The Illusion of Reality – Blanche Dubois and Her Individual Perception of Life

The illusion of reality – Blanche DuBois and her individual perception of life. The ambiguous construction of self in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

Svea Sophie Pahlke Luz

Dissertation in Performing Arts (Artes Cénicas)

September, 2016

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Artes Cénicas realizada sob a orientação científica de Professora Cláudia Guerra Madeira.

À minha Lisboa.

THE ILLUSION OF REALITY - BLANCHE DUBOIS AND HER INDIVIDUAL PERCEPTION OF LIFE. THE AMBIGUOUS CONSTRUCTION OF SELF IN A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

SVEA SOPHIE PAHLKE LUZ

ABSTRACT

This dissertation seeks to analyse the way illusion and reality converge in the play A Streetcar Named Desire1 by Tennessee Williams2. The protagonist Blanche DuBois will be the central figure of this analysis. Blahesàpesoalàpeeptioàofàealitàleadsàtoà ambiguity and a metamorphosis of truth. The dissertation will explore whether Blanche DuBois can reveal a deeper reality to us. Quotes refer to the edition published by Reclam (Stuttgart, 2015). A staged example of the piece, in the form of the German production Endstation Sehnsucht3 (German title of A Streetcar Named Desire) directed by Lars-Ole Walburg4 will also be referred to.

KEYWORDS: reality, illusion, utopia, fiction, perception, truth, self, communication

1 date premiered: 3.12.1947 2 ´Tennessee Williams` (Thomas Lanier Williams III) (* 26.03.1911; †à..àasàaàáeiaà playwright and art critic 3 The play Endstation Sehnsucht was premiered at 16 April 2016 at Thalia Theater in Hamburg. More information at: https://www.thalia-theater.de/de/spielplan/repertoire/endstation-sehnsucht/ last accessed: 28.06.2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBzw5Lr-1js last accessed: 28.06.2016 4 Lars-Ole Walburg, German theatre director and artistic director of the Schauspiel Hannover in Germany, was invited to direct Endstation Sehnsucht at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg.

A ILUSÃO NA REALIDADE – BLANCHE DUBOIS E SUA PERCEÇÃO INDIVIDUAL DA VIDA. A CONSTRUÇÃO AMBÌGUA DO PRÓPRIO SER EM A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE DE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS.

SVEA SOPHIE PAHLKE LUZ

RESUMO Esta dissertação tem como objectivo analisar a forma como a ilusão e a realidade convergem na peça A Streetcar Named Desire5 de Tennessee Williams6. A protagonista Blanche DuBois vai constituir a figura central desta análise. A percepção pessoal de Blanche acerca da realidade é relacionada à ambiguidade e a metamorfose da verdade. A dissertação problematizará se a construção da personagem pode revelar um sentido mais amplo de realidade. As citações referem-se à edição publicada pela Reclam (Stuttgart, 2015). Um exemplo recente de encenação da peça, na forma da produção alemã Endstation Sehnsucht7 (German title of A Streetcar Named Desire) dirigida por Lars-Ole Walburg8 também será referida neste trabalho.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: realidade, illusão, utopia, ficção, percepção, verdade, próprio ser, comunicação

5 Data da primeira estreia: 03.12.1947 6 ´Tennessee Williams` (Thomas Lanier Williams III) (*26.03.1911; †..àeaàuàautoàdatioàeà crítico de arte. 7 A peça Endstation Sehnsucht teve sua estreia no 16.04.2016 no Thalia Theater em Hamburgo. Mais informações: https://www.thalia-theater.de/de/spielplan/repertoire/endstation-sehnsucht/ último acesso: 28.06.2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBzw5Lr-1js último acesso: 28.06.2016 8 Lars-Ole Walburg é um diretor artístico alemão e diretor de teatro no Schauspiel Hannover na Alemanha. Ele foi invitado de encenar Endstation Sehnsucht no Thalia Theater em Hamburg

Index

I. Introduction ...... 1 I.I. Content of the dissertation ...... 4 I.II. Literary Movement and historical overview ...... 5 I.II.I. Struggling individuals in the spirit of the times ...... 6 I.III. General overview of the play in the context of the Southern States Renaissance ...... 7 I.III.I. The plot of the play (focussing on Blanche DuBois) ...... 7 I.III.II. The characterisation of Blanche DuBois and her ambiguity ...... 10 I.III.III. Symbolism of light and darkness ...... 13

1. Self-delusion and the individual construction of reality ...... 15 1.1. Personal opinions over reality...... 17 1.2. A set design to illuminate ambiguous perceptions of reality ...... 19 1.3. Utopia and illusion in reality ...... 20 1.4. Fictional worlds in theatre ...... 21 1.4.1. Realistic moments in fiction ...... 21 1.4.2. Levels of meaning in staged fictional worlds ...... 22

2. The nature of truth – the perception, representation and creation of truth ...... 23 2.1. Poetic Realism – A key to the literary expression of inner truths ...... 26 2.2. The clash of truths ...... 27 2.3. Lies within truths ...... 28 2.4. Different ways of expressing truths and untruths ...... 29 2.4.1. Dehierarchicalisation as a key to truthful expression ...... 30 2.4.2. Physicality as a key to truthful expression ...... 33 2.5. Truths and untruths in memory ...... 35

3. Blanche and her creation of the self ...... 36 3.1. The social chameleon ...... 38 3.2. ´To Be or not to Be [herself]: that is the question` (Hamlet, Act III, Scene I) ...... 39 3.3. The formation of identity ...... 40 3.4. The narrative or narrated self ...... 42 3.5. Self and the sense of self ...... 44 3.6. Complexity and intangibility of self ...... 46

4. Conclusion – Reality, communication and community ...... 47 Bibliography ...... 52

Music References ...... 55

References about the production at Thalia Theater ...... 55

Image Index ...... 56

I.àItodutio

This dissertation seeks to investigate the role played by the individual in the construction of reality. Its main part consists of an analysis of the interrelationship between reality and illusion. Blanche DuBois (the character portrayed in the original play by Tennessee Williams and the German staged interpretation of the character by Karin Neuhäuser9 in Endstation Sehnsucht, which premiered on the 16th of April 2016 at Thalia Theater in Hamburg) will be the focus for analysis, as she exemplifies ambiguous individual perceptions of reality and truth.

Throughout the dissertation theàteàealitàdoesàotàeaàtheàetietàofàtheà earth and the cosmos, but specifically the different perceptions of reality experienced by Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire and Endstation Sehnsucht (the staged version is going to be analysed mainly in following subchapters: 1.2. and 2.4). We will see that the smallest part of the whole, filtered through personal perception, is not a clearly definable entire reality in itself because it is ruled and formed by subjective perceptions. Therefore it is difficult to conceptualise reality as a tangible idea. To underline the diversity in the perception of reality and truth and therefore to emphasise the so-called ´transition between realities` (Luckmann, Berger 39) I will use particular terms. The precise definitions of these terms will be refined throughout the dissertation and each will stand for important shifts in Blanche`s perception of life and of herself.

