Blanche key quotes 
Madness
Alcohol
Sex and love
Relationship with Stella
Relationship with Stanley
Triggered by the death of her husband and by the death of many of her family, possibly also the impact of the Great depression upon plantation owners
Light
(He tears the paper lantern off the light bulb. She utters a frightened gasp.)"
"never for one moment since has there been any light that's stronger than this-kitchen-candle..."= light is a metaphor for happiness within her life, when she is confident in herself she embraces the light but now she is mad the light is too much for her
"(Temblingly she lifts the hand mirror for a closer inspection. She catches her breath and slams the mirror face down with such violence that the glass cracks.)"
Small displays of violence from Blanche- only when concerning her key weaknesses e.g. sexuality, appearance (rape scene)
"men don't-don't even admit your existence unless they are making love to you"- displays that Blanche has sex with men for validation and attention
Appearance
"I don't know how much longer I can turn the trick"= Blanche often describes how she presents herself as a 'trick', with connotations of a lie/carefully constructed plan to deceive men
"the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again"= indication of Blanche's madness/mental state even before Alan in the word 'again', with searchlight creating imagery/an abstract concept of Alan focusing happiness
Blanche is a character who is afraid of light. The idea of light, illumination, is something that would tear away at her (shown in her aversions such as "frightened gasp") because it would highlight all of her falsehoods, as transparency would reveal her to be something that she wishes not to be.
She describes falling in love as though "you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow, that’s how it struck the world for me"
Shielding the harsh light isn’t just about blocking Blanche from the plain view of the world—it’s also about blocking the world from Blanche’s eyes. She doesn’t want to see it. She doesn’t want to deal with reality.
Blanche also uses light imagery to describe the benefits of poetry, music, and art – in contrast to what she considers to be Stanley’s primitive nature. She tells Stella, "poetry and music—such kinds of new light have come into the world since then!
"In this dark march"= reflects her shielded from light/reality, march towards death whilst being shielded from reality
"forgive me, blessed baby!"- baby is used by both Stanley and Blanche towards stella as a power move, implying that they take care of her and hold the power yet both actually rely upon her
"I won't be looked at in this merciless gaze!"= merciless implies that she wants to be given 'mercy' -compassionate forgiveness for her aging
Used as a coping mechanism- constant lying surrounds this too, denial of alcholism that catalyzes madness
"Where could it be, I wonder?" despite already having had a drink
"your sister hasn't turned into a drunkard"
Bathing
Bathing is used metaphorically for cleansing when Blacnhe feels internally 'dirty', for example when she first arrives in New orleans and is surrounded by lower class citizens "hot and tired and dirty!"
Blanche acts as if she is above Stella yet is completely dependent on her "You're all I've got in the world"
Class
"Only Mr Edagr Allan Poe!- could do it justice!"- acts as if New orleans is beneath her, as if it's a nightmare (which it does turn out to be for her) as Poe's books are Gothic
Link to AO3 Southern gothicism - characterised by a rich, even grotesque, imagination, and an awareness of being part of a decaying culture
"these conditions"
Blanche consistently lies within the play, mirroring her personal insecurities- "God love you for a liar!" is incredibly ironic
"you've out on some weight, yes, you're just as plump as a little partridge!"- puts down Stella constantly yet he is expected to praise Blanche (and then even gets called a liar for it!). Strange power dynamic in which Stella is expected to o so much yet gets so little back, maybe she is the real southern belle?
Plastic theatre
The Blue Piano is used so to mirror times of conflict for Blanche
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Blanche is shown to have an alcohol dependency/alcoholism so to deal with her mental trauma, much like her dependency upon other people
○ S1- "She springs up...and tosses it down"- first indication of Blanche being lively is due to alcohol, the word 'tosses' suggests it goes down quickly and displays her sheer dependence
○ S3- "at a Chinese shop on Bourbon"- street name is Bourbon, foreshadowing it's large role in her decline (symbolism)
○ S5- "She's getting a drink" "That's much more practical!" STANLEY/STELLA- Alcohol is used by other characters as a coping mechanism/escape, displayed in this joke
S1- "No, I- rarely touch it" BLANCHE
S1- "white suit with a fluffy bodice...white gloves"- white a symbol of purity and virginity, trying to project a persona to cover up her past, also signifies her class/juxtaposition with the old south
S1- "Her appearance is incongruous to this setting."- clear form the start that Blanche represents a dying breed of a strange minority, sticking out amongst the new liberal south which may make her feel tense and targeted
Blanche and Stella demonstrate two different types of femininity in the play, yet both find themselves dependent on men. Both Blanche and Stella define themselves in terms of the men in their lives, and they see relationships with men as the only avenue for happiness and fulfillment
She performs a delicate, innocent version of femininity because she believes that this makes her most attractive to men
