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Blanche is insecure. Throughout the play, Blanche makes up lies about her life and tells them to people, for example, she tells mitch that she is younger than Stella. Blanche constantly does things to show everyone that she is young and beautiful, for example, she doesnt ever meet mitch during the day time. this shows how she constantly lies about herself even about things that are more visible like her age and she even believes her lies shows by the song she was singing while bathing “ but it wouldnt be make believe if you believed in me”.

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Blanche changes a lot from the beginning of the play to the end. in the beginning of the pay, she plans to start her life in a new place with new people who know little about her dark past and her truths, she’s shown to be strong, independent and sane. however, after everything that happens to her in her sister’s house(being left by mitch, being raped my stanley), she loses her sanity, she is then shown to be a crazy lady who is sent off to an insane asylum.

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in the beginning of the show, Blanche is shown to be sophisticated. this is present by the way she dresses(red satin robe) and  by the way she talks(other characters talk in colloquial language while Blanche has a more upper class language). Blanche constantly tries to show everyone that she is well put together and only allows herself to be vulnerable when she is alone(long, hot baths multiple times each day).

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blanche is seen to be looking for her sister’s house in the first scene, this indicates that she is new to the area and has never been there before. it also symbolises blanche’s attempt to start a new life and forget about her past trauma.

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throughout the play, Blanche is a character who is shown to live in a fake world, she lives in her fantasies and believes them to be true. Blanche is living with a lot of trauma from her life and her coping mechanism is to believe that her fantasies are real. this is shown by the way she lies about her age, tries to hide from the light, and by the way she tries to show everyone that she is sophisticated and put together.

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Blanche is shown to be insecure about her age and is constantly hiding it. In scene three Blanche says "Somewhat older than I am." Blanche is insecure about her age and tries her best to make herself look younger than Stella as she is afraid that if she were to mention her real age, no men would approach her. Blanche is also seen to be hiding behind a "paper lantern" as it prevents from showing her wrinkles and thus prevents showing her real age to Mitch or any other men.

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Throughout the play, whenever anyone askes Stella about her past, or reminds her of an action or event in the past, Blanche conveniently uses words to escape answering those question. Blanche distracts Stella from questioning her why wasn't she staying in a hotel by mentioning "I'm—not very well ."(scene 1) Through this we see that Blanche is trying to avoid answering the real reason she is staying with Stella. Blanche is shown to be trying her best to move on her life and leave behind her old self behind.

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Many of her mistakes come from her inability to accept reality. Blanche lies about her past, leaves out important things when directly confronted, and makes things up along the way. Blanche is incapable of the truth because she has successfully stored what she wants to believe in her mind, manipulating herself into insanity. Her lies are consistent because she lies to Stanley, then Stella and Mitch as well.

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Stella does not believe that Stanley raped her because in the past she has lied about other things. Stella is the calm, reasonable foil to Blanche's frenetic hysteria. She knows how dramatic she can be at times, therefore, warns Stanley to compliment her. 'when she comes in, say something nice about her appearance'. Stella knows that she likes attention. "and try to understand her and be nice to her.' Stella thinks that she is insecure and sensitive , thus Stanley must act soft.

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A nearly perfect model of a classy woman. 

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A nearly perfect model of a classy woman. 

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Besides her physical appearance and her fashion sense , her social interactions seem different from the people in Elysian Fields, therefore she expects to be treated differently. She feels entitled to people respecting her. E.g ' please don't get up' She says this to the men in scene 3 during the poker game.

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Fantasy's Inability to overcome reality 

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Fantasy's Inability to overcome reality 

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Blanche throughout the play is shown to be escaping her own reality. Blanche appears to be running away from her past using her own fantasies to protect herself from the harsh reality.
To protect herself from her haunting past, Blanche's world is filled with her own fantasies, adapting the world according to her physical and psychological state. Blanche's inability to overcome the reality later becomes the reason for the plunge in her fate as she is not only constantly lying to others about how she is, but she is also lying to herself.

