A Streetcar Named Desire

Blanche is the heartbeat of A Streetcar Named Desire. She grew up wealthy on the Belle Reve plantation with her sister, Stella. When she arrives at Elysian Fields in her delicate white clothes, she appears “moth”-like (5). We see this image fulfilled over the course of the play, as she is very much a creature of the night. She depends on soft lighting and darkness to conceal her true age, which she sees as one of the hindrances of her life. Her movements are erratic, and she often appears fearful throughout the play.

An ex-English teacher, she is the most formally-educated character in the play, and her dialogue is filled with big ideas and references to literature, art, and history. She has a strong sense of her own opinions and is obsessed with maintaining appearances. She brings a sense of the larger world to the small street of New Orleans, as she rhapsodizes about the travel and, particularly, the ocean. 

Her past often haunts her. She experienced a fall from grace when her family at Belle Reve died, and she married a man (her first love) who eventually committed suicide. These events are enigmatic to her; she constantly questions how to approach them and how to cope with them.