Liz Holt Strictly Ballroom

She seems to hint to Stella and Stanley, and therefore the audience, that she is actually much more than she seems. In scene seven, Blanche soaks in a tub, singing:

Blanche is committed to a tradition and a way of life that have become anachronistic in the world of Stanley Kowalski. She is committed to a code of civilization that died with her ancestral home, Belle Reve. Stella recognizes this tradition and her sister's commitment to it, but she has chosen to relinquish it and to come to terms with a world that has no place for it. In a sense, Blanche is frantic in her refusal to relinquish her concept

Blanche has a devastating and scarring past in which her tragic flaw originates from. The elements of love, sex, and death haunt her until she is unable to handle it any longer and loses what is left of her sanity and sparks her unstable mind. To expatiate, Blanche was once married to the love of her life, Allen Grey, until she found

As Blanche arrives at the house of Stella and Stanly, right away you see his mood go into a very dark place as if he does not want her to be there. Stanly’s character in the film comes off to be very rough and aggressive. The night after Blanche arrived, she meets Stanly’s friend Mitch, who is different from Stanly just by the way he carries himself. Mitch and Blanche catch a glimpse of each other which brings some light back into her being there. Stella was in support of her sister blanche meeting Mitch as it may have been an effective way for her to comfortably. Light and dark effects in a dramatic film play a big part because it sets the tone of the storyline and helps give the suspension of where the story will go and end up. It can be good for a film to bounce back and forth from light and dark moments to keep scenes impactful to the viewer. [For example, in the scene where Blanche buys a cover for the light in the bedroom area, it made her happy, and the others seemed as if they supported it to make her feel comfortable, and then towards the end of the film when Stanly snatches the cover off the light as he is angry, it changes the

The audience always had the feeling that Blanche was a little nuts, but we see her condition worsening as the play goes on. During the final scene we see Blanche go with a doctor and nurse to, presumably, a mental hospitable. Eunice

She had many ways to gussy up, Blanche always needed compliments and admiration to get throughout the day. Stella exclaims “and admire her dress and tell her she’s looking wonderful. That’s important with Blanche” (Williams 33). In the dimness preferred “she smells sweet and appears on the outside” (Clough n.p.). Blanche owned pieces of clothing that seem to be expensive but really were just cheap pieces of clothing. Not so promising to Stanley, “look at these furs that she comes here to preen herself in! Whats this here? A solid gold dress, I believe! And this one! What is these here? Fox pieces! Genuine fox fur-pieces, a half a mile long” (Williams 35). Blanche also had what was assumed to be expensive jewelry collection but was just simple costume jewelry. “And diamonds! A crown for an impress!” (Williams 36). “She perceives herself as a beautiful object which has to be properly decorated in order to sell well” (Oklopcic n.p.). Even with a great outer appearance Blanche was still ugly on the inside and she knew this. She hated looking at herself in the mirror or being in front of Mitch without being properly dressed. Blanche portrayed herself as having manners, she expected men to stand at her appearance and grant her with

However, as we get to know Blanches character and situation, we begin to feel much sorrier for her and even begin to pity the situation she is stuck in. Having lost the family’s luxurious plantation house in Belle Reve, although we do not know whether this reclamation of the house is solely down to Blanche or just generally a family-wide debt issue that has forced Blanche from her home so cannot blame anyone specifically for this, Blanche has essentially ended up wandering around the area, looking for somewhere to stay before she ends up, literally on her sister’s doorstep at a last minute request. Her manic and slightly frenetic behaviour when she does arrive suggest that she is desperately nervous or getting increasingly desperate for support and some friendship, someone to rely on. She is however, a woman who is quite dramatic and emotional, as she is not someone who understands empathy. This is apparent when she has just arrived at Stella’s and is talking to her sister about where she lives. Now most people, when arriving in someone’s house at the last minute to stay there for an unspecified amount of time, would never dream of doing or saying something to insult the host. Yet Blanche, when asking Stella how many rooms there are in the apartment says ‘What? Two rooms did you say?’ in a quite demeaning and slightly insulting tone and to follow this comment up she laughs sharply, in an almost

She spends most of the first scene talking down to Stella, mentioning that she looks as if she 's put on weight while praising herself for remaining the same size since they last saw each other. She dresses in rhinestone crowns, "fluffy bodices" and pearl necklaces and earrings. Her wardrobe appears to be filled with clothing that 's either white or and pastels, colors that one easily associates with purity.

     Although there are many different characters in this novel that are affected by the great advertisement of the beauty of a female in society, Pecola is the one to end up being insane due to the images- the image that she couldn’t possibly attain. Pecola grew up believing that she was born into an ugly family, making her ugly also. The ugliness wasn’t just from the window signs and newspapers, it was from her family and her neighbors. Therefore, she seeks the next best thing in her life, to have those blue eyes of a white girl, thinking

It is clear from the beginning that Blanche is not a very honest character. She lives in a fantasy world of her own design. One of the very first things she does when she enters Stella’s

Some examples of negative manifestations of character include Lydia and Kitty Bennet and Mr. Collins.  Lydia and Kitty exhibit an extreme irreverence and total lack of societal understanding; from their shameless soldier-chasing to Lydia's scandalous affair with Wickham, these two exemplify social behaviors to be avoided. They reveal their weak natures on the dance floor through excessive giggling, cavorting, and tipsiness.  Mr. Collins's behavior marks him as a comic figure.  During the first two dances at Netherfield, Mr. Collins reveals his character in a way contrary to his own self-perception.  As Elizabeth, his partner for those dances, recalls:

Blanche does this subconsciously, always using the excuse that her “nerves are in knots” as she believes so. However, these are futile efforts that vanish at once when the night comes, as darkness is a true part of her and she is in love with the night that allows her to live out a fantasy of being a different person and having a different life: “I don't want realism. I want magic! [Mitch laughs] Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don't tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!” Blanche is devoted to the idea of being a Southern belle: angelic, pure, without a single vulgar word coming out of her mouth. At the same time, she hides her alcoholism, claiming that she is “not accustomed to having more than one drink,” disregarding the fact that she takes frequent shots. Lying to everyone that surrounds her and in some way even lying to herself, she continues making fruitless efforts to present the image of an unsullied damsel. And yet, she still tries to wash off her self-disgust in the

Blanches’ emotional state of mind is also conspicuous at the start of the play as she circumvents direct light, fearful of showing her fading looks and the light would make her vulnerable to the truth. Blanche is unable to withstand harsh light, calling the light a ‘merciless glare’(S1:pg.120*) because with Allan’s death, the light had gone out of her life and the effect this had is that she wanted dim lights hiding the reality of her painful memories. This links to the theme of dream and reality as Blanche, a delicate character, refused ‘to accept the reality of her life and attempts to live under illusion’ (*2), living on the borders of life similar to a moth which creates the image of Blanches’ fragility.

Blanche sees Stella’s relationship as abusive and therefore impractical. Blanche’s world is driven by fantasy and believes that she and Stella should be with men that are of higher class but this fantasy is far from reality. Stanley provides a realistic and secure future for Stella, as does Steve for Eunice and this is something that they value more than fantasy and perfection. Blanche, subconsciously needing a man to be fully content, does not accept reality and because of this, she allows her reputation and later her life to be

            Blanche is not really lost in illusions; rather she uses them as camouflage. She wears them as she wears her clothes and her glass necklaces, as protection from a reality that she finds horrifying. One must not think of Blanche as just a fragile, delicate blossom. There is a fierce desire in her for life at any cost. Her masquerade may