Essay on Blanche DuBois as Butterfly in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar

The word picture of Blanche as Butterfly or Moth in A Streetcar Named proclivity In A Streetcar named liking, Williams practises description and dialog to develop the tends characters. In the beginning of the play, Williams describes Blanche as a moth. A moth and a butterfly seem to be rattling similar however, they have very different outward appearances and habits. A butterfly is very showy as it flits throughout life, whereas a moth tries hard not to bring attention to itself. Butterflies ar open and very visible, but a moth is nocturnal and secretive. The American inheritance Dictionary defines a butterfly as a person fire principally in frivolous pleasure a self-centered person intent on pleasure (line 2). Although Williams describes Blanch as a moth, his use of description and dialog bring out sexual undertones that portray Blanche to be a butterfly instead of a moth. In Scene I of A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams writes-- Her appearance is incongruous in this se tting. She is daintily dolled up in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace, and earrings of pearl, white gloves and hat, looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in the garden districtThere is something about her shy manner, as well as her clothes, that suggests a moth. (qtd. In Bloom 51) Williamss description leads others to perceive Blanche as an insecure, unassuming person, a typical southern Belle-- a moth. Although the color of Blanches clothing suggests simplicity, the style of her clothing contrasts with the environ environment. Blanche is wearing this attire as she arrives at her infants home. Her sister lives in a run- down three-room apartment. The apartment contains th... ...erpretations of A Streetcar Named Desire a Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Jordan Y. Miller. smart Jersey Prentice, 1971. Monarch Notes. kit and caboodle of Tennessee Williams. Williams, Tennessee, 1 Jan. 1963 (http//www.elibrary.com/s/edu mark/search). Preston, Rohan. Actors Rev Up a Gritty, high-potential Streetcar Minneapolis StarTribune. 3 March 1999, 04E. Streetcars Fiftieth anniversary All Things Considered. NPR. WWNO, New Orleans. 1 Dec. 1997. The American Heritage Dictionary, CD-ROM. Microsoft Bookshelf 98. Microsoft Corp. 1987-97. Williams, Dakin and Shephard Mead. Tennessee Williams An Intimate Biography. New York Arbor House, 1998. Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire a New Directions Book, copyright 1947. Canada Penguin, 1980. Williams, Tennessee. Memoirs. Garden City, NY Doubleday, 1975.