Preview

What Does The Light Symbolize Blanche Dubois

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
286 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Does The Light Symbolize Blanche Dubois
In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, the protagonist Blanche DuBois descends into madness. In the play, Blanche dislikes the light. She explains “I like the dark. The dark is comforting to me” (116). The light symbolizes the truth, and Blanche is trying to hide from it. She is desperately wanting to forget her past, so she hides in the dark. In addition to her attempts to hide from the light, Blanche has an unhealthy obsession with young men. A boy selling newspapers speaks to Blanche and she kisses him and tells him “I’ve got to be good and keep my hands off children” (84). Blanche lies and tells her sister that she is taking a leave of absence from her job as a school teacher, but she was actually fired for having an inappropriate

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    This edition of the German master Albrecht Dürer’s 1521 engraving is a fine example of the artist’s revolutionary style of printmaking. His combination of traditional religious subjects with a scientific understanding of anatomical modeling and perspective make the piece dynamic and contribute to the overall drama of the narrative. A halo of light draws the eye to the central figure of the Christ child, who gazes serenely upon his bearer and makes a sign of benediction. The visage of the saint, rendered in high contrast with aging and exaggerated features, is stoic. The faces and overall forms of the central figures display the artist’s interest in light and shading, both as artistic and metaphorical endeavors. The stacking of the figures and…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche refuses to accept reality and tries to resuscitate her idealized past through memory. She allows desire to conduct the way she lives and as a matter of fact is ultimately destroyed by the pursuit of her sexual desires. The correlation between death and desire is a prominent aspect that Williams explores in A Streetcar Named Desire. Throughout the play, death and desire are frequently and consistently entwined on many levels, particularly in the connotation of sexual desire inevitably leading to death or extreme wreckage of some kind and vice versa.…

    • 1196 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine waking up in the morning, opening your eyes and being greeted not with the familiarity of your bedroom ceiling, but with darkness. Naturally you’d be startled, but once you got past the initial shock, you’d be able conjure up an image of your bedroom from your imagination, clumsily bump your way through the room, and generally navigate through the house, right? Of course you would. The blind are not helpless, and can sometimes “see” more than we can. But wait- if you can’t see, how did you know where your bed was? Where the wall was? Or the door? Anthony Doerr, the author of All the Light We Cannot See, uses Marie-Laure, a young blind girl, to help illustrate one of the main themes in his book -that light and substance only truly exists in your head- with an extensive use of metaphors and descriptions.…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the movie Casablanca directed by Michael Curtiz, lighting plays an integral part in displaying an underlying tone of what is being portrayed in the scenes. The lighting in the bar is consistently bright except when there is a spotlight focusing the viewer’s attention to a specific character. When we see the outside of Rick’s bar at night there is always searchlights roaming looking for criminals. In the Final scenes of the movie, shadows cover the eyes of Bogart letting us in on the darkness that he harbors inside.…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    During the holocaust, many people suffered due to the loss of their loved ones. The memoir Night by Elie Wiesel tells the story of what those who did not meet Hitler’s expectations while creating a superior race had to endure at the concentration camps. Thesis By using symbolism and setting, Wiesel creates the message that love is sacrificed in order to survive.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The text is a short story by Zora Neale Hurston describing a little girl filled with joy and is constantly doing things that she wants without letting the color of her skin hold her back from living her childhood days to the fullest. The short story was first published December of 1924 in an issue of Opportunity. The reader would most likely be someone who reads issues published from Opportunity or someone who was looking for articles, poems, and short stories related to African-American studies and literary pieces related to the Harlem Renaissance. The author is a prizewinner for her short story Drenched in Light. Hurston made her debut in the Harlem Renaissance with that same prize winning short story. Hurston was raised in Eatonville, which…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Blanche Dubois Insanity

    • 1918 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The excerpt primarily focuses on evolving the motif of light, which Blanche has a strong aversion too and which symbolizes multiple aspects of her shady past, and also characterizes her gradually declining mental state, consequentially leading to complete insanity. Again, William’s employs the motif of light in the play and this is evident through Blanche’s constant dislike of light. The characterization of her insanity is illustrated by various aspects including her troubled past and nervous nature. The passage employs both the light motif and characterization of insanity to further develop the plays themes and effectively add to the dynamics of the characters and play. Light is present in everyday life. It brightens the dark and may even serve as a beacon of hope. However, for some it is a scorching spotlight directed towards the soul, forcing individuals to shun away and hide in their dark secrets and pasts just as Blanche DuBois did. This aversion of light may be experienced by anybody, hiding from the reality of truth. Furthermore, insanity unfortunately, is present amongst people and society. Many are either born handicapped but others may mentally devolve and become psychologically unstable because of harsh or traumatic pasts, influencing their later actions, such as the case with Blanche. Not only was the motif of light and characterization of insanity illustrated in the passage, but also relate to life. The strong potency of the functions of this cited passage from A Streetcar Named Desire, transform the play into a relatable and dynamic…