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Blanche begins with the hope of a fresh new start after whatever happened in Belle Reve. She decides to lie about herself in order for herself to seem more likeable. By trying to get rid of her past, she becomes even more dislocated as it catches up to haunt her present reality. While trying to build a new reputation for herself, Stanley exposes her to Mitch and Stella which created more conflict and tension in the play. She then becomes hopeless towards the end as she is left with no realistic possibility of happiness after her multiple attempts to make herself attractive to male suitors.

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While bathing , Blanche sings a popular ballad in which the lyrics say 'if both lovers believe in their imagined reality, then it’s no longer make-believe'. These lyrics sum up the way Blanche approaches life. Ironically Stella and Stanley speak of her past sexual entanglements which juxtaposes with Blanche's understanding of herself. in her own fantasy.

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p.20 ' Blanche comes out of the bathroom in a red satin robe.'

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p.20 ' Blanche comes out of the bathroom in a red satin robe.'

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The color red symbolizes love, passion, and desire. Blanche used this opportunity to flirt with Stanley. Blanche is always seen dressed in luxurious jewelry such as pearls and fancy dresses that express her beauty. Even at Stella's home, she wears lavish clothing to emphasize her femininity highlighting her need for validation but also that she likes dressing well.

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Blanche is seen wearing a white dress in the first scene which symbolise purity and innocence. Through her higher level of language and poised mannerisms she is seen as a refined and intelligent woman. The white dress also show cleanliness which links to her taking baths regularly. She seems affected by vulgar language and violent actions presenting her as a sensitive character.

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In Blanche's fantasy, she is a young woman, beautiful and radiant in a harmonious world. " I don't want realism, I want magic" (scene 9) Blanche’s desires led her down the paths of sexual promiscuity and alcoholism. Blanche’s desire to escape causes her to lose touch with the world around her, she becomes desperate for any kind of male attention.

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Blanche at first is shown to be prim and proper, ideal woman during the 1940s. Blanche is shown to be creating an "illusion" about being an ideal woman and is shown to be running away from her past which was far opposite from the way she presented herself.
When Mitch finds out about her past, he forces Blanche to admit what happened in her past, breaking the "illusion" she created of herself. Blanche finally had to face the reality, face the reality of the actions she did in her past and how now she had to bear the consequences of it.

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Towards the end of the play, Blanche is being brutally raped by Stanley, this incident is shown to be Blanche's plunge as an individual shown as a downfall in her unfortunate fate. In pg 107 it mentions " I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." This shows that Blanche could not trust in people she called her family and ended up resting her life on the hands of a doctor. Blanche's character is shown to be delicate and sensitive and was to dignified to live in this cruel and realistic world.

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Blanche at the star of the play is portrayed as an anxious person. In pg 6 she mentions " -Oh, what a convenient location and such -Ha-a-ha! Precious lamb!" The use of parenthesis shows that Blanche is flustered and nervous around Stella and she is unsure on what to say or talk to her about. Moreover, Blanche is also reliant on alcohol to clam herself and destress her. In page 7 Blanche says "I was on the verge on -lunacy." This shows Blanche to be on the edge and has a lot of nerves, showing her as an unsteady character. At the start of the play Blanche seemed to be anxious as she was surrounded by new people and new environment, hence was not used to the living standards and lifestyle of people at New Orleans.

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From the moment they met, Stanley felt that Blanche was untrustworthy and disliked her. In pg 24 it mentions "I don't want no ifs, ands, or buts!" This shows that Stanley isn't ready to listen to Blanche went she tells him that she lost Belle Reve on a mortgage and insisted on looking at the physical paper. " I have a lawyer acquaintance." By mentioning this it shows that Stanley doesn't trust Blanche or the papers she presented in front of him, thus he needed an expert to look at them. Due to Stanley being incapable of trusting Blanche, he investigated her past.

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Blanche throughout the play is shown to be protective towards Stella.  In pg 6 it mentions "I thought you would never come back to his horrible place!"  This presented Blanche as an eccentric character as she voices without any consideration. This also presents Blanche as an protective sister who wants her sister to live with luxury and not live in an apartment with only two rooms.
Blanche was married in a young age to a boy who was soft and tender. When Blanche found out that he is homosexual, she said she is disguised by him, led to him killing himself. Blanche always felt guilty that her harsh action led to her husband's death and when she saw Stanley being so cruel to Stella, Blanche thought of how cruel she was with her husband, hence Blanche tried her best to get Stella out of the toxic relationship she was in.

