In the play "A Streetcar Named Desire," Tennessee Williams introduces various characters that portray different types of personalities. One of the main characters is a thirty-year-old woman named Blanche. Blanche is very straight forward since the beginning of the play but only when it comes to criticizing her sister's way of life and the man she married. Blanche is also very conscious of her age; she even avoids sunlight to prevent people from seeing her as what she really is, but even if she tries she still says "It isn't enough to be soft and attractive"(95). A statement that proves that she is not happy of getting older since it is ruining her chances of getting the men she wants. Blanche likes to flirt with young men because they make her feel younger, but every relationship she starts, she ruins with her lies. An example of this is the relationship she started with Mitch, but ended up in nothing after Mitch discovered her true past. Blanche also likes to play the fragile woman in front of people so that she gets taken care of. The play is very detailed, and it make us see Blanche as a woman who is very dependable on alcohol, a woman who seeks protection, and a woman with a dark past, which leave us with a very bad impression of her. She is very different from what she tries to pretend: soft, fragile and pure. Although we see Blanche as this judging and delusional woman, because she lives of fantasies and lies, Stella actually tell us what Blanche used to be like when she says to Stanley, "Nobody, nobody, was tender and trusting as she was. But people like you abused her, and forced her to change"(103). It would be hard to believe Blanche was once tender and trusting, but when we read it in Stella's words it is easy to believe. Blanche had a bad experience; she found her husband having sexual relations with another man and he killed himself after she told him that she knew all about it. Blanche's experience makes the reader comprehend why Blanche acts the way she does. The play shows Blanche at her worst and at her best, making the reader see the present Blanche and providing us a different image of Blanche through Stella's words.
We, as readers, now understand where Blanche comes from. She came from a bad experience with her dead husband. I also agree that she flirts with younger men because they make her feel younger, but she also acknowledges she's getting old at one point in the play. I'm a little confused with what your argument is, however. I think you could explicitly write how we see Blanche now that we understand where she's coming from. Good job. I agreed with many points you made.
ReplyDeleteBased on what I read from your blog, I like how you incorporated a lot of key points to who Blanche is and what she's like. Although I do agree with Shirla that you have all these good ideas to explain about Blanche which can then lead to your argument. Overall good job, and great picture you posted up, it gives the readers to what kind of a women Blanche really is.
ReplyDeleteI like how you highlight the person Blanche is in the present. You talk a lot about her present life, being straightforward with her opinions on Stella’s life, and that she is very concerned about her appearance. I like how you use these traits to show that Blanche has a past which affects her present life. I agree that it is hard to imagine Blanche as tender or trusting, but Stella assures us that she is. So, you used the story of Blanche’s past to show why she changed into the superficial person she presents herself as. By knowing her past, we are able to see a different side of Blanche, rather than the obviously portrayed one.
ReplyDeleteAlthough you laid out many good points and specific evidence of who Blanche is, I feel that your blog needed a little more in telling us why it is important that Blanche is very distinctly two dimensional (those two dimensions being the person that she wants people to see her as and one being who she truly is). Other than that good post.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note I like the picture you added into the blog.
Cindy, I think you blog about Blanche is very informational and from what you wrote i am able to see who Blanche really is. Although, i would like to suggest some a scene or two in which we can also see that Blanche maybe some what of a kind person. For example, we have the scene where Mitch does not arrive to her birthday party and she is truly upset and scared. Now this is not said by her, but rather by the stage directions. Another scene would be when her sister gets hit by Stanley, she proved to be a good sister. So what i am trying to say is don't always focus on what they are saying but also by what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteI agree that in the play Blanche has two sides: her real side and her imagined side. But Williams shows us both of her sides in the play. While to the characters in the play only see one side of her, we are exposed to both.
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