Desire has brought Blanche to the point where she has to move in with her sister, and she literally arrives on a streetcar ‘named Desire’- "Haven't you ever ridden on that streetcar?" "It brought me here"
Blanche uses bathing as a coping mechanism as a metaphor for cleansing herself of her past life and personal baggage/mental illness, possibly trying to cleanse herself of her past promiscuity (link to purity/virginity, concepts of promiscuous women being dirty)
S2- "feeling like a brand new human-being!" BLANCHE
S3- "I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action" BLANCHE
Blanche is also scared of light as it would take away the one method of power she has left now she's lost her economic superiority, her sexuality (by revealing her age)
S3- "I'm an old maid school-teacher!" BLANCHE- Calls herself old, acts higher than other people so to veil her belief that she has become unattractive. Also acts as fishing for compliments, waiting for anybody to give her the validation that she so craves following the loss of her looks
This is so to gain power, money, love, attention and protection
S5- "make a little- temporary magic just in order to pay"
"I want to decieve him enough to make him-want me...:
Despite her past Blanche projects her feelings of guilt by being falsely prim and proper, projecting her own feelings onto shaming of her sister for having what she does not (a home, a husband, money and most importantly love)
"A man like that is someone to go out with- once-twice- three times when the devil is in you" BLANCHE- times increases as she remembers her sexual encounters, reference to past but shamed Stella for doing the same
"I want his respect. And men don't want anything they get too easy" BLANCHE- Sex willingly leads to a sign of disrespect, possibly foreshadowing/mirroring the rape, maybe because sex has led her to be disrespected in the past
Blanche constantly compares Stanley to animals, reflecting her disgust towards him on account of his socioeconomic status/race through connotations of primitivity and him as a consequence not being on the same level of humanity as her (sub human even?)
"Bearing the raw meat home from the kill in the jungle!"
"There's even something-subhuman-something not quite to the stage of humanity yet!"
"something ape-like about him, like one of those pictures I've seen in anthropological studies"- Blanche even attempts to justify her findings by pretending that they are based on intelligence and not pure prejudice/her aversion to the new south, a power move to try and seen smart and so to re-establish her internal perceived 'superiority' over him
" and you've got to have your existence admitted by someone, if you're going to have someone's protection"
Blanche thinks that she is just "obeying the law of nature"- I" was just obeying the law of nature…the one that says the lady must entertain the gentleman- or no dice!"- no dice is in reference to no chance of her getting someone to protect her and care for her, views that it is her duty to find someone to take care of her (as a woman)
"Precious lamb!" & "blessed baby!" & "You hear me? I said stand up! You messy child, you" BLANCHE – Blanche speaks down to Stella so to retain her status as above her and controlling her, maybe as she's lost her power in her old life so tries to keep as much as possible e.g. scene with the paper boy
"you've put on some weight...you're just as plump as a little partridge!" BLANCHE- gains peace of mind through putting down other women's looks so to heighten her own self-confidence, appearance a large factor for women of the time
"I call her little in spite of the fact she's somewhat older than I" but ""She is about five years older than Stella"
Blanche highly values purity and being "white", directly contarsted against Stanley's harsh colours and the "coloured lights" in them having sex- "Blanche means white, so the two together mean white woods. Like an orchard in spring!"- this comparison to an orchard in spring highlights how Blanche attempts consatntly to give a good impression and one of purity
Blanche thinks her white dress has been stained so screams, possibly a metaphor for purity/wanting to remain completely 'clean' due to a personal guilt/shame- "Right on my pretty white skirt!" ad "Blanche gives a piercing cry"
"a little bit on the primitive side I should think"
T"here's something downright-bestial- about him!"
"sits in a chair very stiffly with her shoulders slightly hunched and her legs pressed close together"- aversion to the new south, legs closed could be a reference to her newfound role as a pure virgin
Blanche is shown to highly rate her appearance and love her vanity, accepted as a personal hamartia
"tell her she's looking wonderful...her little weakness"
Clothing
"a light blue stain kimono" reflects Blanche's fragility and purity
"in a red stain robe"- red has connotations of sex and desire, possibly flirting back to Stanley
"They're something like the Irish" "Only not so- highbrow? [they both laugh"- displays racial prejudices against Stanley as Irish people were an oppressed minority
"his civilian background! [stella laughs uncertainly]" BLANCHE – reference to Stella having to adapt to Stanley's lower class and race, possibly trying to poke fun at it due to her internal superiority complex based on race and class
"Where were you. In bed with your- Polack!" BLANCHE
"Blanche and I grew up under very different circumstances than you did"
"I want Mitch very badly!...I can leave here and not be anyone's problem"- Blanche wants to get with mitch so that she can gain protection and money over anything else, displaying how her sexuality is her main tool of power
Blanche also refers to herself as a dimming light as light is sometimes interchangeable with happiness- "I'm fading now!"
