One of the best plays which have been written in America is” A Streetcar Named Desire”, written by Tennessee Williams in 1947.the play is set in New Orleans which creates a nice mood of sensuality. The summary of the plot of the play is all a bout a man who lives with his sister in law. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 78). The man lived with his wife but unfortunately they develop conflicts among themselves which is port6rayed in the better part of the play. The two characters in the ply called Stanley and Blanche were much willed in the play and Williams used them to capture the attention of the audience. (Hornbrook, D. 122). The story is basically set in two story apartments in New Orleans. Stella and Stanley decided to live on the lower apartment while Eunice resided on the upper apartment. Every setting of the story including costumes and props in the play depicts or rather5 brought out the themes in the play. Several themes as well as dramatic techniques were brought out through Blanche.
One of the distinct characters in the story as mentioned d earlier is Blanche which kept the story running until the end. The play write Tennessee Williams is always known for his outstanding characterization. He uses many literature devices, drama as well as different techniques to bring out characters in his plot. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 178). Another unique technique employed by Williams is that he keenly observes how the characters intermingle with one another and also look at the outcomes. Blanche is depicted as one of the major characters in the play which has been used widely by Williams in the story. Blanche is presented by the writer by her appearance on stage, what she does in the play and the literature which can be read in her words. She has been used to bring out dramatic techniques in the ply hence the audience develop different opinions a bout her. This helps a lot to develop many themes in the story which made Williams to be successful in his story. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 67). Blanche first appeared in Elysian Fields where is she made a incongruous appearance. She was neatly dressed in her white suit with necklace, earrings, and white gloves in her hand and finally a hat. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 278). By her appearance, there was tension in the scene because of the contrast she depicted between her and the New Orleans. She made the audience to realize with immediate effect that she did not belong to such an environment. As a result the theme of awkwardness is brought out. Blanche appearance obviously showed a moth and this justified her sad fate in the story. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 88).Another way in which Blanche was exposed in the play by Williams is high standards. This was as a result of growing up of a great place with white columns called Belle Reve. This was depicted out by Blanche’s reaction to the apartments in which Stella was leaving. Blanche could hardly believe that Stella was residing in apartment which she considered low standard. Williams showed the audience that Blanche was definitely coming from high standard place which was different from New Orleans. The story unveils that Blanche was forced to enter this place.
Williams with his interesting dramatic techniques brought in a moment where Blanche remains a lone in stage. (Hornbrook, D. 12).This was after she rudely chased a way Eunice from stage. The way Blanche presented herself on stage for instance they way she sat on the chair and the way she stared a round showed that she wanted to be outstanding throughout the play. Even the directions on stage was set for her showed that she is not of a normal position. She looked nervous but this was not true in her real mind. The way Blanche is presented showed a character who presents individualism. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 98).She acted without the influence of other characters. Blanche also had a problem of drinking too much as it was brought out when she remained a lone on stage. This character of hers was also seen by the audience when she was conversing with Stella .She told Stella to talk while looking a round for some liquor. In order to calm her nerves, Blanche entirely depends on alcohol.(Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 43).But on the other hand, she tried to deny this fact by telling Stella not to be worried or rather bothered a bout her situation. She went a head to tell Stella that she has not yet turned to a drunkard and also told Stanley while holding the alcohol bottle to light that the bottle was depleting. Williams the writer of the play in this case uses Blanche to show unstable character. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 178). Blanche’s character was also pinpointed on the way she was addressing Stanley as well as some other characters. (Cohan, S. 77). The first person who Blanche spoke with was Eunice who stained upstairs. This was exactly situated above Stella and Stanley. Blanche does not find it necessary to be polite to someone especially when she realizes that the person is of less importance to her. Despite the fact that Eunice tried to beg her to sit down, she insisted that she wanted to be left a lone. Blanche had an extreme problem of being rude to other characters. This is so since however much she tried to keep away her rudeness to Eunice, she quickly and without noticing drops her politeness and go back to her status quo.
When we watch the story further, we find out that Blanche treated people differently, perhaps for her own benefits. (Cohan, S. 56).This is seen when she spoke with different characters in the play. This is clear indication that she treated each and every person differently. Williams used this dramatic technique to show the audience about the different personality of people. Like in this case, Blanche has been brought out as a multi-faceted personality.
