Monologue In A Streetcar Named Desire

them an image of aesthetic beauty. Douglas’ version is desirable because it is beautiful, and possibly because it is, in fact, silver, and worth a great deal. A reader may also assume that the ‘fleur d’argent’ refers to coins arranged in the shape of a flower. Pictorially, ‘fleur d’argent’ translated as ‘flower of money’ compels the reader to imagine money, whatever type it may be, organized, rather than melted and molded, into the shape of a flower. The image then becomes both one of attractiveness and of financial acquisition. What Wilde originally intended cannot be communicated as directly in English, therefore cannot be as decadent in its brevity as is the original French. Because he chose a phrase that can be translated in more than one

Even those as apparently insignificant as the colour of Caesar’s robe can affect what the reader or viewer experiences. In the play, Caesar’s robe is described as being ‘pourpre’, which Douglas translates as ‘purple’. ‘Purple’ is one of the English equivalents of ‘pourpre’. It was not, however, its primary, contemporary definition. The colour ‘pourpre’ most often translates as ‘crimson’ (OHFD). There are other words for purple, and other words for red, but Wilde chose one for shades of a Roman emperor’s robe that teeters between associations. This subtle difference has a great influence on meaning. If the robe is visualized as being purple, this would indicate royalty, which suits a description of Caesar, as he is the leader of the Roman Empire — the cultural debauchery of which was certainly considered loathed by English conservatives. A purple robe symbolizes wealth and, again, material excess. If his robe is crimson, this may connote the very same thing; however, it may also indicate something quite different. Salomé is rife with violent, bloody imagery, something certainly suggested by a blood-red robe worn by the emperor of a civilization known to sometimes revel in blood sports and in watching the deaths of others for