Reality Vs Apperance

2 Pages 552 Words

Appearance vs. Reality

In the play "A Streetcar Named Desire," written by Tennessee Williams, there are many different themes. A main theme in this play is the contradiction between appearance and reality. Blanche Dubois hides from the truth and often escapes through illusions.
At first, Blanche seems to be a high strung, but refined, woman who has come to New Orleans to pay her sister a visit. But as the play unfolds her past is revealed. She came to Elysian Fields seeking love and help, but she found hostility and rejection. Blanche has been scarred by her husband's suicide and by the lost of her home. She rejects reality in favor of illusion because reality has harmed her so many times before. Too much truthfullness destroyed her marriage and death has taken her ancestorial house. Her last resort was dreams therefore she says what should be true but in reality isn't.
She realizes that she is no longer attractive to men. She flirts in very dimly lit places because she is afraid of what men might think of her if they see the real her. She believes that deception is half of a ladys charm. Stanley, her brother-in-law is set out to destroy her. He finds her a threat to his relationship with Stella. Soon enough Blache and Mitch start to talk. He is the first person to be attracted to her since she has arrived in New Orleans. Mitch sees a refined charming and intelliegent women. She never tells him the truth about her. Mitch talks of marriage around her and she get delighted that a man has thought of marrying her. She then reveals the truth of her husband. Blanch can't erase from her mind the image of his bloody corpse or the sound of his fatal gunshot. "...the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again and never for one moment since then has there been any light that's stonger thnan this--kitchen--candle."(pg 96)!
She exposes the fact that she wants to have someone and wants to be marri...