Symbols And Motifs In Street Car

Symbols and Motifs in
Street Car
B Y M O L LY A N D R O R Y

Symbol of Light
 Literally means – Blanche’s obsessed with her appearance,

worried about aging as she’s older than she tells Mitch.
 Metaphorically means – the dark light hides her ‘dark’ past and personality. She has many ‘dark’ secrets in her life.
 The lantern is a symbol of her covering up her ‘dark’ parts of her personality and past, then as Mitch rips it down in scene nine it symbolises him ripping down her lies and seeing the
‘true her’ in the bright light.
 The stage directions in scene one describe Blanche as a
“moth”, this links to her obsession with the light but also that could she be attracted to tragedy like a moth is to light?
 Blanche’s intolerability of light means that her grasp on reality is reaching the end.

Symbol of Blanche’s Trunk
Symbolises and foreshadows Stanley’s

aggressiveness towards Blanche “pulls” and
“jerks” show his physical strength
Also shows Stanley’s suspicions of Blanche and her character
Stanley exposes the truth about Blanche by finding expensive clothes “you think she got them out of a teachers pay?”
Also discovers the papers and insists on reading them, this shows his early signs of dominance over
Blanche and foreshadows the end of Scene Ten.

Symbol of Drunkenness
Both Stanley and Blanche drink excessively – shows

similarities that could contribute to the power struggle between the two characters.
The difference is Stanley drinks socially and to celebrate the birth of his child – on the other hand, Blanche drinks in secret, as a way of redrawing herself from the harsh realities to create better ones, like her ‘getaway plan’ with Shep
Huntleigh.
Both character’s drinking habits lead to destructive behaviour, Stanley commits domestic violence, Blanche deludes herself.
Stanley wins the power struggle over alcohol as he can regain himself and his life after his drunken interludes whereas
Blanche’s are her gradual departure from sanity.

Motif of