Essay on Blanche DuBois as Butterfly in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar

The Portrayal of Blanche as Butterfly or Moth in A tramway Named propensity In A Streetcar named Desire, Williams uses description and negotiation to develop the plays characters. In the beginning of the play, Williams describes Blanche as a moth. A moth and a butterfly seem to be very similar however, they cod very different outward miens and habits. A butterfly is very showy as it flits throughout life, whereas a moth tries hard not to bring attention to itself. Butterflies ar open and very visible, but a moth is nocturnal and secretive. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a butterfly as a person interested chiefly in frivolous pleasure a self-centered person intent on pleasure (line 2). Although Williams describes Blanch as a moth, his use of description and negotiation 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 incongruous in 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 districtThere 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, unassuming person, a typical Southern Belle-- a moth. Although the color of Blanches vestments 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 apartment. The apartment contains th... ...erpretations of A Streetcar Named Desire a Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Jordan Y. Miller. New Jersey Prentice, 1971. Monarch Notes. Works of Tennessee Williams. Williams, Tennessee, 1 Jan. 1963 (http//www.elibrary.com/s/edu mark/search). Preston, Rohan. Actors R ev 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.