Following terms will describe the different phases of Blanche´s unique, individual perception of reality and truth: personal reality, subjective truth, inner truth and individual truth. Other terms will be used to underscore differences in the way she approaches her environment and the more ´objective reality and truth` she finds there, namely: common reality, objective truth and real truth.

In analysing Blanche`s perception of herself I will highlight different definitions of the self to achieve a deeper understanding of the protagonist: inner self, true self versus false, illusory or invented self. To underline the complex character of Blanche, including

9 Image Index (No.1)

her inner ambiguity regarding her perception of herself,àIàillàefeàtoàBlahesàinner self on the one hand and her false, illusory or invented self on the other. The existence and tangibility (or non-tangibility) of the inner self is a much-debated theme and it is important to remember that it is always ambiguous and complex.

Paulo Filipe Monteiro highlights the issue of whether it might be ´the rest which is neither represented nor representable in which resides the most important part of our lives10 (Monteiro 115). Though it might seem that Blanche, like all of us, plays roles in her everyday life (as will be discussed in the third chapter) there remains a ´real inner` part or ´rest` (ibid) in herself (as in every self) which occasionally comes to the surface. This inner part might appear ´separated in diverse characters` like FeadoàPessoasàseles (apud Montiero 127). Pessoa proclaims the ´I` to be never accessible as a whole subject (ibid). Complex parts of Blanche (her creation of truths and untruths, her creation of reality and her creation of self) are represented throughout the play in a multifaceted conscious or unconscious way which is comparable with what Goffman expresses in his definition of the question of sincerity. He divides the representation of a self into representing roles intentionally or unintentionally: ´the individual will have to act so that he intentionally or unintentionally expresses himself` (apud Goffman 2), ´sometimes he will intentionally and consciously express himself in a particular way.` ´Sometimes the taditiosàofàaàidiidualsàoleàillàleadàhiàtoàgieàaàell-designed impression of a particular kind and yet he may be neither consciously nor unconsciously disposed to create such an impression.` (Goffman 3). Blanche´s ´play` between acting consciously and unconsciously will also be highlighted throughout the dissertation.

It must be remembered that this dissertation is engaged in literary criticism and dramatic analysis rather than psychological analysis of a real person. But as Tennessee Williams drew inspiration from his female relatives in order to portray Blanche DuBois, he was able to create a literary character with complex, exact and clearly-defined personal qualities. This dissertation will analyse how Blanche as a self presents herself in different life situations. Does Blanche, even as fictive character, reveal a new

10´A questão que muitas vezes se põe (...) é se não haverá um resto que não é representado nem representável e se não residirá nesse resto o mais importante das nossas vidas.` (Monteiro 115)

apprehension of reality through her staged realities? Where is the border between something real and something fictive or illusory? Is perception always a unique, personal and private thing?

ToàgieàleaàeaplesàofàBlahesàdeialàofàealit, it is useful to compare her behaviour with two other characters in the play (and the staged interpretation of the same) in particular, namely her brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski and her sister Stella Kowalski (staged interpretations by Sebastian Zimmler and Patrycia Ziolkowska)11 who have different attitudes towards truth, reality, illusion, fiction and lie.

Throughout the dissertation, footnotes referencing the Image Index refer to photographs of the production12 by Lars-Ole Walburg, used to explain or illustrate key moments in the production and the play.

The investigation will be deepened through comparisons with the ideas of authors such as Michel Foucault13, Elfriede Jelinek14, Antonin Artaud15, Erving Goffman16, William Shakespeare17, Bernard Shaw18 and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe19 with the aim of showing diverse conceptions of the concepts of life/reality and illusion. Other authors such as Thomas Luckmann, John Berger, Thomas Pavel, Heinz von Foerster, Bernhard Pörksen, Paulo Filipe Monteiro, Daniel Dennett, Marya Schechtman and Miri Albahari also contribute to my study.

11 Image Index (No. 2) 12 Krafft Angerer is the photographer of the following photos. His webside: http://www.krafft- angerer.de/index.php?article_id=1 13 Paul-Michel Foucault (*15.10.1926; †25.06.1984) French poststructuralist philosopher, psychologist, sociologist and historicist. 14 Elfriede Jelinek (*1946) is a post-dramatic Austrian novelist, playwright and one of the most criticised, discussed and highly esteemed artists of the German speaking countries. In her plays she reacts on political contemporary occurrences such as terrorism, war, migration, xenophobia, environmental destruction or the financial crisis. But also important themes such as the social status of women, media, consumerism, social clichés, auto-destruction, auto-criticism, violence between sexes, finitude and death are revealed in her texts. 15 Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud (*04.09.1896; †à04.03.1948) is a French is a surrealist playwright, theatre director, poet and actor, known as one of the most important figures of the European avant-garde and of 20th century theatre. He wants to reveal through his Theatre of Cruelty the hidden side of mankind and expose man to himself. 16 Erving Goffman (*11.06.1922; † 19.11.1982) Canadian-American sociologist 17 William Shakespeare (baptised 26.04.1564; †à..àasàoeàofàtheàostàfaousàplaights.àHeà was also a poet and an actor. 18 George Bernard Shaw (*26.07.1856; †à..àasàa famous Irish playwright, politician and satirist 19 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (*28.08.1749; †à..1832) was one of the most important German itesàofàtheàWeiaàClassiisàadà“tuàadàDagàpeiods.

I.I. Content of the dissertation

The introduction to this dissertation comprises a general overview of the understanding of the play and its main characters and mood of the play. Exploration of a key element of the play, the use of the symbolism of light and darkness, will introduce the reader to the ambiguities of Blanche DuBois.

The first chapter will elaborate the individual construction of Blanche´s reality and investigate whether prejudices and opinions about another entity can constitute a perception of reality; or whether reality itself is commonly-agreed concept, not subjectively influencable, but objectively understood. Here the Social Construction of Reality as defined by Luckmann and Berger will be referred to. In it they observe a kind of common reality they call ´everyday life reality` (35). The setting used in the production will be explored as offering a better understanding of Blanche and her surrounding worlds. To understand the ´transition between realities` (39), Fouaultsàterm of ´utopia` and Luckmann´s and Berger´s analysis of being ´transported to another world´ (39) (the dream and theatre world) will be introduced and associated ithàBlahesàconcept of illusory realism. As Blanche appears as a fictive character creating and living in ´fictional olds`,àThoasàPaelsàookàFictional Worlds will be used as a tool for explaining Blanche and her perceptions of her world.

