

Lies :
o
o
She appears to be pure and innocent
She cover up her drinking problem
Sympathy towards Blanche :
o The loss of her young homosexual husband
o The loss of “Belle Reve”
o Her past
o Blanche is visibly heartbroken by her loss, which intentionally evokes pity from the
reader.
o Stanley’s rape of Blanche, victimization
o Blanche’s vulnerability with the indifference of the participants in her destruction.
o
Blanche’s checkered sexual past and addiction to the attention of men
http://www.bu.edu/writingprogram/journal/past-issues/issue-2/seigle/
http://mrhoyesibwebsite.com/Drama%20Texts/Streetcar/Character%20Profile/Blanche%20%20Shrutika.htm
http://www.shmoop.com/streetcar-named-desire/blanche-dubois.html
Blanche DuBois, one of the main protagonists of the play, is a sophisticated character. She is
more cultured than her sister Stella but also the others people who live in “Elysian Fields”. Her French
origin, suggested by her surname “DuBois”, reveals that she is from the upper class of society.
The audience feels ambivalent about Blanche, a feeling of sympathy raises in some readers’
spirits. In fact, Blanche can be seen as a victim because of her vulnerability but also as her
surrounding is indifferent in her destruction. She is haunted by her past. In fact, she is visibly
heartbroken by the loss of her young homosexual husband, but also ‘Belle Reve”, which intentionally
evokes the pity from the reader. This dramatic past made what is Blanche when she came to her
sister’s house in New-Orleans. Another point is Stanley’s rape on Blanche which emphasizes the idea
of victimization. She is Stanley’s victim, who is literally her enemy. In fact, he stole her sister, he stole
her past, and he is the obstacle between her and Mitch. He destroys her hope of having a new life as
he reveals her recent promiscuous activity in Laurel which foreshadows the end of her lies and the
destruction of the character’s relationship with her surroundings in scene 8 (page 70-73). Furthermore,
Blanche’s checkered sexual past and addiction to the attention of men may be explained by the fact
that she search protection by men. She feels lonely because of the losses in her family but also as her
surrounding deserts her little by little. She tries to catch the attention of men like Mitch to get protection
and affection.
However, all her appearance is a king of lie. She makes a pretence of being pure and innocent
as she wears white clothes and also as she bathes most of the time. She also attempts at covering up
her drinking problem, she said to Stella in scene one (page 8) “one’s my limit”. Then, the loss of her
husband may be used be readers to disprove Blanche’s role as a sympathetic character. She failed
her husband in some manner, reproaches him his homosexuality, leading to the death she now
lament. We can say that she didn’t manage to rescue him from his sexuality. Her attraction by young
men or boys is an addiction and she tries to seduce one in scene five.
Quotations & Analysis:
Page
Quotation
117
Blanche: They told me to take a
streetcar named Desire, and
then transfer to one called
cemeteries and ride six blocks
and get off at Elysian Fields!
Analysis
Desire and death are two aspects that
became important in the latter part of
Blanche’s life. The literal death of her
husband along with the metaphorical death of
her social life were both caused by her strong
carnal desires which have caused her to be in
the position she is in the play. This eventually
leads to her downfall in Elysian Fields where
she gets off the street car.
117
Blanche: They mustn’t have –
understood - what number I
wanted…
This quotation reinforces Blanche’s fantasy
view of the world. She refuses to believe that
this is where her sister now lives after their
upper class upbringing in the ‘great big place
with white columns’.
118
Eunice: You want to leave your
suitcase here an’ go find her?’
Blanche: No.
She does not trust the people in this seedy
area of New Orleans where she has come to
and therefore prefers to watch over her
belongings herself.
122,
136
Blanche: You haven’t said a
word about my appearance
Blanche
continuously
needs
to
be
complimented on her physical appearance as
she is aware that her ‘looks are slipping’ as
she ages. However her beauty is the only
means she sees herself as having in order to
attract men to fulfill her sexual desires.
Blanche: I was fishing for a
compliment, Stanley.
127
Blanche:..And funerals
are
pretty compared to deaths.
Funerals are quiet, but deaths –
not always.
