The foreshadowing in the beginning of the first scene indicates the detrimental consequences of desire. To arrive at the Kowalski’s residence, Blanche is told that she needs “to take a streetcar named Desire, and …show more content…
From the beginning to the end of the story, Blanche unfailingly conceals herself in darkness due to her physical insecurities. Her reaction to a source of light regards to her attempt in masking her true nature as well as her vanishing beauty and youth, and she anxiously obscures the exposed light bulb in the Kowalski apartment with a Chinese paper lantern as she claims, “I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action” (Williams 55). However, this paper lantern is not very stable, just like Blanche’s illusions. Her fear of someone seeing her in plain sight is shown when “Mitch crosses to the switch. He turns the light on and stares at her. She cries out and covers her face” (Williams 117). To Blanche, light represents reality which not only uncovers her physical blemishes but also her tainted past. Her obsessive desire in disguising her image ultimately induces the collapse of her relationships with others, specifically her relationship with Mitch. Her once potential husband suffers betrayal from Blanche’s constant deception of her true self, and neglects her