In the second chapter, the nature of truth, including questions around how we perceive, represent and create truth form the main content. For this analysis the term non-secretness, coined by the Austrian post-dramatic playwright Elfriede Jelinek is introduced. In order to explain and explore the traits of the protagonist, the dissertation will introduce fragmented concepts of truth, such as real truth, individual truth and inner truth. The work of the physicist Heinz von Foerster and the media scholar Bernhard Pörksen, in which they question the construction of reality, will be referred to, always in the contetàofàtheàplasàaiàhaate,àBlaheàDuBois.àTheàdisussioàofàaàaietàofà forms of truthful expression (literary, bodily, verbal, gestural and emotional) forms another element of this part of the dissertation. The re-creation of the past (memorising) illàeàeaiedàiàtheàotetàofàBlahesàuildigàofàpastàututhsàatheàthaàtuths.à

An analysis of ideas of the self in relation to perception and reality will be focused on in the third chapter. The idea of beings appearing as ´social chameleons` (Gergen 150) rather than as clearly identifiable selves or individuals will be explored. With reference to the work of Erving Goffman and Paulo Filipe Monteiro, we will explore whether Blanche is herself or if she plays merely roles, or if it is these ´played` roles themselves which might define her. The analysis of identity-forming also plays a role in this chapter, as do the theories of philosophers of the mind including Daniel Dennett and Marya Schechtman. Their work will be consulted in the context of the question of whether the self is a general perception or always a self-created narrated version of a self. The theories of the Australian philosopher Miri Albahari will be referred to in order to enable a profounder understanding of Blanche DuBois and her creation of selves.

The conclusion of this work aims to examine the importance of truthful communication for a functioning society and for the creation of selves. The significance of a tolerant community for interaction will be discussed. In order to reveal again the process of identity-formation through interaction, the dissertation will explore different instances of verbal, bodily, emotional and cultural exchange on the one hand, and the risks of narrow-mindedness on the other hand, as well as denial towards others. The ieitailitàofàBlahesàieàdesiesàadàheàostutioàofàillusiosàadàutopiasàillà form another topic in the conclusion.

I.II. Literary Movement and historical overview

The literary creations of Tennessee Williams are closely related to the ´Southern States Renaissance` in which attention is given to contemporary dichotomies in the American South. Following the emergence of the materialised and industrialised Ńew South` (after 1877), the Óld South` felt the urge to value its old culture, and regress to its old living patterns of the southern planters aristocracy. Williams places emphasis on this distinction and highlights the conflict between the decadent and aristocratic Óld South` and the harsh and simple Ńew South`. Having neither delicacy nor a sense of culture and aesthetics, Old Southerns believed that New Southerns would destroy the old southern cultural, social and political traditions.

álthoughàWilliasàplasàshoàtheàzeitgeistàofàaàdiidedàsoiet,àheàoits,àasàHana Sambrook points out, specific historical occurrences of his time, such as the aftermath of

World War II. He is able to create a world and time of his own, through which he evokes a claustrophobic mood that contributes to the dramatic tension of his plays (Sambrook93).

I.II.I. Struggling individuals in the spirit of the times

In an autobiographical piece by Tennessee Williams published in Where I live: Selected Essays he explains why he became a playwright: he wants to describe the world we live in and to appeal for a better understanding of selves and the present. His aim is to show that beings are inherently multi-layered. He also says that he would never write about anything he had not observed himself (in Williams 1978). Tennessee Williams has the urge to analyse and reveal the depths of individuals, questioning the acceptance of the same. He manifests his questioning attitudes through his use of a literary style called poetic realism (cf. chapter 2.1. Poetic realism: a key to the literary expression of inner truths) to underline the conflicts of the individual (Blanche).

The fact that Blanche struggles throughout the play to express her real feelings, her true and inner self, might be a result of her social structures and/or of the spirit of the times she lives in. She probably thinks that she has to represent her old social structures by being a southern belle and rich individual, and that she would be rejected by the other society if she showed her whole personality, including her fears, desires, weaknesses and her true and inner self (cf. third chapter).

It is only in moments of desperation, delusion and sadness that her refused self shines through. We might link this attitude portrayed in a character to elements of Williasàoàiogaph.àHeàasàhomosexual and had problems throughout his life being accepted by society. This may be why Williams includes in his literary creations strong representations of opposing social views that seem always to underline and portray a certain broken-ness and lost-ness on the part of individuals in the face of the whole or ´the other world`.

I.III. General overview of the play in the context of the Southern States Renaissance

In A Streetcar Named Desire Williasàshosàothàaàtpialà“outheà‘eaissaeà melancholy and desperate dream of reliving the old times and an offensive, provoking sense of superiority towards the New Southerns. Blanche DuBois stands for the utopian, aristocratic old southern world that does not want to accept the new life style of the New Southerns. She is unable to free herself from a wealthy, outmoded past and is constrained by her perception of the life she desires. Thus the development of her imbalance between reality and illusion forms an important theme of the play, which will be discussed further on.

Some of the reasons for the growing conflict inside Blanche herself, as well as between Blanche and ´the others` or ´the other world`20 are her unattainable desire to live in an illusory, euphemistic past time and her conscious or unconscious ambition to represent a utopian self-perception.

By questioning themes such as the interrelation between subjective truth and objective truth; the search for fulfilment; the adherence to desired illusions and differences in perceptions of reality, Williams creates timeless characters always meaningful and revealing. The ambiguities he exposes in society lead to the contradictory layers in terms of both of personalities and their actions in the play; there is no simple goodàoàadàhaateàthusàtheàplas tagiàedigàisàpoalàeeoesàesposiilit.à

I.III.I. The plot of the play (focussing on Blanche DuBois)

WheàBlaheàDuBoisàaiesàatàheàsiste´sàhoeàiàElsiaàFields21 she tries to change the place and despises the people living there (her brother in law Stanley Kowalski, their neighbours and friends). She attempts to manipulate her younger sister

20 To illustrate and underline the important difference Blanche feels towards the New Southern state characters and her isolation and exclusion towards them, they are going to be described throughout the dissertation through her eyes: as ´the others` or ´the other world`. 21 Elysian Fields is a street in the middle of a New Southern, industrialised, lower middleclass neighbourhood in New Orleans. It has a symbolic meaning as Elysium comes from mythology and is a paradisiac place on earth. The reference can be seen as a sarcastic allusion; as Blanche has to take a streetcar named Desire.

