unwillingness to be flexible in a world in which she wants to be accepted.  She will not shut up and listen.  It is her way only, and everyone else behaves properly.

Her main supporter is her sister. Blanche pushes and pushes Stella to leave Stanley, the pig or “Polack.” Stella loves Stanley; until Blanche comes, Stella had been able to overlook and somewhat accept his aggressive behavior. Again, Blanche will not accept the reality of the situation and let Stella lead her own life.

The harsh reality that she finds herself in living with her sister contrasts with her background of gentility and refinement.  However, lately, she has made poor decisions and has lost her job, her home, and her reputation. Finding a solution to the problem means to Blanche to lie about everything.  She pretends that she is still in Belle Reve lolling about in her tub and waiting for the servant to bring her refreshing lemonade.

To hasten Blanche’s breakdown, Stanley finds out some gossip about her life before and spreads it from her sister to her boyfriend Mitch.

BLANCHE
I don’t want realism. I want magic! [Mitch laughs] Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don’t tell the truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it! – Don’t turn the light on!

Blanche cannot stand the harsh light because then the reality of her age would become obvious. This is devastating to Blanche because it ruins her chances of finding happiness in the future. The final straw occurs in the rape of Blanche by Stanley.

Blanche tries to tell Stella about the rape; however, Stella knows that it is probably true.  Yet, she cannot continue on with her life with Stanley.  So, Stella sends for the doctor who will place Blanche in an insane asylum. 

Stanley has won. Blanche will be out of his house and in the place that Stanley sent her to with his actions. During the rape scene when Stanley tells Blanche that they’ve “had this date with each other from the beginning,” unfortunately Blanche has flirted with Stanley. Blanche uses her feminine wiles to make her way in the world.  Blanche has been an unconscious participant in her emotional, physical, and spiritual demise.

There are many ways that a writer can approach the character of Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams’s play. Her character is both an individual who has distinctive elements and changes over the course of the play, and a representative of a type, the fading Southern belle. Even more broadly, she represents the declining Southern culture. An essay about Blanche could emphasize one of those aspects of her characterization or show how Williams combines two or three different aspects in the single character. Both the dialogue and the stage directions provide numerous clues to the ways that the playwright highlights different aspects at different times. The use of costuming, such as her white and red outfits, and the relationship between character, costume, and light are prominent features of Williams’s method.

The audience or reader sees Blanche in the New Orleans setting, where she is distinctly out of place. An essay can include attention to Williams’s strategies and techniques for showcasing Blanche in contrast to this setting and emphasizing the old Southern world to which she belongs. The most obvious opposition, which ultimately destroys her, is between Blanche and Stanley. However, the contrast between the two sisters, Blanche and Stella, also helps accentuate some of Blanche’s specific characteristics, which are definitely not present in her sister.