Towards the end of the same scene, we learn in a very aggressive and erratic monologue just how affected by death Blanche has been. The frequent but scattered punctuation as well as the repetition of phrases and descriptive metaphors all adds to the impression that maybe Blanche isn’t mentally stable. This connection between death and madness is brought up again briefly in scene 2 when Blanche reacts fiercely to Stanley touching letters her dead husband wrote.
Scene six contains another monologue of Blanche’s that deals with death, this time the truth about the death of her husband, Allan, and Tennessee Williams uses again the techniques mentioned before as well as the stage directions to portray to the audience her mental instability that result from that event:
A locomotive is heard approaching outside. She claps her hands to her ears and crouches over. The headlight of the locomotive glares into the room as it thunders past. As the noise recedes she straightens slowly and continues speaking.
No mention is made of Mitch’s movements so we are to imagine that he is stationary and in the background. Blanche however is in the spotlight at the point, symbolized by the train headlight, so her actions are the vital ones. Her crouching would give the impression to the audience that she is afraid, and we can assume from the text that Mitch is unaffected by the train, so she seems more erratic than he does.
Williams is very cinematic in his portrayal of Blanche’s madness, and tries to invoke as many senses as possible, with his uses of music and imagery to show that Blanche is seeing and hearing things that no-one else can. The repetition of these, in particular the Varsouviana, at every mention of Allan or his death, add to the idea that she wasn’t just having a rare moment of madness, but that it is actually a long term problem.
Surprisingly it is death that brings Blanche into a relationship with Mitch as they have both had experiences with it before. Blanche, as we found out in her monologue in scene 1, had been witness to the slow dying of her relatives as well as Allan, and Mitch had been witness to the dying of the girl who gave him the cigarette case as well as the slow deterioration of his mother.
However it is somewhat ironic that the final slip into madness for Blanche began at the death of her romance with Mitch. She was already on her way there with Mitch not turning up to her birthday dinner and Stanley’s harsh revelation that he was effectively kicking her out. It is cemented in the audience’s mind in scene 9 however, when Mitch and Blanche face off and Mitch ends the relationship; Blanche’s response, shown in scene 10, is to slip into a fantasy world.
Williams uses various techniques such as recurrent music and stage lighting only Blanche and the audience to see to emphasize her condition. Yet the reactions of those around her in response to her madness, particularly Stella’s reactions at the end of the play, leave the audience with only a feeling of sympathy for this pathetic character.
Death seems intricately linked to Blanche’s character throughout the play and it is plain to see that it is a major cause of her madness. It is perhaps a reflection of Williams’s personal life, and is dealt with in a subtle but powerful way.