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Blanche's character depends on men for her financial support as well as to deal with her emotional baggage. She sees Mitch as someone to save her from living in terrible conditions such as the flamingo hotel, where she becomes a prostitute for shelter "make a little-temporary magic just in order to pay for -one nights shelter!" (Page 53). She also refers to meeting one of her suitors as a financial proposition in scene four as she says "I took the trip as an investment, thinking I'd meet someone with a million dollars." (page 43).

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Throughout the play, Blanche uses hydrotherapy to calm her nerves. In scene Two she talks about how good it makes her feel "Hello Stanley! Here I am, freshly bathed and scented, and feeling like a brand hew human being." (Page 20). It becomes more prominent that she uses bathing more than just top refresh herself, but as a way for her to deal with her trauma "A hot bath and a cold drink always gives me a brand new outlook on life!" (Page 75). Stanley often mocks her for it, as seen in scene seven as he makes jokes about her always being in the bathroom "Hey, canary bird! Toots! Get OUT of the BATHROOM! Must I speak more plainly?" (Page 75).

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Blanche uses pet names in her dialogue to charm men as seen with the young man and Mitch. She has a sensual tone in her encounter with the young man as she says "You make my mouth water" (Page 57 Scene five). She calls Mitch by various cute nicknames such as "My Rosenkavalier!" (Page 58), "Honey" (Page 60), she refers to him as "beau" to Stella and Stanley (Page 76), and even calls him "beautiful" (Page 83) in scene nine.

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As a woman, Blanche lacks the authority and power to decide her future when it comes to finance. Stanley decides her fate by putting her into a mental hospital. But Stanley also decides her fate by deciding to rape her in Scene 10 as he knows it will push her over the edge and he will finally have a solid excuse for kicking her out.

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Blanche becomes more and more enveloped in fantasy as bad things happen 

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Blanche becomes more and more enveloped in fantasy as bad things happen 

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Blanche falls deeper into desire as the play goes on. From the beginning she desires to settle down and catch the attention of Mitch. Then she expresses her longing to touch the young man-disturbingly not the first time she has been entangled with a man younger than she is. However she creates more elaborate stories in her head as Stanley tries to get rid of her, about Shep Huntleigh. Then at the final scene she expresses how she wants to be rich with a young husband as she says "I will die - with my hand in the hand of some nice-looking ship doctor, a very young one with a small blond moustache." (Scene 11 Page 102). Her madness is also demonstrated by a blurry vision of hers "Lurid reflections appear on the walls in odd- sinous shapes. The 'Varsouviana' is filtered into weird distortion accompanied by the cries and noises of the jungle." (Page 104).

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As Blanche arrives to New Orleans, she expects people to treat her with respect and flattery. She shows entitlement as she pries Stella to compliment her in Scene One "You haven't said a word about my appearance." (Page 8). In Scene Three she also expresses this same idea that she is superior to others as she says "Please don't get up" (Page 29) as she approaches the poker table.

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Initially, Mitch viewed Blanche with great attraction. Her alluring, lady-like behaviour and sophisticated language made him see Blanche as a prospect for marriage due to his sick mother. In Scene Six he expresses his feelings of admiration towards her, he says "I like you to be exactly the way you are, because in my -experience- I have never known anyone like you." (page 61). On page 65 he shows that he has serious intentions about their relationship as he says "I told my mother how nice you were and I liked you." (Page 65).

However, this all changes after he finds out about her past at the flamingo hotel from Stanley. He completely changes his attitude towards her as she now has little value due to her loss of innocence. Mitch expresses his shock that Blanche had been with other men as Stanley says in Scene seven "He thought she had never been more than kissed by a fellow." (Page 70) and "He's not necessarily through with her - just wised up!" (Page 74). He shows this change directly to her in scene 9 as after he tries to have sex with her, he says "You're not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother."(Page 89).

