Williams' Use of Imagery and Symbolism in A Streetcar Named Desire

Williams' Use of Imagery and Symbolism in A Streetcar Named Desire

Williams uses figurative language in his lengthy stage directions to

convey to the reader a deeper, more intense picture than a description

alone could express. In the opening stage direction Williams

illustrates the area around Elysian Fields. He uses personification to

describe "the warm breath of the brown river" (P1). I think this

creates an atmosphere that is decaying yet at the same time welcoming

and affectionate. This is contrasted by Williams' depiction of the

"tender blue" (P1) sky and the "weathered grey" (P1) houses,

suggesting a tension hanging over Elysian Fields. Symbolically Elysian

Fields, where Stella and Stanley live is the name of the place in

Greek mythology where heroes went after death. They were able to

return at any time to Earth if they wished but few wished to return

and relinquish the pleasure they had found there. I think Williams

uses this to reflect Stella's life in Elysian Fields. Stella lives in

her own kind of paradise which Blanche is unable to see and she has no

desire to return to her old life.

Williams in the opening stage directions, introduces the music of the

"Blue Piano" (P1). He describes the music as "a tinny piano being

played with the infatuated fluency of brown fingers" (P1). This

metaphor expresses the proficiency of the pianist and his devotion to

his music. Williams states that the "Blue Piano expresses the spirit

of the life which goes on [in Elysian Fields]" (P1) and uses this

symbolically throughout the play. "The music of the 'blue piano' grows

louder" (P13) as Blanche informs Stella of the loss of Belle Reve. I

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... is operating a good bluff up to scene five as Mitch "thinks [she is]

sort of - prim and proper" (P63). I think that Williams uses the game

of poker to represent the bluffing and tensions, which occur between

Stanley and Blanche. Stanley warns Blanche "to interest [him] a woman

would have to - lay…her cards on the table" (P25). At the end of the

play as Blanche leaves Elysian Fields "Eunice descends to Stella and

places the child in her arms" (P124) and Steve declares, "This game is

seven-card stud". Williams uses the poker game to show that Stanley

has finished the game with the best hand and won the pot. Stanley has

his wife, child, home and friends and Blanche leaves with nothing.

Bibliography

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Williams, Tennessee (1947). A Streetcar Named Desire, Oxford,

Heinemann Eduactional Publishers