Stella and convince her of the superiority of the opposing, better, past world Blanche considers herself to have come from:

“TáNLEY.à…àYouàoe in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light-bulb with paper lantern, and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile! (Scene Ten, p. 143) * BLANCHE. He acts like an animal, has an animal´s habit´s! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one! There´s even something – sub-human – something not quite to the stage of humanity et!à… and there he is - Stanley Kowalski – survivor of the stoeàage!à…àDon´t – don´t hang back with the brutes! (Scene Four, p. 74-75)

The ´New South` is rejected, mistrusted and disdained throughout the play by Blanche. She attempts to manifest an image of a rich, aristocratic, pure beauty that has resided within a ´sweet dream` at the ancestral home Belle Reve where she grew up with Stella. But already in the first scene her despair and discomfort is revealed through her search for alcohol and through dramatic stage directions:

She rushes to the closet and removes the bottle; she is shaking all over and panting for breath as she tries to laugh. The bottle nearly slips from her grasp. (p. 14)

During her first conversation with Stella it emerges that ´the home-place had slippedàthoughàheàBlahesàlil-white fingers` (Scene Seven, Stanley, p. 107), as she has lost its mortgage. In addition she claims to have been suspended by the school director from her former job as an English teacher in Laurel, Mississippi because she ´was on the verge – of lunacy, almost!` (Scene One, Blanche, p. 16). Even though she might have preferred a place of her own in which to re-find herself, and in which she might not have felt observed and would not have had to represent different roles in a shared everyday life, her last and only escape becomes Elysian Fields:

BLANCHE. When I think of how divine it is going to be to have such a thing as privacy one more – I could weep with joy! (Scene Ten, p. 140) * BLáNCHE.à…àTheeàasàoheeàelseàIàouldàgo.à (Scene Nine, p. 132)

Blanche feels insecure at her sister and brother-in-las house, because of their different living standards and because, except for the bathroom, she has no place to escape and withdraw to.

átàtheàfistàPokeàNightàiàseeàthee,àefoeà“talesàutalàoutustàagaistà his wife, Blanche gets to know his gentle friend Harold Mitchell (Mitch) who turns out to be her chance for escape for a new life. As they get to know each other, both hope they have found a way out of loneliness22. They open their hearts and it is revealed that both lost their first loves; thoughàBlaheàstillàfeelsàguiltilàaoutàheàhusadsàsuiide.

In scene seven, Stanley reveals to his pregnant wife Stella how many lies Blanche has spread throughout her stay. He elucidates her numerous and dubious love affairs at the Hotel Flamingo in Lauel,àsaigàthisàhadàgoeàoàutilà´shesàpatiallàtoldààtheà mayor to get out of town!` (Scene Nine, Stanley, p. 109). She was also fired from the school for having an affair with a sixteen year old student. As Stanley does not want his friend Mitch to be deceived by Blanche, he tells him all her lies before they can marry.

BLANCHE. Then marry me, Mitch! MITCH. I don´t want to marry you any more. BLANCHE. No? MITCH (dropping his hands from her waist). You´re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother.23 (Scene Nine, p. 134)

“taleà adà “tellasà elatioshipà suffesà asà aà esultà ofà theà otiuigà oflità between Stanley and Blanche. Stella tries throughout to remain impartial and tolerate everyone´s weaknesses.

“TáNLEY.à…àádàas´tàeàhappy together? Wasn´t it all okay? Till she showed here. Hoity-toity, describing me as an ape. (Scene Eight, p. 124) * “TELLá.à…àPeopleàhaeàgotàtoàtoleateàeahàothe´sàhaits,àI guess. (Scene Four, p. 67)

As Blanche continues to represent herself as someone she is not, so her desperate holding on to old illusions, as discussed above, provokes a major conflict between her

22 Image index (No. 3) 23 Image Index (No. 4)

and ´the other world`. Her masks begin to crack through the course of the play, and she starts to descend, because her surroundings do not support her in this falsity, into autosuggestion and self-delusion. Thus the ´claustrophobic` and overwrought atmosphere intensifies (Sambrook 93), leading to the indecent assault by Stanley Kowalski against Blanche in scene ten, and then, some weeks later at the end of the play, to the broken character of Blanche being admitted to an insane asylum.

I.III.II. The characterisation of Blanche DuBois and her ambiguity

Blanche DuBois is a very complex character; her inner truths, which are the parts of herself she really feels or thinks, also called her inner world, are usually revealed by Williams through poetic realism. At the beginning of the play the reader or audience member takes their first steps into the inner world of Blanche (Du, Zhang 3). In the moments in which her bodily expressions convey her mental state the other characters can witness and guess at her real state of being (for example when she is acting nervously, shaking or making desperate, fast, uncontrolled or mindless gestures):

(Blanche sits in a chair very stiffly with her shoulders slightly hunched and her legs pressed close together and her hands tightly clutching her purse as if she were quite cold. After a while her blind look goes out of her eyes and she begins to look slowly around. A cat screeches. She catches her breath with a startled gesture. Suddenly she notices something in a half opened closet. She springs up crosses to it, and removes a whiskey bottle. She pours a half tumbler of whiskey and tosses it down. She carefully replaces the bottle and washes out the tumbler at the sink. Then she resumes her seat in front of the table.) BLANCHE (faintly to herself). I´ve got to keep hold of myself! (Scene One, p. 13) * STANLEY (contemptuously). Hah! (He advances a little as he knots his tie.) Say, do you happen to know somebody named Shaw? (Her face expresses a faint shock. She reaches for the cologne bottle and dampens her handkerchief as she answers carefully.) BLáNCHE.àWh,àeeodàkosàsoeodàaedà“ha!à… (Blanche laughs breathlessly as she touches the cologne Dampened handkerchief to her temples.) …à(She speaks lightly but her voice has a note of fear.) (Scene Five, p. 80f.) *

MITCH. How old are you? (She makes a nervous gesture.) BLANCHE. Why do you want to know? (Scene Six, p. 100)

There are other instances in which she manifests her desperation in words, or admits to her failure and guilt (cf. chapter 2.4. Different ways to express truths and untruths)

BLáNCHE.à…àIàatàtoàeànear you, got to be with somebody, I can´t be alone! Because – as you must have noticed – I´m not eàell…à(Her voice drops and her look is frightened.) (Scene One, p. 19) (Blanche to Stella) * BLáNCHE.à…àI´eàeeà– not so awf´ly good lately. I´ve run for protection, Stella, from one leaky roof to another leaky roof – because it was storm – all storm, and I was – caught in the eteà…àtheàsoftàpeopleàhaeàgotàtoà– shimmer and glow – putàaàlateàoeàtheàlightà…àButàI´àsaedàoà– awf´ly scared. I don´t know how much longer I can turn the trick. It isn´t enough to be soft. You´ve got to be soft and attractive. And I – I´m fading now! (Scene Five, p. 83) (Blanche to Stella) * BLANCHE. I know, I won´t! You hate me to talk sentimental. But honey, believe I feel things more than I tell ou!à…à (Scene Five, p. 84) * BLáNCHE.à…àIàtakeàathàfoààees.àHdotheap,àtheàall it. You healthy Polack, without a nerve in your body, of course you don´t know what anxiety feels like! (Scene Eight, p. 121) (Blanche to Stanley)