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Her actions are consistent of that a self conscious, unconfident person as she constantly picks out the flaws in other people that she feels unhappy about herself. For instance, in scene one, she says to Stella "But you- you've put on some weight, yes you're as plump as a little partridge!" (Page 8). It becomes more clear  that Blanche herself is insecure about the way she looks as she tries to cover up any harsh light that may expose her wrinkles. "I can't stand a naked light bulb..." (Scene Three Page 34). It is not only her appearance that she feels discontent with, but also the aspect of a woman's innocence. She looks down on women who have been with men intimately before marriage as seen in Scene 6 on her date with Mitch. "I guess you are used to girls that like to be lost. The kind that get lost immediately, on the first date!" (Page 61). Here she portrays sex and intimacy through a euphemism as something only to be done within a committed relationship- however she contradicts herself with her actions in Laurel. She is known amongst men in the town for her promiscuity as Stanley uncovers in Scene 7, "All this squeamishness she puts on!... He thought she had never been more than kissed by a fellow! But sister Blanche is no lily!..." (Page 70).

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light, or lighting of any sort;               pg 86"I don't think I ever seen you in the light" "I've never seen you in the afternoon"  "Light? Which light? What for?"

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light, or lighting of any sort;               pg 86"I don't think I ever seen you in the light" "I've never seen you in the afternoon"  "Light? Which light? What for?"

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Blanche associates her insecurity of age with light. She goes to lengthy extents to avoid being seen under it because she fears it would make her unwanted by men. This is why she purposefully makes excuses to not see Mitch anytime before 6 pm and forces to go to 'some place that's not lighted much.'

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Blanche alone uses correct grammar and varied syntax, unlike the other characters. This would make sense as she used to be an English teacher. Her vocabulary includes latinisms such as 'heterogeneous' and 'judicial' (p22). This reflects on her manor-born persona and how she goes out of her way to use her language as a way to show her superiority towards Stella, Blanche and anyone she has an encounter with.

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pg 105 "she cries out as if the lantern was herself"

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pg 105 "she cries out as if the lantern was herself"

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Symbolically, Williams does try to represent her flimsy and fading character through the use of the lantern. The lantern represented the transformation of Blanche and how now, she would have to finally fall back into reality and fight the hardness of it. From my perspective, the reason Blanche allows herself to be taken away with the doctor after hearing his more humanly and personalised voice is because she realises that the false reality or illusion she has created for herself is finally broken. She is ruined symbolically and literally at the end.

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pg 87 "intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart with"

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pg 87 "intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill my empty heart with"

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Blanche used to give herself away to strangers as a way to alleviate herself from the guilt of 'failing her husband' which is why she was particularly drawn to younger men (eg. 17 year old boy she used to teach) as it reminded her of her husband. As the play goes on, she becomes increasingly unhinged. In the scene where Mitch confronts her for lying, she responds with "inside I never lied". Here she is immediately ripped off her chief attributes of trying to be prim and proper - in turn, she starts talking about her encounters with death and bashes herself for the situation she has ruined as a way to cope being exposed. This shows that although Blanche has been consistently unstable, this problem only grows with every conversation she has, making her more unhinged than before.

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pg3 "they mustn't have - understood - what number I wanted..."

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pg3 "they mustn't have - understood - what number I wanted..."

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To me, Blanche's character from the starting scene was very intriguing. She just seems like anyone else facing a culture shock when having to move to a new place as she tries to adjust and feel accepted in this new environment (we see this reoccurring pattern throughout the play - that all Blanche really wants is acceptance from anyone or anything). She explains how rattled she has become after having to lose everything  (using the minimal amount of inheritance she was left with to pay the sumptuous funerals to preserve her family's dignity and losing Belle Reve) - page 11 stage directions <Blanche begins to shake again with intensity>

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Stanley through his male perspective was never really able to understand Blanche's fragility. He always questioned or mocked Blanche's character which can be seen in p51 when talking about star signs, Blanche says "Virgo is the Virgin" and Stanley laughs contemptuously, almost as if he was waiting for the right moment to tear apart the persona Blanche has created for herself. When Stella argues of how brutal and harsh Stanley is being on page 81, he stands firm with his point that Blanche is a complete liar and continues to go out of his to prove that she is a hypocrite

