Blanches downfall

How dies Williams create a sense of inevitability about Blanches downfall?

Williams uses a range of techniques to foreshadow the downfall of Blanche, including symbolism,

use of language techniques, imagery and stage direction. Imagery such as the 'Blue piano' are used

to the same effect throughout the play, to build tension and create a sense of inevitability and fate,

even though the play is developing, the blue piano is always playing. It is a fixed point, as is

Blanche's fate.

From Blanches first description she is portrayed as fragile and vulnerable. Williams states in the

stage directions that Blanche's dress should “suggest a moth”. This comparison foreshadows the

way in which Blanche pursues that which eventually destroys her, 'like a moth to a flame' where

Blanche is the moth, and her constant pursuit of desire and pleasure, the flame. Moreover the small

and fragile image of a moth is representative of fragile and vulnerable mental state, as well as her

vulnerable position in society as a woman at that time. Both of these contribute to Blanches

eventual downfall and are shown through her first appearance.

Blanche's weak mental state is a big indicator of her fate later in the play. Williams portrays her as

mentally unstable in a number of different ways. One of these ways is through her nervous,

repetitive dialogue that is first shown in her meeting with Stella as she repeats “Stella, Stella, Stella,

Stella oh Stella for star”. This has the effect of reflecting dramatic and erratic nature which is an

indicator of her mental situation. Another way in which Williams shows Blanches mental state is

through her constant, compulsive bathing throughout the novel. Moreover this could be seen as a

way of Blanche coping with her guilt over the death of her late husband as she is symbolically

“washing away the guilt” in a Lady Macbeth fashion. The guilt is therefore a reoccurring