Instead of revealing her real personality of instability and fragility, she normally tries to delude herself and others, both consciously and unconsciously. Thus, in these moments of true revelation of her inner world through verbal expression, she becomes an even more ambiguous character. The reader, audience and her interlocutors become witness to momentous confessions regarding her true or/and inner self (cf. I.II.I.). She is a complex and multi-faceted literary character often changing her personal attitudes and mental state from one situation to the other; shifting character by offending her interlocutor one minute, then becoming a gentle, humorous woman the next. She swings between being sweet and bitter, flirty and disdainful, friendly and arrogant,

inviting and rejecting, or even threatening. Hence her interlocutors in the play often cannot know exactly which of her stories and declarations are true which are fictive. This opacity means that her fellow protagonists in the play sometimes do not know how to act towards her or to access her character. She increasingly influences the atmosphere and the actions of those around her with these mood swings: She makes her interlocutors feel uneasy:

BLáNCHE.à…àYouàjustàhaeàtoàathàaoudàtheàhipsàaàlittle. Stand up. STELLA. Not now. BLANCHE. You hear me? I said stand up! (Stella complies reluctantly.) You messy child, you, you´ve spilt something on that pretty white lace collar! (Scene One, p. 17)

Her unpredictability could also be the reason for the insecurity of Mitch:

MITCH.à…àIàfeltàallàtheàtieàthatàIàas´tàgiigàouàuhà– entertainment. (Scene Six, p. 92) * MITCH. Can I – uh – kiss you – good night? BLANCHE. Why do you always ask me if you may? MITCH. I don´t know whether you want me to or not. (Scene Six, p. 93)

Her ambiguity throughout the play (switching between being provocative, inviting and disdainful) is a possible root cause for the escalation in scene ten with Stanley Kowalski:

BLANCHE. I´m going to ask a favour of you in a moment. STANLEY. What could that be, I wonder? BLANCHE. Some buttons in back! You may enter! (He crosses through drapes with a smouldering look.) How do I look? (Scene Two, p. 36) * BLANCHE. So I could twist the broken end in your face! STANLEY. I bet you would do that! BLANCHE. I would! I will if you – STANLEY. Oh! So you want some rough-house! All right, let´s have some rough-house!à…àWe´eàhadàthis date with each other from the beginning! (Scene Ten, p. 146)

Still, the occurrence between Blanche and Stanley is an ambiguous moment in A Streetcar Named Desire, because as outlined above, throughout her stay at Elysian Fields Blanche tries to attract Stanley, teasing him, asking for compliments, insulting him and provoking

him. This confusing attitude, towards not just Stanley, but the whole of ´the other world` hasàtheàesultàthatàoodàaàdeipheàBlahesàpesoalitàoàdesies.

Theà tagià edig,à hihà isà Blahesà elusioà foà Elsiaà Fieldsà toà eà committed to a mental hospital by her sister, is precipitated by Stanleysàutalàattakàoà Blanche (in Scene Ten). It is probably the reason for Blanche then entirely losing her sense of reality, holding on to the imaginary appearance of the gentle millionaire Shep Huntleigh and telling bizarre stories:

BLáNCHE.à…àDid´tàIàget a call? STELLA. Who from, Blanche? BLáNCHE.à“hepàHutleigh… STELLA. Why, not yet, honey! (Scene Eleven, p. 150) * (Blanche turns weakly, hesitantly about. She lets them push her into a chair.) BLANCHE. I can smell the sea air. The rest of my time I´m going to spend on the sea. And when I die, I´m going to die on the sea. You know what I shall die of? (She plucks a grape.) I shall die of eating an unwashed grape one day out on the ocean. I will die - with my hand in the hand of some nice looking ship´s doctor, a very young one with a small blond mustache and a big silver wath.à…àI´llàeàuiedàatàseaàseàupàiàa clean white sack and dropped overboard – at noon – in the blaze of summer - into an ocean as blue as (chimes again) my first lover´s eyes! (Scene Eleven, p. 152f).

I.III.III. Symbolism of light and darkness

We all have in our conscious and unconscious minds a great vocabulary of images, and I think all human communication is based on these images as are our dreams; and a symbol in a play has only one legitimate purpose which is to say a thing more directly and simply and beautifully than it could be said in words. … I repeat that syols, he used respetfully, are the purest language of plays. Sometimes it would take page after tedious page of exposition to put across an idea that can be said with an object or a gesture on the lighted stage. (Williams 2008:xxxiii)

References made throughout the play to the dichotomy between light and darkness can eàseeàasàsolsàfoàBlahesàaiguitàand her struggles with desire, illusion and

reality. The very first stage direction shows the ambiguity of Blanche in a metaphorical way:

Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light. There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth. (Scene One, p. 9)

The fact that her French first name means ´white` and yet she rejects light throughout the play to hide her true visage, shows that she contains strong oppositions within herself. The fact that she often wears light clothes suggests her desire to appear innocent and clean, but her penchant for hiding from the light might represent her desire to hide from ´inner thoughts` and past experiences. At the end of the play it seems she can no longer hope for a better life because everything has turned slightly dark:

BLáNCHE.à…àádàtheàtheàseahlightàhihàhadàeeàtuedà on the world was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light that´s stronger than this – kitchen – adle…à…à“eeàSix, p. 104) (Blanche to Mitch)

Here Blanche describes a consequence of a moment in her younger life to Mitch: the day of the suicide of her husband Allan, which she has innocently caused by rejecting what he truly was - homosexual. This occurrence was probably the point at which Blanche decided that darkness would help to draw a veil over her difficult past, and could be the reason why she hides throughout the play from light:

BLáNCHE.à …à Do´tà tuà theà lightà o!à (Mitch crosses to the switch. He turns the light on and stares at her. She cries out and covers her face. He turns the light off again.) (Scene Nine, p. 131) * STANLEY. You left nothing here but spilt talcum and old empty perfume bottles – unless it´s the paper lantern you want to take with you. You want the lantern? (He crosses to dressing- table and seizes the paper lantern, tearing it off the light bulb, and extends it towards her. She cries out as if the lantern was herself. … (Scene Eleven, p. 157) (Stanley to Blanche)

It is as if dimming the lantern gave her some self-confidence, while with the taken lantern her last escape or hope for delusion fades away. Unfortunately the lost ´canary bird` (as Stanley calls Blanche two times in scene seven (p. 107 and p. 114) is exposed again and again as a liar, so that even her last hope for a better life is extinguished. In the end no more light shines and no hope appears, so she cannot find a final escape.

