This document contains an essay draft about a novel by Tennessee Williams, titled "A Streetcar Named Desire." The essay seeks to unpack certain literary images used by the author to describe the character of Blanche DuBois.
The conception of gender roles has been in practise since the post-World War 2 era.
There are certain stereotypes that encapsulate different genders. In his play, A
Streetcar Named Desire which was published in the year 1947, Tennessee Williams
reveals certain stereotypes that are associated with being a female (perfection,
submission and innocence) and those that are associated with being a male
(dominance and aggression). The play follows the journey of a certain Southern Belle
woman named Blanche as she is driven by a streetcar named desire, literally and
metaphorically, how she defies the societal stereotypes associated with feminism and is
viewed as a hyperfeminine individual. The play is set in a small, rowdy town called New
Orleans during the post-World War 2 era. Williams makes use of the literary device of
imagery to convey his message. In this essay I will unpack what certain images used in
the play, for example the streetcar conveys about Blanche’s character of being driven
by desire. I am going to explore these images’ symbolic meanings in relation to
Blanche’s character. Moreover, I will analyse how these images relate to the restrictions
that were placed on women’s lives during the post-World War 2 era.
Williams uses the image of Blanche’s frequent baths to convey her character of wanting
to cleanse herself of her past and her delusional desire to stay young. Blanche takes
baths through out the play, for example, in scene 7 we see Stella completing
decorations for Blanche’s birthday whilst Blanche is taking a bath. Stanley goes on to
ask Stella if Blanche is “washing up some things?” (Williams, 1947:109). This is a
metaphorical way of Stanley saying Blanche is washing away her past and her secrets.
Blanche is “haunted by her past” (Minesh Dass, 05/10/2021, English 1A Telegram
group) therefore, she tries by all means to live under the illusion that bathing erases her
past and makes her “clean”. When Blanche first arrives at Elysian Field, she tells Stella
to not look at her “not till later, not till I’ve bathed and rested!” (Williams, 1947:14). This
metaphorically suggest that Blanche wants Stella to see a new her, after she has
washed away her past. She needs an innocent appearance before Stella sees her. The
image of Blanche’s bathing relates to the play’s broader concern of the restriction of
innocence to women. The 20th century society expected women to be innocent, Blanche
wanted to live up to those expectations by washing away her promiscuous past.
, Blanche taking a bath on her birthday further accentuates her character of desiring to
stay young. Blanche believes men take interest in young women. She desires romantic
love (Grogan:2021) from Mitch therefore she wants to stay young so that Mitch can
marry her. She does not want to accept the reality of aging that’s why she insists that
she doesn’t “want realism. I want magic” (Williams, 1947). Therefore, her bathing on her
birthday has a symbolic meaning of bathing to stop aging.
Williams further uses the image of Blanche being driven by a streetcar named desire to
convey her character of being a desire driven individual. When Blanche arrives in New
Orleans, she tells the two women that she was told to “take a streetcar named Desire,
and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at – Elysian
Field!” (Williams, 1947: 9). The streetcar named Desire drives Blanche both literally and
metaphorically to her destination. The image of the streetcar conveys Blanche’s
character of being driven by “sexual desire, fantasy and delusion” to New Orleans.
Blanche submits to her desire for stability and security and her dream to get married.
These desires drive Blanche to her destination. In scene 4 we see Stella defending her
choice of staying with Stanley after he’d hit her by saying “there are things that happen
between a man and a woman in dark…” (Williams, 1947: 79). Blanche replies by telling
Stella that she is talking about is “brutal desire-just Desire! -the name of that rattle-trap
streetcar” (Williams, 1947:79), Blanche further tells Stella that that streetcar brought her
to their place. This image conveys Blanche’s character of being driven by desire for
stability and romantic love. The image of the streetcar is also used with the image of the
Cemeteries. This image shows that Blanche would be riding for the last time as she is
headed to her destination (the psychiatric institution). Her submission to her desires has
“led her to abandonment and shame” (Grogan:2021). The image of the streetcar relates
to the play’s concern of the stereotype that suggests that feminism is associated with
dependence on the sexual relationships with men.
Moreover, Williams uses the image of light and the paper lantern to convey Blanche’s
character of illusion and deceit. Light is an image associated with reality and truth.
Blanche desires to live a delusional life, she fears reality. This is shown by how she
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