To what extent does Williams portray Blanche as a tragic heroine in Scene 1?

Williams uses Blanche’s hypocritical actions about alcohol to remove any pity the audience may have for her addiction. As Blanche first enters Stella’s apartment, Williams focuses on the stage directions as ‘she carefully replaces’ the whisky bottle – this is the first signal to the audience that Blanche may have an alcohol addiction. However, any pity and relation the audience may feel is quickly depleted when we see Blanche ‘shaking all over’ as she lies that ‘one’s my limit’. Although there is a sense of Blanche’s hamartia being her alcoholism, Williams removes any pity we have as she constantly contradicts and lies throughout scene one to emphasise how the audience perceive her insecurities. Although it is seen that a tragic flaw moves on with changing society, it seems unlikely that alcoholism is the underlying problem to Blanche’s ‘lunacy’ as we learn that she ‘took the blows’ of losing Belle Reve.  Williams’ choice to not show a clear hamartia for Blanche suggests that she isn’t a tragic heroine, although it cannot be denied that a flaw may develop later in the play. Therefore the use of Blanche’s alcoholism emphasises her lack of a tragic flaw.

Williams has Blanche use monosyllabic and fragmented responses to ensure the audience question her motives and stray from liking the character.  As Blanche first meets Eunice, it is clear she has a clear mistrust for other races as she responds ‘No’ as Eunice kindly offers ‘to leave your suitcase’ in the apartment and find Stella. Williams has Blanche repeatedly answer ‘Yes’ before rudely saying ‘I’d like to be left alone’ to dispel any impression the audience had of Blanche with her upper-class clothes. It is likely Williams does this to show she does not have superior attainments, a common trait of a tragic hero. During Blanche’s angry outburst about Belle Reve, Williams has her use very punctuated and fragmented sentences; the repetition of ‘but I saw! Saw! Saw!’ highlights her instability of mind and is enforced as she once again repeats ‘I let the place go! I let the place go?’ Williams does this to ensure the audience do not see her as a well-spoken and noble character, but one who struggles to interact with others. Therefore, Williams uses Blanche’s dialogue to emphasise her qualities are very far from those of a tragic heroine.

In conclusion, it is clear that Williams is not presenting Blanche as a tragic hero in scene one. He makes sure that any qualities the audience may be fond of, such as her fancy clothes or well-off upbringing, are quickly dismissed as he focuses on her alcoholism, naivety and struggles to form structured sentences. These problems that Blanche has are far from heroic qualities. Although there is a sense of a tragic flaw starting to develop, it is hard to determine in scene one whether these problems will have any affect on her later actions.