Tennessee Williams was once quoted as saying "Symbols are nothing but the natural speech of drama...the purest language of plays" This is clearly evident in A Streetcar Named Desire. In analyzing the main character of the story, Blanche DuBois, it is crucial to use both the literal impliclation of the text as well as the motifs, the symbols and the imagery incorporated in the story to get a complete and thorough understanding of her.

The actions of all the characters in the play are driven by desire. Blanche desires to be loved and needs to be wanted. But it is in pursuit of what she desires, that she so completely wrecks her life in Laurel. "Belle Reve", the home where she and Stella grew up translates into "beautiful dream". This is symbolic of her fairytale life and suggests that realism was rarely a reality. I see symbolism in the fact that the high school superintendent is named "Graves" and he is the one who banishes her from Laurel on account of her overstepping the

It is interesting to note that in the last scene of the play, when Blanche is being taken away, Stanley is winning every hand in a poker game he is playing with friends. This symbolizes his absolute victory over Blanche.

Throughout the book it is possible to describe the confrontation between Blanche and Stanley as a poker game. The importance of the poker game in the play is proven by the fact that Tennessee Williams was thinking of calling the play "The Poker Night". In the first four scenes of the play, Blanche plays a good bluff. She tricks everyone into believing that she is a woman of country-girl manners and high moral integrity.. However, Stanley then goes on a quest for the truth. Once he uncovers the truth about her past he has the "upper hand".Stanley caps his win by raping her.

Her desire to make herself a new life is symbolised by the fact of her constantly bathing. This represents her need to purify herself from her past . She feels responsible for the death of her husband, and while dealing with that guilt, had to also watch her parents and family die off and endure the foreclosure of Belle Reve at the same time.

In studying the main cha

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Approximate Word count = 785
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)