In this part of the play how does Williams begin to establish Blanche as a tragic heroine?
Elements of a tragic heroine are being portrayed by Williams in scenes 1 and 2. He shows the characteristics of a tragic heroine and expresses them through Blanche. According to Aristotle’s theory of tragedy a tragic hero/heroine is one that has a fatal flaw and someone that once had a high status and has come crashing down. Williams shows her fatal flaw(s) such as men/desire, alcohol and her past. He also shows how she has gone from a high status, wealthy woman with an extravagant lifestyle to someone that has lost everything and has fallen as low as possible and has moved in with her sister to a poorer society. Furthermore you could also argue that Stanley is being a nemesis type character to Blanche; the person who brings karma back round to expose Blanche.
It could be argued that Blanche’s biggest flaw in the play is desire. This desire arises due to the constant loneliness of Blanche after her husband’s death. This is shown in the first scene by Williams as since the death of her husband, she has been trying to find the right man who can fulfil her desires. Her search hasn’t been successful and has ruined her reputation and name. This search for desire is what brought her to her sister’s doorstep. ‘They told me to take a street-car named Desire’.
Furthermore her desire in her past is also what caused a downfall when she had an affair with a schoolboy in a school in Laurel where she was once a teacher. Her past could be seen as consequently the cause of her downfall. It is because of this past that Blanche has moved from Laurel to New Orleans and how she has lost everything she once had. The past that she thought she had left behind is what consequently comes up in the end to result in the end of Blanche, Williams shows how her past is a flaw in the first 2 scenes. ‘The loss-the loss’. Here is where William reveals to the audience for the first time that...