blanche

• "The South once had a way of life I am just old enough to remember" - Williams
• Williams' choice of Barrett-Browning' sonnet on Mitch's cigarette case draws parallels with Blanche's character as she yearns for a long-lasting romantic connection, but has never experienced more than ephemeral desire after Allan's death.
• Williams uses intertextuality in Blanche's speech to contrast the other characters, and her speech is florid like a Southern heroine to distort and deceive, where she can separate from other characters and suggest superiority. They also act as an escapism route with her delusions to survive.
• The contrapuntal use of the Paper Moon song, which Blanche ironically sings while Stanley is telling Stella about her lies and stories, reflects her earnest need to escape reality and preside in delusion.
• Several of Williams' allusions evoke the idea that a vulnerable individual must deceive, or create a different truth in order to survive. This is most clear in her allusion to the Arabian Nights, as the woman survives and avoids execution by always having a story to tell.
• By Scene Nine, Blanche is shown to have lost her grip on her past as her fragmented speech portrays how she views it in a non-linear mess.