A Streetcar Named Desire

 In the play “A Streetcar Named Desire,” the author, Tennessee Williams, uses many symbols and motifs to illustrate higher ideas and help represent many things in a symbolic manner. A symbol is something such as an object or idea, that is used to represent something other than itself. Symbols and motifs are very alike, and the only significant difference is that a motif is a reoccurring theme in the story. Tennessee Williams uses a wide variety of symbols and motifs in the play to help represent objects, ideas, and actions in a different way. Williams also uses those symbols and motifs to represent things that are relative to many different characters in the play.
The first motif, or recurrent theme, that Tennessee Williams uses in the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” is the Polka music that is consistently playing in the background. The music is used to represent Blanche's loss of innocence throughout the play. The first time we hear it is when Blanche is feeling remorse over the death of her former lover Allen, who committed suicide after being caught in a heterosexual affair. Towards the end of the play, the music begins to play more often and drives Blanche to distraction from the real world. The polka music also triggered Blanche's mental decline because whenever it played it distracted her from the real world and led her into even more of a fantasy world then she was already living in. Another time when Blanche hears the polka music is when she panics and begins to lose a grip on reality. For example, it plays in the background when Blanche is lying to Stella about what truly happened to Belle Reve (Williams 1173). This shows that the music plays when she is lying or trying to escape the truth of what really happened in her past and why she is forced to come live with Stella and Stanley now.
Another recurrent theme or motif that appears often in the play is Blanche's problem with light. Throughout the play, Blanche has an obsession with avoiding any type of bright light or well lit areas.
For example, Mitch confronts her about never going out with him to a well lit area and he also says that she will not go out with him on Sunday afternoons because she does not want to be seen in the light (Williams 1223). Blanche refuses to be seen in the light because she does not want to reveal her age and prefers to keep living in her fantasy world where she is younger then she truly is. Also, when Blanche and Stella first see each other, Stella turns the light on and Blanche says “ Turn that off! I won't be looked at in this merciless glare!”(Williams 1169). This shows that even though Stella is her sister, Blanche still refuses to be seen in the light because she is insecure about her age and wants to believe she is younger then her true age. Another example of how Blanche tries to avoid the light is how she places paper lantern over her light and in the final scene Stanley takes it off and hands it to her she cries out because it is as if the lantern represents herself (Williams 1237). Overall, the light is believed to be a symbol that represents the reality of Blanche's past. Blanche's fear of the light shows that she is haunted by the ghost of what she has lost- her first love, her purpose in life, and her dignity.
Another reoccurring symbol in the play is the fact that Blanche bathes so often once she arrives at Stanley and Stella's home. Bathing is believed to symbolize that Blanche is trying to start over and try and wash away all her troubles and problems from her past. Throughout the play, Blanche always tends to take a long hot bath whenever something goes wrong or when she is put in a situation where her past is brought up. For example, in the beginning of the play Blanche is nervous about meeting Stanley and then right after she meets him she takes a bath to clean up and then comes out telling Stanley that she feels all clean and scented and feels like a new women (Williams 1179). This shows that she feels like she cleaned away some of her past and feels better and is willing to finally talk to Stanley. In reality, it is believed that Blanche's baths are used to represent her efforts to cleanse herself of her illicit affairs prior to arriving at the home of Stella and Stanley.
The final action that author Tennessee Williams used to represent something of a greater meaning in his play “ A Streetcar Named Desire” was the excessive drinking done by Blanche. Blanche drinks to try to escape reality. Stanley is also a heavy drinker and for both him and Stella, drinking ultimately leads to destructive behavior and someone getting hurt in the end. For example, the night of the poker game Stanley and his friends had many drinks and it led to Stanley taking Blanche's radio and throwing it out the window because she tried to play music while the men were playing cards. (Williams 1187) Another example of how drinking forces Stanley to become destructive is how after Stanley through the radio out the window, he ended up charging at Stella and striking her and forcing her to kick everyone out of the house and leave Stanley alone for a little while. (Williams 1190) On the other hand, Blanche is a heavy drinker but she hides it and tends to deny it when people ask her about it or ask her to have a drink. For example, in the first scene Stella asks Blanche to have another drink after she has already had one and she says “No one's my limit”,but we all know this is not true because it has been revealed to us that Blanche has a drinking problem.(Williams 1170) The scene that truly led us to believe that Stanley becomes destructive when he drinks is when he comes home after a night of drinking and bowling to Blanche alone in the house and he decides to rape her and keep it a secret.(Williams 1230) This was the scene that led to the downfall of Blanche and ultimately led to her leaving Stella's and being put in a mental hospital.
Tennessee Williams used many different symbols, motifs, and techniques while writing his most famous play “A Streetcar Named Desire.” He uses both the symbols and motifs to represent something deeper and more valuable then just the object, action, or idea that you see. Williams did a great job of using both symbols and motifs to represent things relative to all of the characters. Using symbols and motifs in a play is a great technique used to force the reader to think harder about the play and it also leads to the reader becoming more interested in the piece of literature. Overall, Williams did an excellent job with this play but trying out many different techniques, and ultimately that is why this play is so famous and was so successful.