"’They are the souls,’ answered Anchises,
’Whose destiny it is a second time
To live in the flesh and there by the waters of Lethe
They drink the draught that sets them free from care
And blots out their memory.’"
Elysian Fields denotes a place of ideal happiness or the abode of the blessed after death. This is symbolic because this place is going to bring the death of . The name Elysian Fields refers to the place that ancient Greeks believed served as a home for the dead. Yet it was transitory – souls were soon moved on elsewhere. This foreshadows Blanche’s destruction and highlights the illusory nature of her current happiness.
It might also harbour another meaning. After victorious soldiers died in battle, they went to Elysian Fields to celebrate their lives, their courage and their accomplishments. So have Stanley and his friends returned to Elysian Fields after the war, coming back to the States as successful and hopeful soldiers ready to make a name for themselves on their home soil. The theme of pure, almost savage that is so ripe in the drama, is one that filled the US after World War II – an air of bravado and victory following the defeat of the Germans.
There are also important symbols of purity and the ”innocence of the dream world”. Blanche’s name means ”white woods” referring to purity, innocence and virginity. When she appears at the beginning of the drama there is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth. However, a moth is grey - referring to Blanche’s mistakes in the past and even to Allan Grey, whose suicide is the tragic flaw Blanche wants to overcome. It is also symbolic when Blanche has a bath - to purify herself from the past and get back the ”innocence of the dream world”. In scene 5, Stella spills some coke on Blanche’s white skirt – this ties in with the idea of purity and ruination, especially when Blanche states that they were lucky because the skirt wasn’t stained. This along with the cruder, sexual symbolism implied also foreshadows her rape. Moreover, the setting of the play refers to the issue of virginity. The French city Orleans is famous for Jeanne d’ Arc, the Virgin of Orleans who was executed - referring to the sad ending of the drama when somebody will be sacrificed. Also, Blanche’s birthday is in September; so she was born under Virgo, which is also a reference to the issue of purity.
Williams also conveys emphasises on light and dark. The light represents truth and reality, which is both figuratively and literally revealed in Scene 9. In this scene the final confrontation between Mitch and Blanche occurs. Mitch complains the room is dark, and Blanche reveals that the dark is comforting to her. When Mitch tears the paper from the Chinese lantern, he allows it to produce a blinding light. The light shows Mitch Blanche's fading beauty, and figuratively exposes her pretence of righteousness and innocence. Blanche finds the dark comforting because she is not able to see the world in illumination, she casts a dark shadow over the ugliness and cruelty of the real world and is able to hide from it. It metaphorically conceals the ugliness of the real world around her. With this in mind Blanche can continue living her life with pretend ignorance, and consequently this enables her to preserve her illusions of the real world. When Mitch removes the paper from the lantern bulb, he can reveal that she is no longer young and believably innocent. However, when the notion that Blanche's dreadful past is centrally exposed within her sad world, she cannot no longer maintain her illusions, and subsequently she is unable to maintain her sanity. The light and dark message is also a sign of the questionable bond between Blanche and Mitch. Blanche is aware of her need to camouflage reality, in Scene 5, she admits to Stella that she has had to put on a seductive pretence - 'Put a - paper lantern over the light'. Another paper metaphor is used in scene 7, when Blanche is heard singing ‘Paper Moon’ – it gives the scene incredible poignancy in that it allegorises her love of illusion, and her wish to be left to it. However, her singing is directly contrapuntal in that it is heard between Stanley telling Stella the sordid details of Blanche’s past – it creates a feeling of conflict, and highlights the constant battle between fantasy and reality in her mind. There is also hidden meaning in the use of paper metaphors, in that paper is fragile and easily torn, which emulates Blanche’s state of mind and foreshadows her breakdown.
Blanche continually uses metaphors throughout such scenes; primarily to disguise the truth of her deceits and pretences. This is addressed by Williams through the interaction between them, Mitch speaks ungrammatically short and contemptuous lines, while Blanche evidently speaks with an enormous (and strangely overused) vocabulary which is artificially calculated and constructed by her in order for her achieve her aims. This is especially true in this scene, since Blanche resorts once more to the educated speech of a school teacher in order to take control of an aggressive situation. The question on which character represents dark and who represents light is debatable, yet it seems that both light and dark contain both a softness and a harshness which is decided upon by the individual. However, with this in mind, it is certain that the relationship between them was destined to fail someday.
The music in the background plays a key part in the play in
describing Blanche's emotions. In fact at one point it says of
Blanche that "The music is in her mind”. The Blue Piano
represents Blanche's desire and vulnerability. She is always extremely
lonely and needs companionship. This music is apparent during scene
one when she is recounting the deaths of her family at Belle Reeve,
and when she kisses the newsboy in scene five. The music is the
loudest during the scene when Blanche is being taken away to the
asylum. The Varsouviana Polka represents death, and to Blanche
immanent disaster. This music is heard as she explains the suicide of
her husband in scene six. It is also in the background when Stanley
gives her a Greyhound ticket to go home in scene eight. It also fades in and out of the scene where Mitch confronts Blanche about her true past.
