In Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois makes a habit of always avoiding bright light, which is symbolic of her avoidance of reality. Blanche cannot face the truth about her life and herself, so she makes up lies. However, Blanche is unable to avoid her impending breakdown. No amount of shading of the truth will make it go away.

One fear that Blanche covers up is getting older. She is so afraid that she will end up alone as she ages that she tries to appear younger. To keep up the façade that she is still a young, beautiful woman, she tries to remain in as much darkness as possible. She even tells Mitch that Stella is the older sister, as she is obsessed with youth. She covers the lamp, creating a shadowy dim light in the room. She refuses to go out during the daylight, preferring instead the semi-darkness, which shades every wrinkle or feature that would betray her true age.

The darkness also covers up the truth about Blanche’s past. Symbolically, she remains in the dark because she wants her past to stay hidden. She is tormented by her role in her husband’s suicide. She has also had inappropriate relationships with young men. She has lost the family’s home. She has been released from her job. Her mind is breaking down. Light hurts Blanche because it forces her to face reality.

The only good light in Blanche’s life was when she was young. When she fell in love with Allan, it was like a “blinding light” was turned on. When she lost him, that light was turned off, and she has never been able to recapture it. She has spent her life trying—and failing—to find that light again.