Varsouiviana Song

Ever been through a traumatic situation, that you can’t seem to get over? Or there was always something there that reminded you of it? You’re not the only one. The romantic Blanche DuBois is a traumatized protagonist who encounters many crises throughout the play. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams utilizes the “Varsouiviana” (Polka) song in different aspects of the play to reflect the emotional trauma in Blanche’s life.
Williams introduces the Varsouiviana song to associate it with Blanche’s young husband’s death. In scene one, the song plays instantly when Stanley asks, “You were married once, weren’t you?” (28). The Varsouiviana song is the song Blanche and her husband danced to, the night he committed suicide. Blanche memory of her young husband was triggered after Stanley’s question.
The Polka song serves to highlight the guilt she suffers since the night of her husband’s death. In scene six, Blanche is reliving her lost love with Mitch:
[Polka music sounds, in a minor key faint with distance.]
BLANCHE. We danced the Varsouiviana! Suddenly in the middle of the dance the boy I had married broke away from me and ran out of the casino. A few moments later—a shot!
Williams starts the music off in a minor faint, indicating the emotional anguish that is soon to overcome
Blanche. Blanche’s emotions are suffocating her as the music becomes closer to her. The song has made her mind somewhat unstable. If Mitch could hear the music, it could be an indication of guilty conscious from Blanche. By incorporating the music while she is reminiscing, Williams is associating the Polka with Blanche’s past, which is something she may be guilty of. She continues her memory of the night:
[The Polka stops abruptly.
[Blanche rises stiffly. Then, the Polka resumes in a major key.]
BLANCHE. It was because—on the dance-floor—unable to stop myself—I’d suddenly said— “I saw! I know! You disgust me…” And then the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again. (115)
The Polka song is stopped abruptly to symbolize her husband’s suicide. Blanche lashed out on her husband for his homosexual behavior when they were on the dance floor, and he left and shot himself. At one point, the Polka played at a distance in Blanche’s mind; this time it was in major key. It was like instant flashes that left and came back again. Blanche says, “It was because—on the dance-floor—unable to stop myself” in pauses. The dashes signify the mild interruption in her mind, while trying to verbally admit her guilty conscious. Regrettably, Blanche knows her cruel words cut deep, and she is the reason for her lost love. When Mitch kisses her, “The Polka tune fades out” (116). The tune fades out as a symbol of relief Blanche is feeling after a storm she surfed.
Williams uses the Varsouiviana tune when Blanche receives a ticket to Laurel for her birthday, as a sense of disconnection. In scene eight, Stanley says “Sister Blanche, I’ve got a little birthday remembrance for you” (135). For one, as for anyone’s birthday, you would assume something pleasant and satisfying for a gift. Secondly, Stanley addresses Blanche as “sister” like he is usually fond of her. Laurel is a devastating place of misfortune to Blanche, and everyone is aware of that. The tune plays when Stanley says, “Ticket! Back to Laurel! On the Greyhound! Tuesday! (136) because she feels isolated from the only family she has. The ticket back to Laurel was evident that Blanche was not welcomed by Stanley, which made her feel disconnected. It shows the lack of affection he has for Blanche, and how it affects her because she “tries to smile. Then tries to laugh. Then she gives both up…then runs into the bathroom” (136). The song plays to emphasize how Blanche is trying to control her emotions of being isolated and keep a smile on her face.
The rapid Varsouiviana is heard the night Mitch confronts Blanche about her promiscuous past, to signify her shame. In scene nine, Blanche is drinking alone to escape the music that is in her mind. She is startled by Mitch’s sudden appearance which can suggest that the Polka is stopped abruptly, once again. Blanche sensed a different vibe from Mitch which caused the tune to start back up:
BLANCHE. –pretend I don’t notice anything different about you! That—music again…
MITCH. What music?
BLANCHE. The “Varsouiviana”! The polka tune they were playing when Allan—Wait!
[A distant revolver shot is heard. Blanche seems relieved.]
There now, the shot! It always stops after that. (141)
Mitch was invited to Blanche’s birthday dinner and apparently stood her up. Blanche is hearing the tunes as she tries to escape her thoughts of shame when she notices Mitch’s lack of interest. When Mitch’s curiosity of the music [only Blanche can hear arises], the revolver shot is heard and the tune fades away. After revealing his outlook on her, Mitch says, “But I was fool enough to believe you was straight” (145). It is ironic that she heard the music right before he spoke upon his disappointment in her promiscuous past.
Blanches becomes desperate and unhinged when the Mexican woman approaches her.
The Varsouiviana plays when the Mexican woman says, “Flores? Flores para los muertos?’ (148). In other words, she is saying “Flowers? Flowers for the dead?”. The woman causes Blanche to recall many disastrous events, including her husband’s death simultaneously. The Mexican woman is symbolized as one of many demons Blanche cannot ditch. Suddenly, the Polka fades. Mitch desires Blanche sexually, however Blanche wants him to marry her first. Mitch rejects her because she is “not clean enough to bring in the house…” (150). Blanche is enraged; his refusal results to her living in the internal world of
trauma.
The Polka plays in the last chapter when it is time for Blanche to leave as a sign of hysteria. In scene eleven, Blanche is expecting Shep Huntleigh at the door:
BLANCHE. It is for me, then! [She looks fearfully from one to the other and then to the portieres. The “Varsouiviana” faintly plays] Is it the gentleman I was expecting from Dallas? (171)
She fears that the man she expects may or may not be the one at the door. The music is faintly playing as an indication that she is trying to control the outburst of emotions in the back of her mind. The Varsouiviana begins playing at a closer distance when she says, “That man isn’t Shep Huntleigh” (174) to Stella. As the tune grows louder, Blanche is losing the ability to control her hysterical behavior. Blanche hears the Polka in a “weird distortion, accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle” (174) as she visualizes vivid, spinous reflections. This reveal the lack of control Blanche has over her mind. Blanche “seizes the back of a chair as if to defend herself” (174). The overwhelming fear and emotional distress Blanche suffers, causes her to hallucinate. She is the only person who can hear the Varsouiviana tune and see the reflections on the wall.
All things considered, the Varsouiviana song is a tool of Blanche’s mind that she cannot operate. Emotional trauma such as guilt, sense of disconnection, shame, desperation and hysteria are associated with the Polka song in A Streetcar Named Desire. Don’t be like Blanche—Get help and tune it out!