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Essay / How Blanche Dubois is Portrayed in Scene 6
The protagonist of A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche Dubois, is a fallen Southern Belle whose troubled life leads to the deterioration of her mental health. She has just returned from a date with Mitch and their conversation turns to her past. This topic is extremely important in shaping our understanding of Blanche as a character; her current situation, as well as the way she performs in the play, are very heavily influenced by her past. Through carefully chosen language and key symbols, Williams highlights several aspects of this in scene 6. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayBlanche begins by asserting “You have a great capacity for devotion,” which could be interpreted as insightful and an indication of her well-being. getting to know Mitch, or as manipulative flattery, attempting to draw attention to his need for her. Williams reinforces the latter through his next question: "You'll be alone when she dies, won't you?" ". The syntax of this sentence, a statement followed by a question, seems suggestive and manipulative; Blanche clearly wants him to believe that he will be alone so that he will pursue her with more urgency, perhaps more out of a need for sustenance and stability than out of love and desire for him. When describing her discovery of love, Blanche metaphorically compares it to a "blinding light", then to a "spotlight". The symbol of light draws attention repeatedly throughout the play, often representing a discovery or revelation. In this case, however, it seems to symbolize sexuality and love; she states that she had "always been half in the shadows" and that after Allan's death she had disappeared, leaving no light "stronger than this kitchen candle". This suggests that her relationship with Allan was her only experience of love and that everything she has been involved in since is a shadow of what they shared. The expression “blinding light” also has many negative connotations: it comes across as painful and dangerous. Williams might suggest that the passion of her love for Allan made her blind to other important aspects of life, such as family, and perhaps also to his homosexuality. Earlier in the play, Blanche is described as “a moth,” which gives greater importance to the idea of light; it attracts moths, but often kills them. This implies that a relationship with Allan was irresistible to her, but may have been the catalyst for the deterioration of her social life and mental health. This theme of destruction by one's own tendencies is common in modern tragedies, as A Streetcar Named Desire arguably demonstrates. Blanche describes herself as “deceived” in her love for Allan. This adjective has connotations not only of ignorance (in this case, of Allan's homosexuality), but also of self-deception. This aptly describes Blanche's attitude towards many aspects of her life, such as her relationship with Mitch and, more seriously still, her fictional relationship with Shep Huntleigh. Williams therefore conveys to the audience Blanche's tendency to be optimistic, to the point that she is blind to the problems in her life. By littering Blanche's speech with emotive language such as "help," "unbearable," and "disgust," as well as using exclamation points, Williams conveys the strength of Blanche's emotions and her memories. This is also underlined by the graphic description of Allan's death: 'He had put the revolver in his mouth and fired - so that the back of his head had been...blown away!' Like this..