We as the audience, have no choice but
tosymphathise with Blanche. She has been
through a lot in her past which has driven her
to become the person she is today and she is
the one who ended up alone as opposed to
Stella.
129
Stanley:.. [He holds the bottle
to the light to observe its
depletion] Have a shot?
Blanche: No, I – rarely touch it.
Blanche prefers to keep up a façade hiding
her true habits even when it’s obvious that the
people around her know about her pretence.
She does this as she prefers to view life as a
pleasant dream as opposed to having the
ugly realities of life exposed.
138
[She sprays herself with her
atomizer; then playfully sprays
him (Stanley) with it. He seizes
the atomizer and slams it down
on the dresser. She throws
back her head and laughs.]
Blanche is not afraid of Stanley which is a
strength that her character portrays. Throwing
her head back and laughing shows her signs
of flirting which is her means of manipulating
men. This helps contrast to the way she acts
around Mitch where she is looking for
something more then just sexual satisfaction.
139
Blanche: Poems a dead boy
wrote. I hurt him the way that
you would like to hurt me, but
you can’t!
This quotation reveals that Blanche does feel
guilty for the death of her husband. She feels
that it was her final words to him that drove
him to suicide. However this quotation also
shows that Blanche is once again not afraid
to stand up to Stanley at this point in the play
this shows the strength in her character that
exists currently but will later decline as she
descends into madness.
140
There are thousands of papers,
stretching back over hundreds
of
years,
affecting
Belle Reve as, piece by piece,
our improvident grandfathers
and father and uncles and
brothers exchanged the land for
their epic fornications- to put it
plainly!
In this speech, Blanche attributes the loss of
Belle Reve to the male members of her
family. She also confronts Stanley by ‘[picking
up a large envelope containing more papers]’
of his accusations that she is ‘attempting
some kind of treachery on [her] sister’.
Blanche also comes across as the victim,
having to endure this theseunfortunate
circumstances whilst her sister escaped to
start off a new life in New Orleans. However
Blanche
probably couldn’t
have
left
Belle Reve even if she wanted to as it
appears to be engraved in her to live the
upper class sophisticated life.
140
Blanche: … Here all of
themare, all papers! I hereby
endow you with them! Take
them, peruse them – commit
them to memory, even! I think
its wonderfully fitting that
BelleReve should finally be this
bunch of old papers in your big
capable hands.
This quotation illustrates Blanche’s victory
over Stanley in their first argument. Stanley
who becomes [...somewhat sheepish] after
being presented with all the papers quickly
diverts the conversation by bringing up the
topic of their child which he was aware
Blanche had not been told about and once
again reverts back to talking about the
‘Napoleonic code’ which states that its his
duty to ‘take an interest in his wife’s affairs’.
Blanche: He’s just not the sort
that goes for jasmine perfume!
But maybe he’s what we need
to mix with our blood now that
we’ve lost Belle Reve and have
to go on without Belle Reve to
protect us….
Blanche seems to acknowledge the fact that
her and Stella do not belong to the Southern
elite anymore and that maybe some
ofStanley’s raw vitality would be good to mix
with the sophisticated upper class.
146/147
[She takes off the blouse and
stands in her pink silk brassiere
and white skirt in the light
through the portieres.]
[Blanche moves back into the
streak of light. She raises her
arms and stretches, as she
moves indolently back to the
chair.]
With the loss of Belle Reve, her family fortune
and her fading beauty, Blanche feels as if she
now has to use her body in order to attract
men. She therefore draws attention to it by
undressing in the light where the men playing
poker can clearly see the outline of her body.
150
Blanche: I can’t stand a naked
light bulb, any more than I can
a rude remark or a vulgar
action.
Blanche’s avoidance of light is due to her fear
of people seeing her clearly which will lead to
her real age being revealed. Instead she
continuously avoids light by covering it up
with ‘lanterns’ or staying in rooms with dim
light.
141
This relates back to William’s final message
which acknowledges the decline of the upper
class but conveys the idea that some
ofStanley’s bourgeois class ideals, mixed with
others from Blanche’s upper class is what we
should strive for. Unfortunately, with the way
society is going, we may not be able to
achieve this.