Blanche feels that there is no light at the end of her tunnel anymore because her dark, comfortable, hidden, false path has been destroyed and revealed by Mitch and Stanley for the illusion it is. The importance of hope in the life of Blanche will be discussed further in chapter two.

The suggestion of Tennessee Williams that his play might be entitled not A Streetcar Named Desire but The Moth or A Chair in the Moon, hints at the importance of the symbolism of light and darkness. As the moon, so the stars (which Blanche observes in Scene Six, p. 93) could be seen as representing exactly this last escape and the desire of the light–searching moth named Blanche to find a light in darkness. Last but not least, theàdeisioàtoàaeàBlahesàsiste,àtheàhaateàhoàepesetsàheàostensible last escape or hope, Stella (star), reiterates the symbolic importance of light.

.à“elf-delusioàadàtheàidiidualàostutioàofàealit

My Dreams Dictate my Reality (song title by SoKo24) Reality seems to be a highly individualised concept and difficult to reveal. It is also difficult to conceptualise reality as a tangible idea: as the perception of Blanche´s reality occurs most frequently as a personal idea, a distinction must be made between personal reality and common reality.

The understanding that reality is a matter of different perceptions will help us throughout our analysis of A Streetcar Named Desire. The term common reality will be used to explain a reality that is more objectively and commonly accepted and includes ´a quality appertaining to phenomena that we recognize as having a being independent of our own volition` (Berger, Luckmann 17), reminiscent of the ´reality of everyday life` (35) conceptualised by Luckmann and Berger, as well as their ´paramount reality` or ´reality par excellence` (35). The reality which the new Southerns hold on to is ruled by their socially constructed ideas, and therefore by moral attitudes. One explanation of why

24 SoKo (Stèphanie Sokolinski) (* 26.10.1985) is a French singer, songwriter, actress and musician.

Blanche cannot adhere to their ´objective` common reality, might be because she no longer belongs to any social structure. She wishes herself back in the era of the Old South, still holding on to her old standards, moral attitudes, dreams and points of view. In this sense she loses social stability and therefore often forgets or refuses the common reality lived and supported by the new Southerns in the play.

Blanche therefore disrespects and rejects even commonly accepted reality; the qualities that appertain to phenomena that are recognized as having an existence independent of our own volition (13), for example her true age. It could be argued that the reality Blanche constructs and defines as her own is more individually than socially constructed and is therefore an ambiguous perception of the same. For this reason, the term personal reality is used to describe it.

Blanche is able to construct these autosuggestions and her self-created personal realities anew with each moment. This dissertation will go on to explore the question of whether she creates these illusions and personal realities (her perception of life) consciously or unconsciously.

At some points during the play Blanche tries to ignore reality and believes she has never lied consciously:

MITCH. I wasn´t going to see you any more. BLANCHE. Wait a minute. I can´t hear what you´re saying and you talk so little that when you do say something, I don´t want to miss a single syllaleàofàit…à“eeàNie,àp. 128) * BLáNCHE.àIàdo´tàatàealis.à…àIàdo´tàtellàtuth,àIàtell what ought to be tuth.à…à“eeàNie,àp. 130) * MITCH. You lied to me, Blanche. BLANCHE. Don´t say I lied to you. MITCH. Lies, lies, inside and out, all lies. BLáNCHE.àNeeàiside,àIàdid´tàlieàiààheat.à…à (Scene Nine, p. 132)

Stanley, Mitch and Stella refuse her individual construction of reality. But still Blanche is in quest of a pleasanter truth, one in which the borders between reality and illusion fade away. The relationship of the other main characters to reality and truth will be discussed in chapter two.

Her pessimistic, mistrustful attitude towards ´the others`, which was introduced in I.III, leads us to the next sub-chapter, which examines the influence of personal opinions on the construction of personal reality. The ambiguities of reality will be discussed further on.

1.1. Personal opinions over reality

Blahesàodesesioàtoadsàtheàliigàstadadsàadàlifestyle of the ´New South` constitutes the central conflict of the play. Blanche considers the New Southerns to be brutish, uncultivated and simple (as shown in the introduction I.III. and I.III.I.). Her opinion-inspired actions can be illuminated through a consideration of the statement of the Greek philosopher Epictetus, who proclaimed in circa 180 AD: ´What upsets people is not things themselves but their judgments about the things.` This assertion suggests that reality and judgement can often melt together; a real object or subject and a mood about it can become blurred. This happens not only in dramas such as A Streetcar Named Desire, but in our real social lives. If somebody is scared of darkness, this person is not scared of the darkness itself, but rather of the image of darkness constructed by their mind. Therefore it could be argued that people are not disturbed by real darkness, but by the frightening fictive, illusory darkness they have heard stories about.

Blanche DuBois appears to express fear and mistrust against others because of her prejudices, subjective moods and judgements. At the beginning of the play, on the daà ofà heà aialà atà heà sistesà house,à sheà oadsà heà sisteà “tellaà Koalskià ithà questions about the conditions she lives in:

What are you doing in a place like thisà…àNee,àee,àeeài my worst dreams could I picture – …à“eeàOe,àp. 14)

The fact that Blanche immediately negates the location and life of her younger sister, before trying to become acquainted with it, shows how strongly she is influenced by her oàjudgeets.àMoeoeàitàisàotà“tellasàhusadà“taleàKoalskiàhiselfàhisàealà personality) that disturbs and upsets Blanche, but the pre-conceived opinion she has of ´Polacks` (Scene One, p. 23) and of the ´New South`. Blanche is not able to give ´the other` a chance, with the result that situations in her real life are often (consciously or uosiouslà distotedà à pesoalà pejudies.à Blahesà itoleatà adà opiioatedà

behaviour often creates an even worse vision of reality. Blanche is seldom able to act in an objective, rational way because her inner attitude towards her own perception of things influences her throughout. Even ´facts` seem to be influenced by opinions and their use is therefore not an indication of truth or reality.