Next, Blanche spoke tom her younger sister Stella. This was another way which Williams used to show the audience Blanche’s character through speech. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 54).In the entire conversation, she dominated the whole talk. She never gave Stella enough time to express herself although the audience could hardly realize this until the end of the story.
The best way in which Williams brought out Blanche character is the way she interacted with men. (Cohan, S. 76).This was depicted mostly when she spoke to Stanley as well as his male friends. Here, she is shown to be impulsively cautious a bout men. She tried to hide this character by controlling herself and pretends to speak very fast. Though she seemed to be very open with Stanley than other people.(Hornbrook, D. 97).While talking to others, she restricted herself to short answers such as ‘yes’. This was also seen when she was speaking with Eunice who was later seen as being shy. But this was not true a bout the Blanche we have known throughout the story. In this case, Williams uses this dramatic technique to bring out the character of Blanche as being cunning and secretive. She has been seen as being more comfortable to talk with Stella than any other character. This can be depicted in that she referred Stella as honey while a dressing her. Blanche could only find consolation from Stella because she has been depicted as a lonely character in the play.
In scene two, Williams uses many dramatic techniques to bring out the character. In the first place, she sings in the bathroom while taking a bath not realizing the temperament of Stanley. (Cohan, S. 89).A clear character brought out here is that Blanche liked to irritate people. She kept on singing and that very morning, she did not prepare hot meal for Stanley. There was only cold meal for Stanley to take and this was very annoyance to Stanley.
The next conspicuous character of Blanche brought out in this scene is when Stanley went into her wardrobe and pulled out her clothes. There were many clothes and jeweler which appeared to be original. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 66). Stanley found out that these clothes were fake. This brought a bout one character of being a pretender. Blanche was living in away which were not naturally true. She wanted to appear very expensive outside which was on the contrary in the real sense. The jewelries appeared to be made of gold and the clothes looked original. When Stella left both Stanley and Blanche in the apartment a lone, we already know how Stanley was irritated. In the contrary, Blanche could not realize this and continued fluttering him. The audience noticed how she took the atomizer and sprayed Stanley with it and the same time threw back her and laughs. (Cohan, S. 190). At this time, Stanley was completely annoyed which forced him to resort to physical action. In this scenario, Blanche is brought out as having poor perspective skill. She could not read in between the lines that Stanley was already annoyed and was not enjoying her jokes.Blanche laughs desperately at the end of scene two followed by another from the apartment. The two sounds were used symbolically by the play writer to show two different worlds in which people live. Blanche was completely getting out of control and the other sound symbolizes the real world in which people of New Orleans were leaving in. He two sounds were contrasting and at this time, there was heated tension between Stanley and Blanche. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 213).
Scene three is also set in the apartment. Among the people who were present were Stanley, Mitch, Steve and Pablo. It was known as poker night. In this particular scene, there was a lot of tension and for the first time ever in the play that physical violence is witnessed. Some of the characters of Blanche are unveiled here. (Cohan, S. 90). She asked Stella how she was appearing and she was told that she looked lovely. Here, she was not only expecting a compliment but also Williams tried to bring out how Blanche was pre-occupied by social status. Blanche did not want to appear before men until she powdered herself up. She could go as far as hiding behind a mask, powder her up before she appear pretty. She struggled all the time to appear Pretty and beautiful. Williams tried to show how men behave in the absence of girls. This was seen when the boys were a lone before the arrival of the sisters. The audience could realize the tension created in the room when the two sisters arrived in the room. Blanche had high hopes among them since she thought that she was more beautiful. (Kernan, A, & Harold, B. 62). Finally, Blanche was depicting as a contradicting character. (Hornbrook, D. 22). This is because at the begging, she told Stella to switch off the lights but now she is standing openly in front of bright light and forced to strip down her underwear in the name of attracting attention from men. In conclusion, Williams who is the play writer uses Blanche to bring out several themes which the audiences were able to point out. (Hornbrook, D. 102).
Work cited
Cohan, S. Masked Men: Masculinity and the Movies in the Fifties Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.1997.Print.
Cohn, R.The Garrulous Grotesques of Tennessee Williams. Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.Print.
Hornbrook, D. Education and Dramatic Art. New York, NY: Routledge, 1998. Print.
Kernan, A, & Harold, B.Truth and Dramatic Mode in A Streetcar Named Desire. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.Print.
Williams, T. A Streetcar Named Desire. Oxford: Heinemann.1995.Print.
