To
develop a thesis for your essay, an important first step is deciding what you think the authors
intentions are in the play. Blanche DuBois is the main character, and she undergoes some major
changes through the course of the play. Blanche is often identified as a tragic hero, but others
feel that her flaws are so numerous that she does not constitute a hero figure. The other
characters view her in different ways depending on their relationship with her. Stella, her
sister, has deep affection for her, but Stellas husband despises and disrespects his
sister-in-law. Forming your own opinion of Blanche is a key step toward writing an effective
essay. The strong contrast between purity and physicality is an important element of her
.
Among the devices thatuses, symbolism stands out. You can identify a large
number of symbols, such as the name of the streetcar, which connects with the frequent
references to desire, often in connection with sexuality. This symbol also uses the literary
device of the : explicit comparison of unlike things. One relevant quote occurs early in the
play, when Blanche arrives and tells how she traveled: they told me to take a streetcar named
Desire. In a later conversation, when Stella tries to explain her passionate relations with her
husband, Blanche dismisses carnality:
What you are talking
about is brutal desirejustDesire!the name of that rattle-trap streetcar that bangs through the
Quarter.
Another symbol is light and whiteness, beginning
with Blanches name. Regardless of her sexual activity, Williams associates her with purity and
fragility. Associated quotes come from the stage directions, as he compares her to a moth. When
she arrives at Stellas apartment,
She is daintily dressed
in a white suit€¦Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light. There is something about her
uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth.
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