unavoidable lies, doomed destiny

1、<p>　　Unavoidable Lies, Doomed Destiny</p><p>　　Abstract: A Streetcar Named Desire, one of American playwright—Tennessee Williams’ representative works, is popular among readers and audiences. Most of t

2、he studies on the play are based on feminism and symbolism, or probe into Blanche’s tragic fate through her emotion experience. The author holds the view that Blanche’s lies are the clue which coheres the play. Therefore

3、, starting from analyzing the lies Blanche weaves in New Orleans, the author tries to explore the doomed destiny of her and ma</p><p>　　Key words: Lies; Tragedies; Southern plantation; Patriarchal society; S

4、plit personality </p><p>　　1 Introduction Author </p><p>　　Tennessee Williams, a famous American playwright animates the American stage in the middle years of 20th century, succeeding Eugene O’N

5、eil. When A Streetcar Named Desire came to the stage in 1947, it brought the audiences a startling fresh thanks to the vivid image of Blanche, a memorable liar in modern American dream. The author believes the drama is c

6、ohered through lies. These lies are like closely linked rings, which together drag Blanche to the abyss. </p><p>　　2 Life Weaved by Lies </p><p>　　2.1 Lie about Age </p><p>　　The li

7、e about age took place when Blanche first met Mitch. In order to get Mitch’s love, she fashions a make-believe world for herself to get his trust. She wants to play the refined, innocent young lady for Mitch. </p>

8、<p>　　2.2 Mitch: You are Stella’s sister, are you not? </p><p>　　Blanche: Yes, Stella is my precious little sister. I call her little in spite of the fact she’s somewhat older than I am.(p74) </p>

9、;<p>　　2.3 Lie about Purity </p><p>　　After meeting Blanche in Stanley’s flat, Mitch seems to be captivated by Blanche. Although Blanche also has some special feelings for Mitch, she just wants to pre

10、tend to be high-hearted and induces Mitch to fall into the infatuated love for her step by step. </p><p>　　Blanche: But, honey, you know as well as I do that a single girl, a girl alone in the world, has got

11、 to keep a firm hold on her emotions or she’ll be lost. (p 120) </p><p>　　2.4 Lie about Dignity </p><p>　　While telling Stanley about the telegram, Blanche also mentions Mitch’s coming, but she

12、depicts it as an apologizing visit. </p><p>　　Blanche: Yes. Swine! And I ‘m thinking not only of you but of your friend, Mr. Mitchell. He came here tonight. He dared to come here in his work-clothes.! And to

13、 repeat slander to me, vicious stories that he had gotten from you! (p192) 　　3 Tragedies Doomed by Lies </p><p>　　3.1 Failure in Pursuit of Love </p><p>　　Blanche’s escape from the reality doom

14、s her failure in pursuit of love in reality. To her, the pursuit of love means everything to her, but to Mitch, when comparing the men’s dignity with love, he chooses the former without hesitation. An unclean woman may d

15、estroy his fame, and that is the law of male chauvinism and the patriarchal society. </p><p>　　3.2 Rape from Sister’s Husband </p><p>　　Stanley’s rape to Blanche is the revenge of his being disd

16、ained by Blanche for a long time. All the lies Blanche tells are used to put herself in a superior position to Stanley, while to Stanley, Blanche’s family has declined, and she should have been very humble in his home, w

17、here he is the king. The rape can not only be seemed as the revenge from Stanley, but also the suppression of northern industrialization over southern plantation. </p><p>　　3.3 Delivery to the Madhouse </

18、p><p>　　The lies Blanche told one after another before gradually push her into the complete illusionary world. At first, she just cherishes the illusion of being a gentle lady, disregarding the gap between real

19、ity and her fantasy. Later, when all the lies closely linked with one another, she herself cannot get rid of the constraint and hurt from them, then she’s defeated. </p><p>　　4 Origins of All Lies </p>

20、<p>　　4.1 Irrevocable Decline of Southern Plantation </p><p>　　Great social changes throw people in the old South into a new environment and the decline of Dubois family throws Blanche to the New Orle

21、ans, which strikes her seriously just like big onrush. She fails to face her lost status and property and adjust herself to the new life. With the cruel reality becoming a big obstacle, she chooses to survive by weaving

22、a world of lies to escape from reality. </p><p>　　4.2 Unchangeable Status of Women in Patriarchal Society </p><p>　　In patriarchal society, women are subject to men, having hardly any social sta

23、tus. Just like Hamlet has said :”fragile, your name is woman” Blanche depends her life to the marriage to a man. Following the belief “a woman’s charm is fifty percent illusion”, she tells lies to pursue love. When the d

24、ecision power leaves to men, women can just play all their cards, including lies, to make the final push. </p><p>　　4.3 Unavoidable Split Personality from Traumatic Experience </p><p>　　Blanche’

25、s neurosis could be traced to the traumatic experience in her early age. When she is 16 years old, she marries a young talent poet Allen. She loves her husband ardently. Unfortunately, this young poet is found out a homo

26、sexual, who commits suicide later. She wishes to forget her traumatic experience and indecent past. Therefore, she prefers to her own illusion rather than reality. </p><p>　　5 Conclusion </p><p>

27、;　　Blanche is not an inborn liar, and all the lies she tells do not mean to hurt anyone. All these lies originates from the society, which was experiencing a dramatic change from industrialization while still saving some

28、 vices inherited from old society. To Blanche, a woman who is unable to adapt to the society, her tragedies have already been doomed at the beginning of the story. </p><p>　　References </p><p>　

29、　[1] Roudané, Matthew C. Tennessee Williams [M]. 上海. 上海外語教育出版社，2000 </p><p>　　[2] 蘭天. 瘋掉的南方淑女布蘭奇--《欲望號街車》女主人公悲劇性命運的女性主義解讀[J]. 外國文學, 2007,2 [02]:134-136 </p><p>　　[3] 徐靜. 新的起點與覺悟—試用榮格理論分析《欲望