BLANCHE. Pull yourself together and face the facts. STELLA. What are they, in your opinion? BLANCHE. In my opinion? You´re married to a madman! “TELLá.àNo!à… BLáNCHE.à…àYouàaàgetàout. STELLA (slowly and empathetically). I´m not in anything I want to get out of. BLANCHE (incredulously). What - Stella? STELLA. I said I am not in anything that I have a desire to get out of. …“eeàFou,àp. 67)

This reference is a perfect example of the ambiguity of reality and diverse perceptions of it. Stella is so tolerant that she can even overlook the roughness of her husband; Blanche itepetsà“talesàpastàoffeeàtoadsàheàsisteàasàaàtotallàisaeàatio,àheeàsheà thinks Stella should escape. It shows how commonly-lived moments can be experienced in totally different ways, and that even ´facts` are often personal opinions. This leads us to the words of the philosopher of the mind Marya Schechtman, who says that every human action (opinion) is influenced by personal biography (past actions and experiences and future expectations) (in Gallagher 15). Personal actions appear therefore as highly individual occurrences, influenced by the past. It seems that reality and illusion (the personally-influenced perception of reality) merge, so that it is difficult to decode the border between ´objective reality` and subjective creation.

In A Streetcar Named Desire we can also observe positive examples of fading contours between reality and illusion. Blanche´s positive attitude towards gentle strangers is an example of this:

BLANCHE (holding tight to his [Dotor’s] ar. Whoever you are – I have always depended on the kindness of strangers. (Scene Eleven, p. 159).

DuigàBlahesàeàlastàappeaaeàiàtheàdaaà… “he allos hi [the Doctor] to lead her as if she were blind. …à“eeàElee,àp. 159). This shows that she has full trust in a strange man. It is not the man himself she has faith in, because she does not know

him, but her inner-image, her opinion and her past experiences of the Old Southern aristocrats or gentlemen. It is these that cause her to act in a certain manner.

Blanche presents herself again and again as centre of the world, or, as Stanley calls her in scene ten, ´Queen of the Nile` (p. 143), disdaining everybody except gentlemen and her illusory self. This negative attitude could be seen as one of the main reasons for the daasà esalatigà tesioà adà foà theà fialà elusioà ofà Blaheà DuBois.à Whileà heà criticising, unpleasant behaviour and distrustful mood towards the New Southern lifestyle and characters is a key cause of the conflict that continues throughout her stay, it should not be forgotten that this conflict also simmers because of the conjunction of diverse perceptions and treatments of truth. This clash of truths will be analysed in the second chapter.

1.2. A set design to illuminate ambiguous perceptions of reality

In the production of A Streetcar Named Desire directed by Lars-Ole Walburg, FloiaàLöshesàsetàdesigàstadsàfoàtheàisiosàofàBlanche and at the same time for the very different ´other world` (explained in the introduction I.II. and I.III.), in which every main character other than Blanche feels safe and comfortable, and which is refused by Blanche. The set is a huge blue landscape of cubes leading into the distance. This angular space is framed in black and the interior has seven exits; three on the left and three on the right, as well as one at the back. Various arrangements of the cubes offer different playing spaces, and include hidden spaces, separate areas and levels. The fact that the cubes are made of foam allows the actors to roll, fall and jump from one cube to another25.

Theà plaà isà otàstagedà ià aà ealistià a,à ithà Teesseeà Williasà oigialà setà ideas, but is transformed into a completely abstract version of A Streetcar Named Desire in which N° 642 Elysian Fields is not a realistic southern American apartment, but a cube- landscape without concrete divisions for living room, bedroom and bathroom. Through Löshesàastaction, the atmosphere of the space underlines the ambiguity of reality and

25 cf. image index and trailer for the production: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBzw5Lr-1js last accessed: 28.06.201

opens the door to the subjective perception of it – in which utopias and illusions are constructed.

In the final scene in particular, the cube landscape enforces the complete isolation and exclusion of Blanche DuBois from social life. She holds monologues with herself and with video images of the other characters which are projected onto the blue cubes26. At thisàpoit,àtheàsetàaàeàudestoodàasàaàsolàfoàBlahesàaiguousàperceptions of reality, the multi-layered nature of her creation of illusions and so of the fictional world she creates. She seems completely lost in the cube landscape, in her fictional world (cf. 1.4. to 1.4.2.) or, as discussed in the next chapter, in a space-less place of (her) dreams and emptiness of (her) heart (cf. Foucault 2005:11).

1.3. Utopia and illusion in reality

Ilààaà…àdesàits,àdesàplates,àdesàotiets,àdesàuies,àdotà il serait bien impossible de relever la trace sur aucune carte ni dasàauuàiel,àtoutàsipleetàpaeàuilsàappatieetàà aucun espace. Sans doute ces cites, ces continents, ces planètes sont-ils nés, comme on dit, dans la tête des hommes, ou à vrai die,à dasà là itestieà deà leusà ots,à dasà lpaisseuà deà leurs récits, ou encore dans le lieu sans lieu de leurs Reves, dans le vide deà leusà oeus;à ef,à està laà doueuà desà utopies. (Foucault 1966:sec.0-36)

MihelàFouaultsàdesiptioàofàutopiaàisàaàsuitaleàefeeeàpoitàfoàBlaheàDuBoisà creation of her ambiguous reality. In order to understand Blanche, it is helpful to apply Fouaultsà desription of the appearance of utopia with the idea of illusion, although utopia and illusion27 are two different concepts. Utopias like the illusions of Blanche DuBois do not belong to any place, because they are abstract visions or desires. As Foucault describes it, it is as if Blanche constructs her utopias and illusions in the spaces between her words, in the depths of her narrations or in the space-less place of her dreams and emptiness of her heart. They are not tangible for anybody, unless for her own, because they are located in her inner-worlds. At this point Luckmann and Berger should be remembered as they make a comparable observation in their description of

26 Image Index (No.5) 27 Utopia is something like a dream, an intangible wish for something to be real; an illusion can be defined as a misleading appearance, delusion or false impression of something already existing. It could be said that utopia has a more future-looking aspect, while illusion refers to the present.

the transition between realities. They explain that another kind of reality appears in ´the world of play`, in the theatre or in the ´reality of dreams` (Luckmann and Berger 39).

1.4. Fictional worlds in theatre

In the book Fictional Worlds, Thomas Pavel reveals and questions fictional worlds in literature. In the chapter ´Fictional Beings`, he describes the relationship between reality and fiction, proclaiming that real things or beings ´whose actual existence are beyond doubt` (Pavel 11) may appear in fictio,àutàthatàiàadditio´…àhuaàeigsà and states of affairs (are) described in the novel which do not and never did exist outside the pages` (idem). Pavel explains, however, that as soon as the reader has acknowledged the characters and story to be fitioal,àtheàoelsàeetsàaeàiidlàfelt,àasàpossessigà some sort of reality of their own, and the reader can fully sympathise with the adventures and reflections of the characters (idem). In the case of A Streetcar Named Desire, this thought can be taken even further, as it is a drama, not a novel. Through the representation of the fictional character Blanche DuBois on stage, a peculiar relationship between reality and fiction happens in front of the spectator, which will be discussed in the following sub-chapter.

