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Symbols and Motifs (Paper lantern and paper moon (Represents Blanche’s…
Symbols and Motifs
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Varsouviana Polka
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The music plays when Blanche is reminded of her husband in specific or when she is particularly disturbed by the past in general
Polka continues until some event in the real world distracts her or until a gunshot goes off in her memory.
Although the polka plays in Blanche’s mind, and she is the only character onstage who hears the tune, the audience also hears the polka when she hears it.
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Shadows
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Initially, Blanche seeks the refuge of shadows and half-light to hide from the harsh facts of the real world. When Blanche first sees Stella, she insists that Stella turn the overhead light off: “I don’t want to be looked at in this merciless glare!”
At the end of the play, shadows become menacing to Blanche.
When Stanley approaches Blanche to rape her, his shadows overtake hers on the wall before he physically overpowers her
In the play’s final scene, when the Doctor and Matron come to escort Blanche to the asylum, shadows contribute to the jungle-like, mad atmosphere
Rather than representing a longed-for escape from reality, shadows become a threatening element.
The Streetcar
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Refers not only to a real streetcar line in New Orleans but also symbolically to the power of desire as the driving force behind the characters’ actions
Desire is a controlling force: when it takes over, characters must submit to its power, and they are carried along to the end of the line.
Blanche: "They told me to take a street-car named Desire, and transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off at—Elysian Fields!"
Blanche: What you are talking about is brutal desire–just–Desire!–the name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through the Quarter.
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Tarantula
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Form of irony as Blanche presents herself as a predator but she was the victim of the men- such as where Stella implies earlier than men broke Blanche
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Bathing
Bathing is an escape from the sweaty apartment: rather than confront her physical body in the light of day, Blanche retreats to the water to attempt to cleanse herself and forget reality
Blanche also seeks rejuvenation, as though the bathwater were a Fountain of Youth. But although bathing may provide a temporary respite, she can never escape the past.
In contrast with Blanche’s use of bathing to escape reality, the men dunk Stanley in the shower to sober him up so that he face the real world.
Mexican Lady
Represents Blanche's trauma caused by the deaths she's seen and suffered reminding her of her loss and grief
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