Additionally light will more clearly expose the
‘rough’ society in that Blanche is currently
living in and which she sees as being
‘beneath’ her, again giving her a reason to
avoid light.
155
Blanche: I’m not used to such –
Blanche: Violence! Is so –
Blanche: Why! I’ve been half
crazy, Stella! When I found out
you’d been insane enough to
come back in here after what
happened – I started to rush in
after you!
170/183
[Stella pours the coke into the
glass. It foams over and spills.
Blanche gives a piercing cry.
[A
locomotive
is
heard
approaching outside. She claps
her hands to her ears and
Blanche who is not used to Stanley’s violent
displays of affection is stunned by him
‘charg[ing] after Stella’. However no one else
around her seems to feel as shocked as she
does.
Blanche’s
overreactions
towards
little,
everyday occurrences are an indication of the
fragility of her current mental state. Her
hyperbolic actions suggest that once a major
event occurs Blanche’s loose hold on sanity
will be lost.
crouches over. The headlight of
locomotive glares into the room
as it thunders past. As the
noise recedes she straightens
and slowly continues speaking.]
180
Blanche: I guess it is just that I
have – old fashioned ideals!
[She rolls her eyes, knowing he
cannot see her face.]
Blanche’s rolling of her eyes shows that she
is putting on a pretence. She is not physically
attracted to Mitch, and after this act one
cannot say if she is emotionally attracted
towards Mitch either or if she is just attracted
to the idea of protection that Mitch offers.
188
[In the bathroom the water goes
on loud; little breathless cries
and peals of laughter are heard
as if a child were frolicking in
the rub.]
This childish mannerism displayed by
Blanche indicates her innocence. Not sexual
innocence but her naivety in the sense that
she cannot see the real world for what it is.
She must continuously see the world in a
different light from everyone else. Her need to
act young also displays her paranoia of
ageing.
192
Blanche: Oh, I feel so good
after my long, hot bath, I feel so
good and cool and – rested.
Blanche’s numerous baths and time spent in
the bathroom throughout the play are all her
attempts at purifying herself of her past
misdoings and her way of escaping everyone
and everything and having time to herself in
private.
204/169
Blanche: I’ll tell you what I
want. Magic! Yes, yes, magic! I
try to give that to people. I
misrepresent things to them. I
don’t tell them the truth. I tell
them what ought to be the truth.
And if that is singful, then let
me be damned for it!
Blanche clearly says ‘I don’t want
realism.’ She would rather her view of the
world be like a constant dream which is also
her reason for continuously keeping up a
façade. She only tells what ‘ought’ to be the
truth in order to avoid shattering her own
dreams by facing reality. She feels as if she
has never lied (‘Never inside, I didn’t lie in my
heart…) as what she says is the way she
perceives things.
Blanche…-put on soft colours,
the colours of butterfly wings,
and glow – make a little –
temporary magic…’
207
Blanche:
Mitch!
Then
marry
me,
225
Blanche: Whoever you are - I
have always depended on the
kindness of strangers.
Blanche’s
loneliness
and
need
for
companionship is displayed in her plea for
Mitch to marry her. It is not important whether
she truly loves Mitch or not but more like a
means of a way out the trap she finds herself
in. There is evident pathos here as she and
the audience are well aware that Mitch came
to her house with the intention of raping her.
Her willingness to marry a man who would do
this to her clearly illustrates Blanche’s
desperation.
Blanche’s dependence on strangers to fulfill
the emptiness she feels has only led her to
the position she is in by the end of the play.
Blanche’s inability to accept that strangers
have only been kind to her in return for sex
reflects her magical perception of the world.
These being her final words in the play,
referring to the ‘kindness’ of the doctor who is
not the man (Shep) she was hoping for,
shows her complete detachment from reality
and the pathos of her empty belief in magic
and kindness.
