Blanche’s Imaginary World in A Streetcar Named Desire

【Abstract】the heroine in the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams， Blanche， has constructed herself an imaginary world which she seek protection from， but this imaginary world is destroyed by the outside powerful real world， and the cause of this destruction is complex which is worth exploring.

【Key words】imaginary world； construction； destruction； reality

【作者簡介】张霞，天津外国语大学。

Introduction

In the play A Streetcar Named Desire written by Tennessee Williams， the heroine Blanche DuBois has created an imaginary world for herself， and she tries to make others also live in this imaginary world； she says， “I dont want realism. I want magic. I try to give that to people... I dont tell truth. I tell what ought to be truth” （Williams 117）. And she involves herself in this imaginary world， and refuses to face the real world. But her imaginary world is an unacceptable world to others， because her environment has changed from the past Belle Reve to the modern industrial city， New Orleans， where people are no longer whom she has met in Belle Reve. The reasons of her strong desire to devote herself in the past life and avoid the real world are three： one is she had caused her husbands death for her mindless words， about which she is very guilty. Allans death is like a piece of music always surrounding Blanche. Thats why each time when people mentioned Allan， the polka music will sound in her mind. The second reason is the loss of the Belle Reve， her home； Belle Reve is lost for the death of their families. They did not leave anything for Blanche but debt because they have sold their states to maintain their luxury life. The third reason is that Blanche once has lead a disgraceful life because she wants to drive away her loneliness. After her husbands death， she fell in loneliness and in order to gain comfort and make up her lost love， she keeps accompany with different people. And this kind of company is temperamental and when people realize it they will leave her and she becomes lonely again. It is obvious that her imaginary world totally collapsed， and the reason for the breaking of the dream is that she chooses a wrong place as her refugee， and she is quite different from the people in this real world. The contradiction between Blanche and Stanley is the contradiction between the imagination and the reality， and the result is that the imagination loses to the reality. However， the reason of the failure is complex which involves the contradiction of men and women， conventional southern agricultural life and modern industrial life， and imagination and reality.

1. The Construction of Blanches Imaginary World

Blanche in French means white， and white in English symbolizes innocence. Both of these two symbolic meanings imply that Blanche is pure and delicate in mind. Like she first appears in the house of Stella， she is as white as a moth which is beautiful， magic and delicate.

Her appearance is incongruous to this setting. She is daintily dressed in a white suit 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 district. She is about five years older than Stella. Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light. There is something about her uncertain manner， as well as her white clothes， that suggests a moth（15）.

She wears white clothes， like a delicate moth， which gives people a feeling of magic. It seems that she is from a far place where is completely different from here. Light of dream surrounding her， she images herself as a southern belle， who is beautiful and innocent， delicate and polite. She behaves like a southern belle； she says she is never a drunker. And she drinks several glasses of wine， still says that one is her limit. Actually， she has begun to use wine to numb her nerve so that she can release her tension and forget the pains from the past. She says she has resigned from the high school， because her nerve is nearly broke. Actually， she was fired by the school superintendent for her disgraceful behavior of trying to have a relationship with a young boy of sixteen years old. She may take this boy as her dead husband Allan who died young. Sometimes， her imagination makes her confused about the real world. She does not know whether she lives in the imaginary world or the real one； therefore， she behaves irrational. She never mentioned her degenerated life in the hotel Flamingo in Laurel where she dates with strangers who will not give her a stable home except passion between genders. When Stanley tells her disgraceful experience in the hotel to Stella， Blanche is in a hot tub and again； she devoted herself in her imagination. Her songs reflect the unreal quality. She sings， “Its only a paper moon， just as phony as it can be--But it wouldnt be make-believe if you believe in me.”（100） paper moon symbolizes her imagination of love， she wants to get love from Mitch， but the love she wants is just as romantic and magic as the paper moon which Mitch cannot give her. She wants to make other people live with her in her imaginary world， too， which is impossible. She has lost Belle Reve， but she does not want to be blamed for this， therefore， she begins to blame her sister. As she says Stella left Belle Reve to search new life， but she still stayed and fought for it. And the loss of the place is not her fault but the family members， and she lost the place in order to give the dead a graveyard. She comes to this city in order to give herself a new beginning of life. She wants to find a person to depend on. Thats why she takes Mitch as her chance of a new life. She wants to marry Mitch， and she thinks men can protect her from loneliness and provide her a new chance of living. When they first meet， she behaves like an innocent girl， and tells Mitch that her name means white woods in French， like an orchard in spring. She also mentioned that she is French by extraction， and their first American ancestors were French Huguenots. She brought a Chinese paper lantern to cover the light， because she cannot stand a naked light bulb， as a rude remark and a vulgar action. She told Mitch she is not married and an old schoolteacher. She totally lives in her imaginary world and does not care whether people will believe her make-up stories or not. She is afraid of being exposed in the daylight. She never goes out with Mitch in daylight. They always meet at the dusk or night. She does not want Mitch to see her face that is no longer young and energetic. She did not tell Mitch her true age， she even cheats him that Stella is somewhat older than her. Her queer behaviors reflect her worry of the loss of youth， the beauty， and the innocence. She uses a lampshade to cover the light. She tries to cover her infamous past. She dares not move in the light. She says gloomy light gives her a kind of magic feeling， a kind of protection. She feels that she lives safely in the gloomy room. The living circumstance is as obscure as her mind. She does not know the real life clearly and the dainty light gives her an illusive world. Soft people need soft light. She is soft and vulnerable in the real world and need soft light to give her a chance to breathe. Thats why when Mitch tears the lampshade she screams fearfully and covers her face as if the bright will hurt her face. And it is also a reflection of her escape from the reality. In scene ten， when she stays alone with Stanley， and the latter tries to insult her， she tries to save herself， but her salvation is also imaginary， which cannot make any difference. She imagined a man， who once was her admirer and gives her sincere invitation to a beautiful place for peaceful life， but her imagination is broken by Stanley who raped her and caused destruction of her body and spirit. Finally， she was sent to the asylum， and no one believes that she was raped by Stanley.

