Essay 1

Gbemisola Otufale

EGL 102

March 8, 2011

Polka music.

           Blanch avoids the light to disguise her real self which this creates false appearance. First meeting

with Stella, was the first time Blanche went into Stella’s apartment and they were close to the light and

Blanche turned the light away from her side. She said to Stella Now, then, don’t you look at me, Stella

no ,no, no  not until I have had my bath and rested !And turn that over light off! I won’t be look at in this

merciless glare! She avoids the light to hide her fading beauty, wrinkled body and her indecent past.

Blanche had a boyfriend called Mitch and she made sure they only go out at night where the light can

not reflect to her. Motifs of light kept on appearing in different scene in the story, light also symbolize

Blanche’s past because she is haunted by the ghost of what she had lost which was about her homosexual dead husband, her purpose in life, and dignity. Throughout Blanche’s entire affair with other men she has experienced only dim light

           Equally important to the motif of light is drinking. Both Stanley and Blanche are very good at

drinking, they both drank excessively at various points during the play, Stanley’s drinking is social he

drinks with his friends at the bar during their poker games, while Blanche’s drinking is to wash away her

bad memories and she tries to hide  it and pretend she doesn’t drink ,Blanche and Stanley’s drinking

leads them to different things, for instance , blanches drinking helps her wash away bad memories

especially about her dead husband while Stanley’s lead him to be hitting his wife and destroying things

          Furthermore,In The Streetcar Named Desire  , Blanche and Stanley uses bathing in different ways

for instance , Stanley showers after he beats his wife but he comes out cleansed and remorseful and

calls out loud for his wife screaming Stella ,Stella ,Stella similarly, Blanche uses bathing to wash away her

past life. She constantly takes bathes in the play subconsciously trying to cleanse herself of the sins of

her past however, she never succeeds and she keeps returning to the bath again and again, she feels

comfortable and less thinking while having her bath  she sings aloud while in the bath.

         Tennessee Williams uses music to establish the mood of many different scenes in the Streetcar

Named Desire. This music symbolized Blanches past. She met her homosexual husband in bed sleeping

with an older man on their bed but she pretended nothing happened and they all went out that night

“Polka music sound, in a minor key faint with distance” The music stopped when she mentions the

gunshot that was how her husband died and the dance ended .The polka music was played throughout

the play whenever Blanche is behaving in a way that was affected by the death of her husband, This

music haunts blanche and is one of the realities she really desires to escape

           Poker game helps Blanche to remember the fun and gatherings of Stanley and his friends. During

the game , that was where blanche met her boyfriend Mitch . One blessed day, Stanley and his friends

were playing poker games and Blanche was listening to radio and she increased the audio to the highest

and Stanley went there to turn it off and blanche decided to turn it back on but, Stanley was so angry

that he threw the radio downstairs.

     Drinking, poker games, light, bathing, and polka music as really been seen as a motif and symbols in The Streetcar  Named Desire.