"soft people have got to court the favours of hard ones"- Blanche believes that women have to court the favours of 'men', being 'hard' which could mean violent, headstrong, masculine and commanding in comparison to 'soft' being submissive, gentle, attractive and sensitive
"I've run for protection, Stella, from one leaky roof to another leaky roof- because it was storm- all storm, and I was- caught in the centre"
Storm is pathetic fallacy, possible an abstract metaphor for her tumultuous mental state, loss of things that protect her- husband, job, men that want to have sex with her= Blanche is abandoned as she is normally wholly dependent upon other "I have always depended upon the kindness of strangers" "Thank you for being so kind! I need kindness now" "(she looks right and left as if for sanctuary)"
"I think I will bathe again...my nerves are in knots"
"her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light"
"I mean I haven't informed him- of my real age!"
"you know as well as I do that a single girl, a girl alone in the world, has got to keep a firm hold on her emotions or she'll be lost...lost immediately, on the first date!"- lost is used so to mean lost in sexuality/desire, much like Blanche has been by not controlling herself
Blanche even plays power moves on Mitch so to exert dominance through intellectual superiority, "we are going to pretend that we are sitting in a little artists' cafe on the Left Bank in Paris", "Vous ne comprenez pas? Ah quelle domage!"- she knows Mitch does not know French, and just wants to show off her ability
"I'm not accustomed to having moe than one drink"
Blanche also regularly insults Stanley's intelligence, despite this lack of education being due to his class/it being out of his hands as he was not born into money- "I haven't noticed the stamp of genius even on Stanley's forehead"
"I have- old fashioned ideals! (She rolls her eyes knowing he cannot see her face)"
Singing
"It's a Barnum and Bailey world, Just as phony as it can be, But it wouldn’t be make-believe, If you believed in me"- Barnum and bailey is a circus act, implying that the whole world is a show put on, possibly mirroring Blanche's self awareness of her apperance being a "trick". The second half is also foreshadowing her downfall with Mitch, "Never inside, I never lied in my heart"
Stanley’s repeated objections to Blanche’s baths, ostensibly because he would like to urinate, function on a metaphorical level to show his rejection of Blanche’s make-believe purification, which allows her to pretend modesty and put on airs without acknowledging reality
"The paddywagon would gather them up like daisies"- The message that daisies bring are of innocence, purity, and gentleness on behalf of both the giver and the receiver, although Blanche refers to the soldiers who call her as daisies, the daisy represents Blanche
Rape
“Legacies! Huh…And other things such as bloodstained pillow-slips” - blanche foreshadows the rape, but also bloodstained= her mind is contaminated by her past in Laurel (death of Allan and her desires).
“Legacies! Huh…And other things such as bloodstained pillow-slips” - blanche foreshadows the rape, but also bloodstained= her mind is contaminated by her past in Laurel (death of Allan and her desires).
Phrase only states the pillow-slips, which is the surface of the pillow. Therefore it reflects the situation Blanche is in as the truth about Blanche’s dirtied past is now revealed on the surface to everyone
“Her linen needs changing”—“Yes Mother” (119)- Blanche’s history is so stained/dirtied that it has to be replaced. It is not enough to try and wash it clean or cover it up (maybe a reference to Blanche's dead relatives)
"it's Della Robbia blue. The blue of the robe in the old Madonna pictures."- Madonna was Jesus' mother, also known as Virgin Mary, thus by making Blanche wear Madonna's robes, the sexuality is taken out of Blanche; she is not to be regarded as a sexual figure at this point. Ironic as she is far from her
"I want to create- joie de vivre! I'm lighting a candle."- joie de vivre means joy of life
Forshadowed also in "why would he insult me?...perhaps in some perverse kind of way he-No! To think of it makes me...(She makes a gesture of revulsion. Then she finishes her drink)"- also a link to alcohol use
describes alan as "a nervousness, a softness and tenderness which wasn't like a man's"- she has these views about soft and hard people as she is scared of repeating what happened, as 'soft' men that are effeminate could be gay
"as if she was the President of the United States, only she is not respected by any party!"
"as if a child were frolicking in the tub"
Death of Alan
Desire also caused Blanche's downfall as her newly wedded husband could not stop his desire for another man
"All I knew was I'd failed him in some mysterious way"- Blanche represses or even is ignorant to the notion that she contributed to his suicide in her homophobia, maybe this repression contributes to her madness as she knows deep down of her responsibility, or even an internal struggle by not knowing why
"transfer to one called Cemeteries" BLANCHE- foreshadowing the death/downfall in the play
"adored him and thought him almost too fine to be human!"- blanche thought Alan was above humans, possibly a link to thinking Stanley is "sub human"
"(She stares fearfully at stella, who pretends to be busy at the table. The distant piano goes into hectic breakdown)"- piano used so to mirror Blanche's conflicts, for example when she realises that Stella has found out about her past her 'breakdown' is mirrored literally
‘Oh I hope candles are going to glow in his life … his eyes are going to be like candles, like two blue candles in a white cake!’ This implies that she wanted to have children herself