However, all her appearance is a king of lie. She makes a pretence of being pure and innocent as she
wears white clothes and also as she bathes most of the time. She also attempts at covering up her
drinking problem, she said to Stella in scene one (page 8) “one’s my limit”. Then, the loss of her
husband may be used be readers to disprove Blanche’s role as a sympathetic character. She failed
her husband in some manner, reproaches him his homosexuality, leading to the death she now
lament. We can say that she didn’t manage to rescue him from his sexuality. Her attraction by young
men or boys is an addiction and she tries to seduce one in scene five.
Is Blanche jealous? We certainly know that she envies Stella the security and safe haven of her
marriage while she, Blanche, was dealing with the loss of Belle Reve: “Where were you! In bed
with your – Polack!” (1.185).
The audience feels ambivalent about Blanche, a feeling of sympathy raises in some readers’ spirits.
Firstly, before arriving to her sister’s house Blanche is already a victim. In fact, Blanche can be seen
as a victim because of her vulnerability but also as her surrounding is indifferent in her destruction.
She is haunted by her past.
In fact, she is visibly heartbroken by the loss of her young homosexual husband, but also ‘Belle
Reve”, which intentionally evokes the pity from the reader. This dramatic past made what is Blanche
when she came to her sister’s house in New-Orleans.
Another point is Stanley’s rape on Blanche which emphasizes the idea of victimization.
She is Stanley’s victim, who is literally her enemy. In fact, he stole her sister, he stole her past, and he
is the obstacle between her and Mitch.
He destroys her hope of having a new life as he reveals her recent promiscuous activity in Laurel
which foreshadows the end of her lies and the destruction of the character’s relationship with her
surroundings in scene 8 (page 70-73).
Furthermore, Blanche’s checkered sexual past and addiction to the attention of men may be explained
by the fact that she search protection by men and to preserve her from her self-destruction.
She also pursues young men so as to recapture the love she had with Allan when they were both
young and because having sex with younger men makes her feel younger.
She feels lonely because of the losses in her family but also as her surrounding deserts her little by
little. She tries to catch the attention of men like Mitch to get protection and affection.
She said “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” she explained it in scene nine by the
fact that she is extremely heartbroken “intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty
heart with”.
Also, Blanche is destabilized with this new environment because she came from an upper class
upbringing and must then stay in the same house as Stanley.
The audience feels ambivalent about Blanche. A feeling of sympathy raises in some reader’
spirits. Firstly, before arriving to her sister’s house, Blanche is already a victim. She is haunted by her
past. In fact, she is visibly heartbroken by the loss of her young homosexual husband, but also ‘Belle
Reve”, which intentionally evokes the pity from the reader. Then, when she arrives to New Orleans,
she is destabilized by the new environment she has to deal with. Blanche didn’t expect Stella to live in
such a poor area and is disgusted by the animal habits of Stanley. Dubois is a very aristocratic name
and conveys the idea that she was raised in an upper class family. “Blanche: And funerals are pretty
compared to deaths. Funerals are quiet, but deaths – not always.” She feels lonely because of the
losses in her family but also because her entourage deserts her little by little. She tries to catch the
attention of men like Mitch to gain protection and affection. Blanche’s checkered sexual past and
addiction to the attention of men may be explained by the fact that she searches protection by men to
preserve her from self-destruction. Blanche pursues young men to recapture the love she had with
Allan who was very much like a boy. Also, she seeks young men to make herself feel younger.
Furthermore, she is constantly seeking acceptance from society. Blanche said “I have always
depended on the kindness of strangers” shows that since the loss of her husband, she has never been
able to have a close friendship with anyone and therefore intimacies with strangers is the only way to
fill her empty heart. Up to the end of the play, Stanley is seen as a victim of Blanche’s insult. However,
when the reader learns that Stanley was only waiting patiently for the moment to strike, the reader
may feel sympathy towards Blanche. Stanley completes the destruction of Blanche by revealing to her
sister and Mitch stories about the immoral things she did and by raping her. At the end of the play, she
looses all kind of hope for the future when Stanley encloses her in an asylum and looses Stella’s
affection. Blanche, having been through a horrible past, is desperately searching for means of
protection. However, the ways in which she is trying to gain affection are immoral and consequently
becomes a social outcast.