Williams uses symbolism and imagery to help convey the idea that Blanche is deceptive, egotistical and seductive. We can discover how deceptive Blanche is by the symbolism that Williams uses throughout the play. An example of this is how Blanche continually wears white outfits to symbolise the purity in which she believes she has and then a red satin gown which could be seen as a symbolise danger, passion and flirtatious attitude, in comparison to the white with purity and innocence’s that she makes people believe. The audience may begin to see that Williams wishes for his audience to see Blanche as a Victim but Within Scene Five Williams has dressed Blanche in a white dress which symbolises the purity which is seen as an opposite to what he is trying to perceive the character as before. Blanche becomes sensitive again about the spilling the coke on herself as it stains which is symbolic of the fact that Blanche if far from being pure and another linking interpretation to this could be seen as a link to the past when her late husband blood stained her dress. This is allows the audience to believe that Williams wants to present the character as a Villain but in contrast to what Blanche tells us ‘I tell what I think should be the truth’. Furthermore there can be direct link made between what Blanche wants people to think of her and what other characters think of her.
Within the play Williams allows the audience to understand that the theme of Fantasy and Reality reoccurs throughout the play but only making it relevant to the character of Blanche. We are introduced to Blanche as a "delicate beauty" that "must avoid strong light". Williams, portrays Blanche as an uncertain character who hides behind the fantasy of outer beauty and purity but when placed under the spotlight, fails to live up to the person she would like people to think that she, and showing the true reality of her life. Williams shows Blanche as a woman attempting to be 'ladylike' and innocent. But from William’s use of dramatic irony we are able to understand that Blanche lives within a world of Fantasy and Reality. The reason for this could be because he whished for the audience to understand that within Blanche’s mind her reality is that she is a victim and the fantasy is that she just wishes to be seen as a lady of morality and clarity but, the point in which Williams wants to make is that from the perspective of the audience that within the play the Fantasy is that Williams perceives Blanche as a victim but the reality is that she hasn’t meant harm to any of the situation that have happened in her life, they have just been away of her coping and being able to survive, Williams wants to show the audience that the deception shows her personal security .
In Blanche's dialogue and interaction with other characters we can see more evidence of how Blanche should be seen as deceptive, egotistical and seductive character. When Blanche says to Stella, "I want to deceive him enough to make him want me" From this the audience is given a major insight into Blanche's true nature as possibly being a victim. We can also see how greedy Blanche is, as she wants Stella to leave Stanley so that she does not have to be alone, afraid and unstable. We can see this as Blanche says, "In my opinion? You're married to a madman", and "You can get out.” Some might say that Blanche does not care for her sisters marriage only about her own welfare, but Blanche wants Stella to be there for her as a guide so that she can stop events reoccurring form the past such as the young student. This could be seen as Blanche willing to go to any extent to be seen as a true lady, to be able to re build her morality. A different interpretation of this could be that Blanche has difficulty understanding the passion in her sister's marriage and she believes that they should leave together and create new lives, which are better, showing the façade of her wanting to live in the past in the old south.
To draw a conclusion, I believe that to some extent within the play Williams wished for his audience to see Blanche as a victim but he also foreshadows the true explanation of why Blanche has become this way. An Explanation of Blanches behaviour could be because within her youth she watched the older generation of her family die out and the loss of Belle Reve and lastly the suicide of her young homosexual husband, could be seen as the reason why Blanche's emotions died and her sense of reality. Desire and death became linked in her life, which then allowed her to lead a loose and increasingly careless life. I believe that Williams wants the audience to see Blanche as a victim but to also understand why she is, allowing her to receive a form of sympathy and bringing the audience to question whether she truly is a victim.
