A Streetcar Named Desire - Quotes

A Streetcar Named Desire - Quotes A Streetcar Named Desire - Quotes "They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!" ️️*Blanche DuBois to Eunice and Negro woman upon arriving at Kowalski apartment, Scene 1* 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. "I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can't be alone!" ️️*Blanche to her sister Stella Kowalski, Scene 1.* This is the first hint we get of Blanche's madness. Oddly enough, it isn't solitude but rather the negative influence of other people that ultimately destroys her. "But you are the one that abandoned Belle Reve, not I! I stayed and fought for it, bled for it, almost died for it!" ️️*Blanche to Stella, telling she has lost their childhood home, Scene 1.* The extent of Blanche's social and economic descent have not yet become known to Stella, but Blanche is clearly resentful of Stella's life with Stanley, as condescending as she is towards the latter and as much as pretends to a level of class well beyond that which Stanley can ever provide for Stella. Blanche's promiscuous past and series of love affairs have resulted in her exile from the town in which she and her late-husband had lived and prospered. Stanley's animal magnetism and virility are more than a little attractive to Blanche, as they are to Stella, and Blanche's resentment towards her sister are manifested in the only way she knows: repeated references to Stella's departure from Belle Reve. BLANCHE: "No, I — rarely touch it." STANLEY KOWALSKI: "Some people rarely touch it, but it touched them often." ️️*On Alcohol, Scene 1.* Throughout the beginning of the play, Blanche makes very obvious remarks that hide her true self. She even says that women are 50% illusion and the other half truth. This quote builds on Blanche's facade of purity because, in reality, she's had numerous drinks from before Stella arrived at Stanley's question. Her lie to Stanley eludes to the audience that Blanche is not as pure as she seems to appear and, in reality, she has a drinking problem. She appears to be in denial and continues to portray herself as innocent. "In the state of Louisiana we have the Napoleonic code according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa." ️️*Stanley, upset over loss of Belle Reve property and possibility of Stella being swindled by Blanche, explains Napoleonic Code to Stella, Scene 2.* Stanley fears of Blanche's use of deception and persuasion skills to lure her sister into her world. Stanley tries to protect his wife by stating that a Napoleonic Code applies to him meaning whatever Stella owns, he owns. This is clearly a way of protecting his wife as Blanche sold her property in the past and tries to persuade her sister to get away from this society. By stating that men own everything, it relates to the theme of men overpowering women and the theme of unequal rights for women as it was at that time of the play. "I don't go in for that stuff ... compliments to women about their looks. I never met a dame yet didn't know she was good looking or not without being told. And I've met some of them who give themselves credit for more than they've got." ️️*Stanley to Blanche, Scene 2.* This reflects Stanley's views of women in general. Stanley can easily size up a woman at a glance. He is able to tell if he is able to manipulate them and if he even cares to try. "I know I fib a good deal. After all, a woman's charm is fifty percent illusion, but when a thing is important I tell the truth, and this is the truth: I haven't cheated my sister or you or anyone else as long as I have lived." ️️*Blanche to Stanley, who asked her bluntly about the loss of Belle Reve, Scene 2.* People who have to justify the fact that they are not liars are generally the biggest liars. Which is interesting because she does admit to "fibbing" she probably does this to prove a point, that yes, humans do "fib" but she does not tell larger more important "lies." "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! ... The four-letter word deprived us of our plantation, till finally all that was left — and Stella can verify that! — was the house itself and about twenty acres of ground, including a graveyard, to which now all but Stella and I have retreated." ️️*Blanche to Stanley, after he accuses her of having swindled Stella out of her inheritance, Scene 2.* Blanche gives this long speech after Stanley talks about the Napoleonic code and accuses her of keeping money or an inheritance from Stella and him as a result of possibly selling Belle Reve. She talks about how Belle Reve was ruined by all the men. She also blames Stella and she also resents her because it was her and Stella on Belle Reve, but then Stella left and left her all alone to take care of Belle Reve and unfortunately and cannot. While giving this long speech Blanche is giving this illusion that everything she had and lost and all that she went through was because of all the men and because Stella left her. She's giving this illusion that she's the victim and that nothing was her fault. "These are love-letters, yellowing with antiquity, all from one boy.....Poems a dead boy wrote. I hurt him the way that you would like to hurt me, but you can't! I'm not young and vulnerable anymore. But my young husband was." ️️*Blanche to Stanley, Scene 2.* This quotation reveals that Blanche feels 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 of her character that exists currently but will later decline as she descends into madness. "Oh, I guess he's just not the type that goes for jasmine perfume, but maybe he's what we need to mix with our blood now that we've lost Belle Reve." ️️*Blanche to Stella about Stanley, discovering that Stella is pregnant, Scene 2.* Blanche seems to acknowledge the fact that she and Stella do not belong to the Southern elite anymore and that maybe some of Stanley's raw vitality would be good to mix with the sophisticated upper class. This relates back to William's final message which acknowledges the decline of the upper class but conveys the idea that some of Stanley's bourgeois class ideals mixed with others from Blanche's upper class are what we should strive for. "No. Stanley's the only one of his crowd that's likely to get anywhere." ️️*Stella to Blanche who asks about Mitch and whether his job is a good one, Scene 3.* Stella is the caring one, wishing to protect Blanche but Stanley can easily ignore her orders. From the play, we get the impression that Stanley is cruel, arrogant, and selfish with a dominating figure. If he's the only one that's 'likely to get anywhere' it shows that to come out on top of society you had to be all those bad things, in order to survive. "And if God choose, I shall but love thee better - after - death!" ️️*Inscription from Browning sonnet on Mitch's silver cigarette case, Scene 3.* This quote portrays the underlying theme of illusion. With Blanche, Stanley, and Stella it seems to foreshadow something that will happen. With Blanche, it seems to do something with her dead husband and their marriage. Whenever her husband is mentioned or she brings it up, she loses her head in a world that doesn't exist. This quote pertains to what could happen to Stanley and Stella and what had happened with Blanche and her husband. "Sorrow makes for sincerity, I think." ️️*Blanche to Mitch, Scene 3.* "It's a French name. It means woods and Blanche means white, so the two together mean white woods. Like an orchard in spring!" ️️*Blanche tells Mitch the origins of her name, Scene 3.* Blanche's name establishes the theme of reality sy. As Blanche stated her name means white woods. White seems to suggest fairness and innocence, while woods indicates hardness. It suggests that while Blanche may appear to be nice and pleasant on the outside. In reality, she is tough, cold, and calculating. "I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action." ️️*Blanche asks Mitch to cover bulb with colored paper lantern, Scene 3.*