    • 1918 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    This play reflected a part of society that was frowned upon on a social level in the mid 20th centuary. Today a play like this is concidered normal, or average as far as the contrivisrail espects are concerned, but in the 40s a character like Blanche Dubois was something that challegned the moral of the ideal american family. This play is about Blanche DuBois, a schoolteacher from Laurel, Mississippi. She arrives in New Orleans to live with her sister, Stella Kowalski. Blanche told her sister that she lost their their ancestral home Belle Reve, following the death of all their remaining relatives and husband. She mentions that she has been given a leave of absence from her teaching position because of her bad nervous breakdowns.…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    (TH) In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, the protagonist Blanche Dubois goes insane. (A1) At the beginning of the play, Blanche depends on alcohol but wants to hide it. (A2) According to the narrator, “she springs up and crosses to it, and removes a whiskey bottle. She pours a half tumbler at the sink” (18). (A3) In this citation, alcohol is used because Blanche Dubois uses alcohol to distract herself from reality and to retreat further into a world of fantasy, so this habit of hers is often hidden. (B1) (TR) In addition to her alcohol habit, Blanche does not want to be alone because of all the deaths that happened. (B2) In Blanche words, “I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can’t be alone” (23)! (B3) These words that Blanche says is the first hint of her madness. (B4) Also with this Blanche states, “funerals are pretty compared to deaths. Funerals are quiet, but…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Brilliant and creative writers are able to exploit simple ideas or objects to emphasize an important message or characterize a persona in their play. In Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, Williams utilizes light to help characterize Blanche DuBois. Blanche is presented as an individual who avoids reality, has sexual desires, and displays herself ostentatiously, but she is really an insecure tragic figure; she lies about her age and steers clear of things that will expose the truth. Williams uses light, in his play, as a motif to illustrate that Blanche does not only hide from the light to disguise her age, but very much hide her imperfections and the truth.…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    the two of them were dancing, she told him what she had seen and how he…

    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the novel Their Eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the author uses the gate by Janie's house as a symbol to help illustrate her growth, and her hair represents her independence. Janie Crawford has been under someone's watchful eye her entire life, starting with her grandma who made her marry an old farmer for the sole reason of economic stability. That led her to runaway with Joe Starks, but he turned out to be verbally and physically abusive. When she finally meets a respectful young man named Teacake, Janie lets her hair down both figuratively and literally.…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many connotations leading to the words light and darkness, but generally, most people relate the word light with positive meanings, and they associate the word darkness with negative meanings. However, in the play A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams uses the theme of light and darkness in very interesting ways to further highlight key points and characters. He uses light and darkness in both physical, as in being actually present in the play setting, and literal ways, as seen in dialogues between characters. The most evident and significant emphasis of the theme of light and darkness is on truth and fantasy. Blanche’s Chinese paper lantern which she uses to cover a naked light bulb plays a big role in representing both Blanche’s nature and illusion. The same lantern also subtly, but strongly portrays Stella’s attitude towards Blanche’s negative attributes. One would believe that…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When the play begins, Blanche is already a fallen woman in society’s eyes. 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 also has a bad drinking problem, which she covers up poorly. Behind her veneer of social snobbery and sexual propriety, Blanche is an insecure, dislocated individual. She is an aging Southern belle who lives in a state of perpetual panic about her fading beauty. Her manner is dainty and frail, and she sports a wardrobe of showy but cheap evening clothes. Stanley quickly sees through Blanche’s act and seeks out information about her past. The notion of death is apparent through Blanches maiden name, Grey, which suggests bleakness and unhappiness. Indeed we are introduced to the fact that behind…

    • 1679 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Street Car Named Desire

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Tennessee Williams' “A Streetcar Named Desire,” the obsessive need to escape from reality defines the protagonist Blanche DuBois. Haunted by the fact that she incited the suicide of her young husband, Blanche is unable to cope with what has since become of her life. She relies on fables and illusions to reconstruct a more socially acceptable self. However, the antagonistic relationship between Blanche and Stanley Kowalski threatens her fantasy, as he continuously confronts her with reality and threatens to shatter the illusions others have about her. Stanley represents complete realism and Blanche is fantastical and idealistic. Thus, the interactions between the two are clearly representative of the struggle between reality and fantasy in the play. A struggle in which reality triumphs as Blanche ultimately becomes unable to deferintiate between the truth and her lies.…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays