Symbolism

          Symbolism is a powerful practice that has been in place for centuries. People have acquired this practice both willfully and instinctively; assigning an object with an abstract idea (dictionary.com). In Tennessee Williams' play, A Streetcar Named Desire, he makes his character, Blanche, use an abundance of symbols throughout her life. In the time she spends in New Orleans, readers understand that she has unintentionally created symbols for Polka Music, bathing, light, and even death with different meanings in her life. Blanche is obsessive over her looks and her true age that many of her symbolisms are revolved around preserving her appearance.
          To most people, Polka Music is a Central European music genre that emerged in the 19th century. To Blanche, however, Polka Music is remorse for the death of a deceased loved one. When Blanche was young, she had married a boy named Allan Grey. One night when Blanche walked into a room, she caught Allan with another man and discovered that Allan was gay. The three of them pretended that nothing had happened and went dancing later that night. While dancing to the Varsouviana, Blanche said to Allan, "I saw! I know! You disgust me..." (Blanche, p. 97). Allan broke away and went to the lake. He shot himself in the head and killed himself. When Blanche is faced with stressful situations, she hears the Polka Music that was playing that night, when Allan committed suicide. The only way the music stops in her head is after she hears the shot that she had heard that same night. Blanche has felt remorse for Allan's death all her life. She feels that she is to blame for his death.
          On a daily basis, people bathe to cleanse their bodies of filth. Blanche bathes to cleanse her past. In her past, she has done many things that are not pure. To her, bathing is a form of not only cleansing, but also purifying her body and mind. She has had inappropriate interactions with a student of hers, and she has become a prostitute and been with various men. Blanche symbolizes bathing as a way to cleanse her past. In scene two, blanche is bathing and Stella and Stanley are discussing the loss of Belle Reve, the DuBois plantation in the south. Stanley asks Stella where Blanche is and her response is, "She's soaking in a hot tub to quiet her nerves. She's terribly upset," (Stella, p. 32). Blanche says this every time she goes to bathe because she is paranoid that people will find out the truth of her past. In the same scene, when Blanche exits the bathroom, she states, "Here I am, all freshly bathed and scented, and feeling like a brand new human being!" (p. 37). When she states that she feels like a brand new human being, she is referring to the fact that her nerves have calmed and she has "cleansed" away the truth of her past.
          Light is a necessity for proper development as human being. Without enough sun-light, humans are not working up to their potentials. The amount of light an individual is exposed to daily can have a dramatic effect on the mental being of a person. Blanche lives her life in fear of light. "I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action," (Blanche, p. 55). Light becomes symbolic of her true self. Blanche fears that if she stands in the light she will be revealed for whom she really is. Not only regarding her past, but also regarding her true age. She has lied to Mitch about being Stella's younger sister and has never truly given her age.
          The most inevitable of all fates is what most humans fear the most, death. Death lingers in our minds from the very moment we experience our first funeral. Each occasion is a somber one and each death more difficult than the one before. Blanche has faced a multitude of deaths in her time at Belle Reve, all of which have only reminded her more and more of her age and nearing of her own fate. "... You just came home in time for the funerals, Stella. And funerals are pretty compared to deaths. Funerals are quiet, but deaths-not always. Sometimes their breathing is hoarse, and sometimes it rattles, and sometimes they even cry out to you, 'Don't let me go!' (Blanche, p. 26-27).Blanche says this to Stella out of fear. When Stella starts asking about how Belle Reve was lost, Blanche goes off on a tangent. She fears that she is being accused and turns to the family deaths as her scapegoat. She sees death as a fast approaching event for herself and tries to bury herself in the illusion that she is not the age that she is. She makes herself and everyone around her believe that she is younger than Stella. In reality however, not only is she older than Stella, but her own death is a very slow approaching processes. She scares herself into believing the worst-case scenario that it drives her mad.
          A motif is defined as an idea that repeats itself throughout the literary work (literarydevices.net). In A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, Blanche faces the same issue throughout the play. She hides her true self from the new people she meets. For example, in a conversation with Mitch, Blanche states, "Yes, Stella is my precious little sister. I call her little in spite of the fact that she's somewhat older than I. Just slightly. Less than a year" (Blanche, p. 55). Blanche lied to Mitch because of her insecurity of her age. Another example of her uneasiness is when she fishes for compliments. Throughout the play she fishes for compliments from all characters, however, Mitch is the only character to give in. When they first meet, Blanche states that she is "an old maid schoolteacher." Mitch immediately responds saying, "You may teach school, but you're certainly not an old maid," (Blanche, p. 56). Blanche purposely said that she was old to see what Mitch's reaction would be.
          Symbolism plays an important role in all of human life. All people recreate meanings and interpret them as something different. Blanche fears many things in her life that normal people live with on a daily basis, getting older and responsibilities. Blanche has created many new meanings for her everyday life. Bathing, light, and death have very frightening meanings to her. Bathing symbolizes her need to purify. Light symbolizes her fear of truth. Death symbolizes her fear of aging.