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Exam Question: · How does Williams suggest that Blanche Dubois represents the
faded grandeur of the American past? · Explore the ways in which Williams
presents conflict between the worlds of Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski.
There are a number of ways that Blanche seems to represent the faded grandeur of
the American past. Perhaps the most obvious one is her difficulty fitting in
with life in New Orleans. From the beginning we see Blanche does not fit in with
the people of her new community, nor her physical surroundings in her new home.
This is shown at the start of scene one when it is easy to see that she
disapproves of her sister living there. “This – can this be – her home?” This is
perhaps Blanche being subtle as later when the place is described as having
“raffish charm”, Blanche does not even recognise that and she describes it as,
“Only Poe! Only Edgar Allen Poe! – could do it justice!” Blanche represents a
deep-seated attachment to the past. She has lived her whole life in Laurel, a
small southern town; her family had aristocratic roots and taught Blanche about
some of the finer things in life. Unfortunately she cannot cope with life
outside Laurel. Her refusal to come out of the time warp makes her unrealistic
and flighty. When Blanche appears, she is described in detail, not only her
clothes but also the impression she gives of delicacy and vulnerability. “There
is something about her uncertain manner”, and the way she drinks as soon as she
reaches the apartment shows that she is extremely nervous and uncomfortable.
“Her white clothes, that suggest a moth.” There is an irony about the clothes
Blanche wears and the way she dresses. She is glamorous and always appears
wearing light, and white clothes although it is a desire to be pure, which we
learn she is definitely not. Her name ‘Blanche’ also means white.
What’s more
she bathes constantly throughout the play. This represents her need to purify
herself from her past. Blanche could easily be described as very vain. In her
first meeting with Stella in scene one she says, “you haven’t said a word about
my appearance.” We learn that Blanche is very concerned with appearance despite
the fact that her good looks are fading. There are a number of occasions where
Blanche does not want to be viewed in the light, as she does not want people to
see her faded looks. This also parallels with her being describes as a moth –
moths are attracted to bright lights but often get hurt or damaged by them, a
lot like herself. Blanche is an escapist who says, “I don’t want realism”. She
hides from bright lights, just as she hides from the truth. Her delicate nature
simply cannot bear the reality of present-day existence; she finds it too
painful. She, therefore, convinces herself that she has remained pure because
“inside, I never lied”. She knows her sole, or inner self, remained uninvolved
in her physical encounters. As a result, she dismisses them and sees herself as
virtuous, prim and proper. Examples of where Blanche is diffident around bright
light is when she asks Mitch to put “this adorable little coloured paper
lantern” on the light bulb because she “can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more
than a rude remark or a vulgar comment” and in scene eight when she states her
dislike of bright lights, “ electric light bulbs go on and you see too plainly”.
As well as hiding her advancing age, dim candle lights are also perfect for her
make believe world that has no pain or memories. The plantation Belle Reve on
which Stella and Blanche grew up has a name with in French means ‘beautiful
dream’. When they lived there they obviously had a lot of money and lead a
wealthy life. Stella seems to have come to terms with or may even be happy with
the way she is living now, even though it is not to the same standards as she
once lived. When Blanche wonders how Stella copes living in the conditions,
Stella replies, “aren’t you being a little intense about it? It’s not that bad
at all! New Orleans isn’t like other cities.” This shows a clear difference
between the sisters and illustrates that Blanche still wants to live how she did
in Laurel, which is clearly the past. “The loss – the loss…” As we know Blanche
and Stella grew up on a plantation, which, being in one of the Southern states,
probably used slavery although it may have been before the birth of the sisters.
However it is fair to assume that interacts with coloured people daily. In the
opening scene Eunice and a Negro woman seem to be chatting in a relaxed
atmosphere. This is not to say that Blanche does not communicate with the Negro
woman, but it gives the impression from the way Blanche acts in other situations
that she is not as ‘modern’ as the people who live in New Orleans. Tennessee
Williams infuses Blanche and Stanley with the symbols of opposing class,
historical periods, ways of life and differing attitudes towards sex and love.
It is hard to say whether one character is wither completely good or bad,
because the main characters are themselves internally torn by conflicting and
contradictory desires.
There are two types of music used throughout the play
that symbolise the world worlds of Stanley and Blanche. These are the ‘blue
piano’ music, which is first apparent right at the beginning of the play in the
introduction to the scene. “From a tinny piano being played with the infatuated
fluency of brown fingers. This “Blue Piano” expresses the spirit of the life
which goes on here.” This gives us the idea that music (especially blues) is
very important in the play as it represents the character and atmosphere of the
rundown quarter of the city. This music is also heard when Stanley is the victor
in scene four when he hears Blanche condemning him, and realises he has his
wife’s support, “he laughs and clasps her head to him. Over her head he grins
through the curtains at Blanche.” They both seem to want to be close to Stella
and at times it seems that Blanche is jealous of the relationship between Stella
and Stanley. Blanche’s music contrasts with the “blue piano”. This clear
distinction is one of the conflicts between Blanche and Stanley as well as
Blanche and that area of New Orleans. The polka music is first heard at the end
of scene one when Blanche tells of how she was once married, but the boy died.
This music reoccurs when Blanche mentions this incident later on in the play.
Stanley is also a direct contrast to Blanche with the clothes he wears. At the
poker night in scene three, he is wearing a ‘solid’ coloured shirt, as are the
other players. Stanley is in charge and dominates the group. Whereas Stanley
seems to like bright colours around him, “the kitchen now suggests that a sort
of lurid nocturnal brilliance, the raw colours of childhood’s spectrum,” Blanche
is never associated with bright colours. Stanley represents contemporary social
values driven by male dominance. He is a new urban immigrant. Blanche gives the
impression that she thinks Stanley is in a lower class to her and is in places
derogatory towards his background, “In bed with your Polack!” Nevertheless
Stella seems to have adjusted to living with someone that is very different to
her background, but is aware that her sister may not think the same as her, “I’m
afraid you might not think they are lovely.” The setting of the play makes this
fact exaggerated because of the small apartment and quarter of New Orleans that
it is set in which soon turns into a battleground.
Besides not getting on with
Stanley, Blanche does not seem to be able to associate with other people from
the quarter. This is demonstrated when she is rather rude to Eunice when she
first arrives, “What I meant was I’d like to be left alone.” Stanley feels
Blanche has invaded his territory, despite this fact he welcomes her into their
home; however, that acceptance requires Blanche to acknowledge his authority.
Conversely, he does nearly reduce her to tears in their first meeting by asking
about her marriage. Stanley’s desire to dominate everyone around him finds its
ultimate expression in his relationship towards Blanche. Stanley attempts to
intimidate Blanche into giving him the information he wants he wants concerning
the loss of Belle Reve, “Don’t play dumb. You know what! – Where’s the papers?”
Initially Blanche responds to this with flirtation and laughter, but Stanley
does not take lightly to this and ‘shoves’ the trunk ‘roughly open’. Stanley
believes according to the Napoleonic code “whatever belongs to my wife is also
mine – and vice versa.” Stanley has become suspicious about Blanche because when
he looks through her clothes he discovers a lot of ‘costume jewellery’ and in
his ignorance believes the jewellery is real and expensive. He thinks Blanche
must be lying about the loss and Belle Reve and that Blanche has been living an
extravagant lifestyle since the loss of the family home and believes he should
receive some of this money, even though there isn’t any really. Early on in the
play we become aware of Blanche’s class arrogance when she sets aside the black
neighbour’s kindness and of Eunice’s company. Blanche’s behaviour in the company
of men is also very interesting. She constantly flirts even with Stanley, who is
not impressed with her behaviour and replies to it with the blunt comment, “If I
didn’t know that you was my wife’s sister I’d get ideas about you!” This comment
also shows Stanley’s ungrammatical speech, which he often uses and which is very
dissimilar to Blanche’s poetic, educated speech. Stanley’s frank tone is often
aggressive, which is a notion that we never she is Blanche. This gives him the
upper hand to Stanley and is brutal towards Blanche and Stella in the play.
Stanley’s brutality is shown in several places during the duration of the play.
For example, his first array of brutality is evident at the poker night when he
throws the radio out of the window. Nevertheless it is Blanche who turns on the
radio back on while chatting to his best friend, Mitch, after Stanley has turned
it off during his poker game. This does not give him the right to act in this
violent way, but Blanche seems to be aggravating him slightly and he likes to
dominate. He then hits Stella, which is another example of his brutality. As a
result of this incident Stella leaves to go to Eunice’s. From Stanley’s point of
view, Blanche has simultaneously robbed him of his wife and his best friend in
the same night, so he sets about to ruin both these relationships. He doesn’t
like her personally and they have nothing in common, but also he sees her as
something of a threat. She has disrupted his and Stella’s relationship in the
physical sense since all three have been living in the small apartment, but
what’s worse in Stanley’s eyes is that Blanche is part of Stella’s past, and Blanche’s influence revives old prejudices and ways of thinking Stella that
threaten Stanley’s dominance. For example when Stanley eats the remains of a
chop with his fingers, “Your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy.”
Stanley takes real offence to this issue, because he does not like Stella
telling him what to do and he definitely does not like the idea of the two
sisters thinking that they are better than him. “When we first met, me and you,
you thought I was common. How right you was, baby. I was common as dirt. You
showed me the snapshot of the place with columns. I pulled you down off them
columns and how you loved it.” It does seem that each time Blanche and Stanley
meet there is a massive dramatic tension, ending in Stanley domineering. He does
not like her living in her idealistic world, as he relies strictly on facts.
Perhaps the most dramatic part of the play involves both Blanche and Stanley.
Stanley attacks Blanche in violent passion and she seems which is the ultimate
domination on his part – sexual domination.
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