There are many times during the play where light reoccurs. First, Blanche covers a naked light bulb in the Kowalski’s apartment with a Chinese paper lantern, “I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action” (Page 55).
Secondly, Blanche refuses to go out with Mitch during the daytime or in well-lit locations. In Scene 9, Mitch realizes Blanche's avoidance of light and confronts her with the stories Stanley has told him about her past, “Mitch: I don’t think I ever seen you in the light. That’s a fact!” (Page 116). Then, Mitch puts Blanche under the direct light. He says he wants to see her “good and plain.” She says, “Of course you don’t really mean to be insulting!” He replies, “No, just realistic.” Blanche says that she doesn't mean any harm and that she only believes that magic, rather than reality, “I don’t want realism. I want magic!” (Page 117). She tells him that she doesn’t tell the truth, she tells it, as it ought to be. Blanche is vulnerable and she finds comfort in the darkness that hides her no longer youthful face. The fact that Blanche cannot tolerate light increases the dramatic intensity of the narrative because now, the reality of her life is coming to an end.
There are many parts in the play where Blanche lies about her age. Lying is her way of avoiding reality and reinforcing herself to believe that she is still young. Blanche needs her youth. In scene 5, Stella asks Blanche, “Why are you so sensitive about your age?” She responds, “Because of hard knocks my vanity’s been given. What I mean is – he thinks I’m sort of – prim and proper, you know!” Here, Blanche is sensitive about aging, and she attempts to keep surrounding herself with illusion, “I want to deceive him enough to make him – want me…” (Page 81). In scene 6, Mitch asks her how old she is. She refuses to answer, “Why do you want to know?” She is afraid to tell him because she thinks she will lose her youth.
In scene 9, Mitch forces Blanche under the light and when he sees her, he says he doesn't mind her age, “I don’t mind you being older than what I thought. But all the rest of it – Christ! That pitch about your ideals being so old-fashioned and all the malarkey that you’ve dished out all summer. Oh, I knew you weren’t sixteen any more. But I was a fool enough to believe you was straight.” (Page 117). Here, he does mind the lies she has been telling him about her age and her past. Blanche explains to Mitch that she lies because she doesn’t want to accept the hand life has dealt her. Lying to herself and others allows life to appear, as it should be rather than as it really is.
In order to mask the reality of her past, Blanche creates illusions, that she is this happy and young woman. She creates these dramatic illusions and intense lies so that no one would think less of her. Blanche uses the darkness to shield herself from the reality that she is not that young woman anymore. She cannot have a bare light bulb and she has to make it softened to reinforce herself in believing she is still young. She lies about her age to stay alive in her own little world of fantasies and imagination. In Blanche’s little world, she believes that hiding from the light and lying about who she really covers her ugly reality.
