How Is Blanche Presented In A Streetcar Named Desire

How is the character of Blanche presented in Scenes 1 and 2 in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’?
In ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, Tennessee Williams presents Blanche DuBois as an extremely multifaceted character who represents both old and idealist values in America. Appearances are deceiving, and this is clearly shown through the character of Blanche in the play, as she puts on a smug and arrogant front to conceal her fragile personality. To ‘blanche’ something is to ‘drain it of colour’ and thus the image she portrays in Act 1 and 2 reflects this idea.
Blanche appears in the first scene of the play dressed in white, which is a symbol of purity and innocence. Tennessee Williams has dressed her this way to exaggerate her frailness and delicate nature; this is the first of many examples of ‘Plastic Theatre’ used throughout the play.
It
is immediately apparent to the audience that Blanche is very judgmental and looks down on those who aren’t as fortunate as her. She criticises her own sister’s home:

“Stella, what are you doing in a place like that?”

She continues to insult Stella’s home and even Stella notices Blanche is being extremely overdramatic and offensive:

“Aren’t you being a little intense about it?”

It is clear that Blanche dominates the relationship between her and her sister, as she doesn’t let her get a word in edgeways.
She totally relies on her appearance, and tells her sister not to look at her until she has ‘bathed and rested’. This shows how superficial Blanche is, as she concentrates on her appearance rather than her conversation with her sister in years. She is again condescending to her sister when she calls her a ‘messy child’. This suggests that Blanche thinks she is superior to Stella and her way of living. It is clear that Blanche is from a higher-class background. When Blanche enters Stella’s home, she pours herself half a tumbler of Whiskey. This shocks the audience, as in the play so far she has presented herself as a dignified lady. The audience have this perception of her because of the way she is dressed, and the way she carries herself. We are told she is sat with

“her legs pressed close together and her hands tightly clutching her
purse”

This is a stereotypical ladylike image that Williams uses and so the undignified action of then tossing down some whiskey, contrasts greatly with how she has presented herself up until now. This is the first example of how Blanche presents herself differently to conceal her fragile personality. She has appeared extremely confident up until now but the fact she then goes and drinks some whiskey suggests that she is perhaps nervous and anxious. Even when Stanley offers her some whiskey shortly after, she courteously denies it and claims that she ‘rarely touches it’. When Blanche and Stella are arranging somewhere for her to sleep, Blanche asks ‘Will it be decent?’ This implies that she thinks Stella’s husband, Stanley would be looking at her inappropriately and again shows the self-absorbed nature of her personality. Blanche spends a lot of her time bathing and freshening up, a symbol of her attempt to wash away her past, and live up to her image of being beautiful and dignified. In an intense outburst that leads to hysteria, Blanche reveals her real reasons for visiting Elysian Fields, which is that she has lost her husband and her house Belle Reve. She tells how she had to suffer through the deaths of friends and relatives by herself, and blames Stella for running away to New Orleans and leaving her family behind. This sudden outburst shocks the audience, as up until this moment Blanche has been somewhat quiet and dignified in most ways. The audience’s response is that they feel sorry for Blanche; they have now seen a different and more sensitive side to her, which they can relate to. Williams presents Blanche in different ways in order to receive an ambivalent response from the audience, as sometimes they feel disgusted at her behaviour, yet at others they feel sympathetic towards her. It becomes clear to the audience that Blanche is in fact putting on a harsh exterior in order to conceal how delicate and sensitive she really is. Blanche also reveals her rye sense of humour towards the situation:

“Why, the Grim Reaper had put up his tent on our doorstep!”

However, in scene 2 we see yet another aspect of Blanche’s personality. When she finishes her bath, she appears in a red satin robe, which shocks the audience as she had previously been dressed head to toe in white. This contrasting difference is another example of ‘Plastic Theatre’ and exaggerates Blanche’s seductiveness. She begins to flirt with Stanley, which again shows that Blanche is extremely self absorbed and insensitive towards her sisters feelings. In conclusion, Tennesse Williams presents the character of Blanche as hysterical, insensitive, confused and self-obsessed individual as she derides her sister’s lesser social status and takes too much pride in her appearance. As the play progresses from Scene 1 to Scene 2 we see many different sides to Blanche which leads to the audience to build an ambivalent reaction towards her. At the beginning of the play, we recognise Blanche as an egotistical and insensitive character and although these aspects of her personality remain, her character develops and we see all is not as it seems, and that she in fact puts on a harsh exterior to hide her fragile personality, which makes her an extremely relatable character.