Essay on Blanche DuBois as Butterfly in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar

The Portrayal of make whitee as Butterfly or Moth in A streetcar Named appetite In A Streetcar named Desire, Williams uses definition and dialog to develop the plays characters. In the beginning of the play, Williams describes Blanche as a moth. A moth and a crush seem to be really similar however, they have very different forbiddenward appearances and habits. A butterfly is very showy as it flits throughout life, whereas a moth tries hard non to bring attention to itself. Butterflies are open and very visible, but a moth is nocturnal and secretive. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a butterfly as a person interested principally in frivolous delight 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 inapposite in this settin g. She is daintily dressed in a white casing 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 orderThere is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her clothes, that suggests a moth. (qtd. In Bloom 51) Williamss description leads others to perceive Blanche as an insecure, modest person, a typical Southern Belle-- a moth. Although the color of Blanches garb suggests simplicity, the style of her clothing contrasts with the surrounding environment. Blanche is wearing this attire as she arrives at her sisters home. Her sister lives in a run- down three-room flatbed. The apartment contains th... ...erpretations of A Streetcar Named Desire a Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Jordan Y. Miller. pertly Jersey Prentice, 1971. Monarch Notes. Works of Tennessee Williams. Williams, Tennessee, 1 Jan. 1963 (http//www.elibrary.com/s/edu mark/search). Preston, Rohan. Act ors step up Up a Gritty, High-Octane 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.