sees herself the way she wants to be, rather than for the way she is. in spite of the fact shes somewhat older than I. Arguably, the expectations and beliefs of women were either to be a housewife or a mother, whereas Blanche shows neither, as a result of automatically feeling out of place possibly leading to her downfall. But her biggest weakness is her inability to face up to reality. Shes fickle, shes manipulative, shes a snob, she constantly resorts to sex and alcohol to deal with her problems Blanche has weaknesses in spades. A Streetcar Named Desire contains a strong lighting motif that repeats throughout the play. The night Stella goes into labor, Stanley and Blanche are left alone in the apartment, and Stanley, drunk and powerful, rapes her. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. She imagines dying holding the hand of a young, handsome doctor, and then being dropped overboard at noon, finally united with her husband. But her biggest weakness is her inability to face up to reality. She is an aging Southern belle who lives in a state of perpetual panic about her fading beauty. Blanches knowledge that she must attract men with her physical body is shown when she tries to get Mitch 's attention by undressing in the light so that he can see the outline of her body Blanche moves back into the streak of light. We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Summer-blockbuster fans know her as Peter Parker's Aunt May in the Spider-Man movies. She claims that an admirer gave them to her. Michael Brosilow/Courtesy Steppenwolf Theatre In the Kowalski household, Blanche pretends to be a woman who has never known indignity. Blanche begins dating Stanley's friend Harold "Mitch" Mitchell, who is distinct from Stanley in his courtesy and propriety, and sees in him a chance for happiness. Blanche values illusion above all else, and convinces herself that lying is necessary to be attractive. Stanley exasperatedly says, Whats this here? Are you sure you want to remove #bookConfirmation# On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. WebBlanche DuBois is manipulative by pretending to be something she is not in order to get what she wants. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% Harris played Ophelia opposite Peter O'Toole in the Hamlet that inaugurated the Royal National Theatre in 1964. Character Analysis Playing her is like climbing Mount Everest, both physically and emotionally demanding. Williams therefore conveys to the audience Blanches tendency to be optimistic, to the point where she is blind to the problems in her life. Stanley claims that she was not only a town character, she was considered downright loco. This discussion marks the beginning of Blanches unraveling. She doesn't always tell the truth, but she tells "what ought to be truth." Blanche is fearful of the light because of her traumatic past that she has faced. Stanley confronted Blanche about the sale of the family home and grabbed some papers from her trunk, one of which contained the name of a mortgage company. Blanche's last remarks in the play seem to echo pathetically her plight and predicament in life. The humor, Robins says, erupts from "the things that come out of her that you don't expect.". You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers. The character was written for Tallulah Bankhead and made popular to later audiences with Elia Kazan's 1951 film adaptation of Williams' play; A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando. Subscribe now. For [], What happens to a dream deferred? However, Blanches admission of flirting with Stanley plays an important role in how Stella reacts to events that occur later in the play. "Because each actress brought something different to the role than somebody else, and I think he liked that.". She felt also that she was cruel to him in a way that Stanley would like to be cruel to her. Please wait while we process your payment. At a college level, it was impressive to see how the actors and the whole team handled the material. WebSpecifically, we see Blanche Dubois lose touch with reality as she avoids the light and attempts to manipulate the other characters. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. Her fear of being revealed in the light shows her true nature, manipulative, delusional and malevolent. Want 100 or more? She is insecure, manipulative, and mentally and emotionally unstable, yet she has this air of superiority them she embraces. Blanche is shipped off to a mental institution because she cant deal with reality and retreats into illusionyet Stella is doing the very same thing by ignoring her sisters story about Stanley. She calls Stanley an ape, and shames Stella for marrying a man so violent and animalistic. By unexpectedly entering a room, she found him in a compromising situation with an older man. She suffers a nervous breakdown, and is taken away, presumably to a mental hospital. Blanches life has collapsed after the suicide of her husband Allan and the loss of the family estate Belle Reve. Joan Marcus/Courtesy the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. How is block randomization done? Blanche is fatally divided, swinging between the desire to be a young, beautiful lady who concerned with old-fashioned southern ways and a bohemian erring excessive in her appetites. The syntax of this sentence, a statement followed by a question, seems leading and manipulative; Blanche clearly wants him to believe that he will be lonely so that he pursues her more urgently, perhaps more out of her need for his provision and stability than out of love and desire for him. WebMoved Permanently. Gradesfixer , How Blanche Dubois is Portrayed in Scene 6., How Blanche Dubois is Portrayed in Scene 6 [Internet]. Michael Brosilow/Courtesy Steppenwolf Theatre, Eliot Elisofon/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images, Joan Marcus/Courtesy the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Present at the Creation: 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. Who wants real? A very important moral lesson that I gained from A Streetcar Named Desire is to always tell the truth. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Two opposites sometimes attract and in this case they certainly. The play A Streetcar Named Desire is about an emotionally unstable lady named Blanche. Blanche reveals that this is the song which they were playing when Allan, her young husband, died and it is clear that she associates the song with this event, particularly with the gunshot that signified his suicide, as shown by the fact that it stops abruptly when she mentions the shot. The Hotel Flamingo becomes a symbol of the promiscuity that Blanche has left behind, not by her own choice, and her struggles to come to terms with her past. Blanche is a genuine Southern Belle. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Blanche begins drinking heavily and escapes into a fantasy world, conjuring up the notion that an old flame, a millionaire named Shep Huntleigh, is imminently planning to take her away. $24.99 Her fear of being revealed in the light shows her true nature, manipulative, delusional and malevolent. Her sexual desires which at first had been denied by her husband 's death were now denied by her need to find a husband. Let's fix your grades together! Her family fortune and estate are gone, she lost her young husband to suicide years earlier, and she is a social pariah due to her indiscrete sexual behavior. She attempts to be what she thinks a lady should be rather than being frank, open, and honest as Stanley would have liked it. Historical Context Essay: Post-World War II New Orleans, Literary Context Essay: Social Realism in the Play. There are two voices in Blanches head, one in conflict with the other, predicting her eventual mental collapse. She gave of her body but not of her deeper self. In fact Blanche is a character filled with contradictions and that, says Robins, is the real challenge of the role. She raises her arms and stretches, as she moves indolently back to the chair (88). WebBlanche Dubois is a complex character. She cannot wantonly give herself to someone for whom she has an affection. Put on by the student-run theater troupe Rude Mechanicals, A Streetcar Named Desire tackles extremely difficult topics: rape, mental illness, domestic violence, manipulation and more. "After all, a woman's charm is fifty percent illusion." She is revealed to the readers as a complex person. In the final scene, Blanche is led off to a mental hospital by a matron and a kind-hearted doctor. | Stanley rapes Stellas sister Blanche, which leads to her final nervous breakdown. Blanche was surrounded by death in her past, her relatives and husband have passed away, leaving her with no legacy left to continue. for a customized plan. Blanche is lying about her age because she is trying to gain attention to make herself feel better about herself. The woman must create an illusion. Strong as she may be, Blanche DuBois is ultimately no match for the brute strength of Stanley Kowalski. Williams also explores Blanches character through the symbol of the Varsouviana, a polka in a minor key. Character overview It is also later revealed that, years earlier, her husband, Allan Grey, committed suicide after she caught him having sex with another man. "It seemed right to me that when she is kind of lifted out at the end by the doctor, being taken off to whatever asylum she is going to end up in, that you see her putting herself back together enough to leave with a sense of dignity," Close says. Blanche disguises her desperation with lies- about drinking, her age, her reasons for coming to New Orleans, her sexual experience. (Dace n.p.). Blanche left her home to join her sister because her life was miserable in her former place of residence. Blanche DuBois personality and character, along with that of Scarlett O'Hara (from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind) were combined to serve as the inspiration for the character of Blanche Devereaux from the sitcom Golden Girls, who was portrayed by Rue McClanahan throughout the series 7-year run (1985-1992). Upon entering the Kowalskis household, Blanche pours herself half of a tumbler of whiskey. Continue to start your free trial. After a brief struggle, Blanche smilingly acquiesces as she loses all contact with reality, addressing the doctor with the most famous line in the play: "Whoever you areI have always depended on the kindness of strangers. creating and saving your own notes as you read. To Mitch, she is ready to give her whole being. Maybe it just sags Like a heavy [], Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun challenges the stereotype of 1950's America as a country full of doting, content housewives. (one code per order). And he knew Tennessee Williams. But her biggest weakness is her inability to face up to reality. Williams further develops this idea later in the scene when Stella explains to Blanche how much she misses Stanley when he travels for work: I can hardly stand it when he is away for a night., While waiting for Stella, Blanche demonstrates her nervousness in several ways.