2. The Collapse of Blanches Imaginary World

Blanches imaginary world is very delicate in face of the real world， therefore， it breaks soon. Blanche has lost her home in southern plantation world， the farm with white columns in which she lives a peaceful and prosperous life. But she still keeps the habit of her past life， and she brings it to Stanleys world where life is free and simple. She could not accept this kind of life from the house to the life style. All of things there are out of her place. When she first saw Stellas house she could not believe that she lives in such a simple and crude place. When she knows that Stella only has two rooms without door between them， she doubts whether it is decent for Stanley to live with her. She has no other choice but accepts this condition， because she has lost her home and job in Laurel； she has no job to support herself， and nowhere to go. She could not stand Stanleys life style and after Stanley was dunk and beat Stella， Blanche is very angry and she wants to save her sister from this kind of savage life. Therefore， she blames Stanley with Stella.

He acts like an animal， has an animal habits！ Eats like one， moves like one， talks like one！ Theres even something sub-human--something not quite to the stage of humanity yet！ Yes， something--ape like about him， like one of those pictures Ive seen in--anthropological studies. Thousands and thousands of years have passed him right by， and there he is--Stanley Kowalski--survivor of the Stone Age （72）.

This description reflects her dissatisfaction of Stanley as well her sisters life. Unfortunately， Stella does not leave Stanley for her complaint and her effort to change her life is failed. Her complaint is overheard by Stanley， and he is irritated by this and regards her as the menace of his power in his family， and the control of his wife. He begins to take revenge to Blanche. He quietly investigates Blanches past， and discovers her dishonorable experience in Laurel and tells it to Mitch， which causes Mitchs refuse to come to her birthday party and marry her. Moreover， he gives Blanche a ticket back to Laurel as birthday gift， which obviously tries to insult and drive Blanche out of his house. The last and the most destructive blow he gives to Blanche is that he raped Blanche when Stella was sent to the hospital to give birth to a baby. This strike ruins both her spirit and body and directly causes her insanity. Before this happened， she told Stanley that she receives a telegram from one of her admirers whom she mentioned once would take her away and invited her on a cruise of the Caribbean for a happy life. But that lie is debunked by Stanley. She tries to protect herself from violence with the broken bear bottle， but this is in vain for the huge difference of strength between man and woman.

3. The Reason of the Collapsed Imaginary World

The imaginary world of Blanche is bound to collapse because the past southern plantation economy is out of date，and this imaginary world is rootless， and Blanche is the only follower of it. The happy life in the south has been replaced by the northern industrialized life. New Orleans is a southern city， but it is also infected by the industrial civilization， showing a kind of dirty and chaotic scene like the play describes at the beginning， “the house are mostly white frame， weathered gray， which rickety outside stairs and galleries and quaintly ornamented gables.” The house in this area is simple and is suitable to workers life. It is different from the white column in Blanches hometown. The industrial world has taken the dominant position， and Blanches blind insistence to the past is powerless and meaningless for the people there. The contradiction between Blanche and Stanley， to some extent， is the contradiction is between imagination and reality. Blanche， like she herself says， is cultivated， a woman of intelligence and breeding， with imaginary world for herself， comes to this practical world of Stanley and bound to suffer a lot in her life. The latter is calculated， tricky， shrewd， and rude， always considers her as the invader of his world， and tries his best to disclose her disrepute past and destroys her dream for protection. She wants to change Stellas life and save herself from aging， but failed because Stella has already adapted to this kind of life and she deeply depends on and attracted by the strength of Stanley， having no power to leave him. And her hope of changing her sisters subordinate status in marriage also broke down. Stella could not leave her husband and return to him even after she was beaten by Stanley. Her hope for marriage with Mitch is broken by Stanley. Mitch does not come to her birthday party and refuses to marry her because she is not clean enough to enter his mothers house. Her hope for a warm family collapses. This is the cruel thing for Blanche as a lonely woman， no longer with youth. And the truth of the rape will be the last and the cruelest blow to Blanche and her imaginary world. Her dependence on man also determines that her imaginary world will collapse. She seeks protection from men， who are quite rational and will not accept her imagination. After her husband died， she tries to seek comfort from other men， but those strangers got wised up after two or three dates with her. They leave her so she has to go to another. They will not give her real protection. The warmth is temporary， and she， for the guilt of her unintentional viciousness that caused Allans death， has given up her innocent life and indulged herself in sexual desire， but this does not improve her condition but hurt herself more deeply. And Mitch will not marry her after knowing her past. She was despised by Mitch who thinks she is not clean even though she always takes bath as a superficial and psychological redemption for herself and has determined to change herself.

4. Conclusion

Blanche has built an imaginary world for herself to escape from the reality， but this imaginary world totally collapses for the impractical essence of it and the destruction from the powerful real world.

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