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Blanche already begins as a 'fallen women' in society's eyes as she lost her family property and marriage in her younger years. She also is a bit of a snob despite her having the least out of all characters. As the play goes on we watch her get notably more insane as she depends all her worth and happiness on the company of men. At the end, Williams portrayed her as mad in the eyes of the people that surrounds her as she is committed to an asylum - this however wasn't her doing since it was Stanley taking the remainder of whatever sanity she had left through raping her. I could argue that her behaviour was gradual and consistent - each scene that goes by heightens her hysteric personality yet she still manages to maintain her innocence and purity to a degree

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Blanche reflects education in her way of speaking. Since she was an English teacher , she mentions " Edgar Allan Poe" (p.7)
suggesting a higher level of knowledge than Stanley.

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Pg 3 "She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice....white gloves and hat."-- Ayusha D.

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Pg 3 "She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice....white gloves and hat."-- Ayusha D.

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- Blanche is shown to be wearing white clothes and accessories. White was usually worn by widows as it represented purity and rebirth.  Blanche is shown to have fancy accessories that people like Stanley and Stella may not be able to afford it. This represents Blanche changing herself to someone who has class and dignity, this can be seen as an attempt for Blanche to leave behind her past and start afresh.

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Stanley believes from the beginning of the show(scene 2) that Blanche has been lying to them about her past. He eventually figures out the truth about all her lies(scene 7).

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because everything in Blanche's life goes wrong(husband dies, family dies, lost family, lost Belle Reve, lost job, sister doesn't support her, Stanley rapes her) and there is no one to support her, eventually Blanche becomes unable to deal with her problems.

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Page 7-> Blanche is introduced as high class due the contrast of her language

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Page 7-> Blanche is introduced as high class due the contrast of her language

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As Blanche and Stella meet it becomes clear that Blanche is snobby and not used to this kind of environment. Early on in the play there are dirty jokes said by negro woman (Page 1), colloquial slang such as 'holler' used by Stella (Page 2). Whereas Blanche talks with great sophistication, indicating that she is well-educated and wealthy. She references famous literature in the line "Only Mr Edgar Allan Poe!" and uses old-fashioned sentence structure as seen in the syntax of "Out there I suppose there is the ghoul haunted woodland of Weir!".

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In a hospital.
Blanche is shipped off to a mental institution by Stella taking the rape accusation as evidence her sister has gone insane.

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pg 3 "her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light... suggests a moth"

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pg 3 "her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light... suggests a moth"

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Symbolises a facade Williams writes for Blanche, she avoids the harsh light to avoid people seeing her true self - that she is 5 years older than Stella and is insecure about this fact. Her 'white clothes, that suggests a moth' further emphasises the idea of Blanche's fragility and how estranged she is from this setting of New Orleans

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blanche hears polka music whenever something goes wrong, for example, when Mitch broke up with Blanche she could hear the varsouviana music. This is because when her husband Allan died, this was the music that was playing.

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The use of rhetorical question emphasizes the surprise Blanche felt when she arrived at Elysian Fields. Blanche was expecting the area with people living a luxurious and high class life, but was thrown off when she saw the area was for middle class people.

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Blanche's physical appearance is seen as to contrast with New Orleans. Her costume of a white dress with lavish jewellery and hat suggests she is out of place and descending from a place of wealth. The stage directions compare her appearance to an upper class lady who is on her way to attend a summer tea or cocktail party rather than visiting a poor neighborhood. She is then asked by Eunice if she is lost which further emphasises the juxtaposition of her presence there.

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pg 3 "Blanche comes around the corner, carrying a valise" - hiya

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pg 3 "Blanche comes around the corner, carrying a valise" - hiya

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A valise being a small suitcase would foreshadow the idea that Blanche is 'on the run'. We don't know where she has come from yet but she was definitely in a rush to get to New Orleans, which we now know is because she was asked to leave from Hotel Flamingo after living there for a while. This portrays Blanche as a scattered character who has yet to get her life together