1.4.1. Realistic moments in fiction

In A Streetcar Named Desire, this tension between the fictional and the realistic in the protagonist is particularly strong, because while Blanche is a fictional character, she contains, as mentioned above, realistic human elements, as Tennessee Williams was inspired by the personalities of female acquaintances. It seems again and again as if a real person is struggling to negotiate the real and fictional worlds. Although Blanche is a fictional character, the audience can still accept her and can draw parallels with real life, as she manifests realistic characteristics of struggling personalities. When Blanche and her perception of life occur as a staged, performed moment, therefore NOT realistic, but fictional, we paradoxically see a character that feels closer to real existence than to fiction, because it is created in one and the same moment - in our commonly perceived reality. It might be argued that a play, a collection of moments on stage, is never ´unreal` - even if it might be acted, and the story fictive – because it always includes a real here- and-now experience. The time and place of the observer fuse with the time and place of

the actor. Audience and actor create the moment of being together – a fictional reality and a present presence occur.

This is the reason that Luckmann and Berger call the rising and falling of the curtain in theatre a marking of the ´transition between the realities.` The spectator can be ´transported to another world` (in this case called fictional reality) at the moment the curtain rises. As the curtain falls, the spectator returns to his everyday life reality.

Through this conjunction of the fictional and the realistic in the character of Blanche DuBois, Tennessee Williams is able to reveal depths of realistic fictional worlds to the spectator or to the reader. The complexity and subjectivity of perception in fiction and drama will be discussed in the next sub-chapter.

1.4.2. Levels of meaning in staged fictional worlds

Another interesting topic mentioned by Pavel is the level of meaning in text. He assetsàtheàaiguitàofàliteatueàheàheàsas:à´…àaàtetàaàpossessàoeàthaàoeà level of meaning` (Pavel 17). Even literary expression on the page contains diverse layers because its metaphors and symbols refer to another ´level of meaning`28. If we now combine this complexity of meaning in text with the intricate literary character of Blanche DuBois, we can see how her ambiguities make her appear as a highly meaningful entity.

It is not just the fact that the textual creation of Blanche DuBois was inspired by real, complex human beings that makes her appear as a meaningful entity, but also the fact that she is a dramatic character represented in a living moment on stage. In the staged moment, the ideas and interpretations of the director form and enforce the ´level of meaning` and as Blanche is represented by the body, mind and voice of a specific actress who herself interprets the role in her own way, discovering Blanche DuBois anew in every production the understanding of Blanche and her perceptions of reality becomes ever more complex and ambiguous. Last but not least, every single interpretation by an audience member observing the product of this long chain of interpretation will deepen the ´level of meaning` into a level of understanding. This deep understanding leads to

28 Williams makes use of this technique through his usage of symbols (cf. I.III.III.) and a special literary style analysed in subchapter 2.1. Poetic Realism – A key to the literary expression of inner truths.

questioning by the audience member, who may become aware of the ambiguities of perceptions through the revelation of the multi-layered staged Blanche DuBois.

Even if the characters and emotions on stage are completely fictional and are lies, invented utopian and illusory worlds, the fictional reality become a part of our here and now, of our own perceptions and of real life. Through this interrelationship of collective creation and subjective understanding of the character, Blanche transforms into a tangible being, that can be, as discussed above: ´vividly felt as possessing some sort of reality of [her] own, and the [observer] can fully sympathize with the adventures and efletiosàofàtheàhaatesàPaelà.

.àTheàatueàofàtuthà–àtheàpeeptio,àepesetatioàadàeatioàofà tuthà

The widely-discussed concept of truth will be approached in this chapter through an observation of the main characters and an analysis of some different theories. The main characters in A Streetcar Named Desire manifest the ambiguities of truth and reality through their different relationships with truth.

The Austrian post-dramatic playwright Elfriede Jelinek is of relevance here: in an interview about the Austrian author Ingeborg Bachmann29 she reveals an interesting view on the exposure of truths and facts which can serve to deepen the analysis of the main characters in A Streetcar Named Desire. Jelinek proclaims that she prefers to explain everything in literature and not conceal anything, excluding any tiny possible space for the imagination. These ´impossible possibilities` can, even purely as expectations, transform a harsh reality into a better one. Through her form of literary expression and use of post-dramatic theatre, Jelinek aims never to show what she calls it ´eventual, but non-real possibilities`. Here we can establish a link between the real author Jelinek and the fictional character Stanley. Both are radical expounders of truth and reality, searching

29 Interview of Elfriede Jelinek about Ingeborg Bachmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRjBtRi2E5s, 2nd part, last access: 25.06.2016

for complete ´Geheimnislosikeit`30 in expression (idem). Thus Stanley wants to reveal every part of Blanche´s past life, to exclude the parts of Blanche she does not tell, conceals, or represents in illusory ways. Jelinek says that within the things that are NOT said; these ´eventual, but unreal possibilities` might exist, and that while they might appear completely fictive; they serve to make [reality]31 seem less hurtful.

In this interpretation of reality and truth it is important to note the relationship with desires and hopes. Geheimnislosigkeit allows for no hope or desire. Blanche, however, in allowing space for imagination and illusion, incorporates her expressed desires and hopes into her life.

In A Streetcar Named Desire, the characters manifest different relationships people can have with reality and truth. Stanley Kowalski invites and challenges truth, always attempting to find the truest truth whereas his wife tries to ignore it:

STELLA. I don´t want to hear any more! (Scene p. 110)

She even lies about the truth to secure her sister:

STELLA (turning quickly away). Why, nothing has happened, Blanche. BLANCHE. You´re lying! (Scene Seven, p. 115)

Like Stella, Blanche fails to confront the truth, because as well as ignoring it, she also pretends it never happened. Most often, she chooses a way of misrepresenting and re- inventing the truth in order to hide from it (Banach 115).

This leads us to make a distinction between the different truths represented in A Streetcar Named Desire. I will refer to ´objective truth` and subjective truth. For a better understanding of the treatment of truths in the play it is advantageous to talk of the paradoxical appearance of ´objective` and subjective truth, in order to draw a distinction between real truth and individual and inner truth. Real truth is a concrete entity or even a feeling shared by mankind, which is generally accepted. Pavel defines it in literature as something ´whose actual existence is beyond doubt` (Pavel 11). In A Streetcar Named

30 An unusual German word, probably invented by Jelinek to describe a thing that contains no secret at all: a kind of ´non-seetess. 31 In the interview Jelinek she compares her treatment with the exposure of sexuality in literary expression of Ingeborg Bachman. Applied to A Streetcar Named Desire it is useful to abstract from sexuality to reality as a whole.

Desire, a comparable example would be the fact that Blanche is the older sister of Stella´…“he is aout fie years older tha “tella.` (Scene One, p. 9). But there also occurs another truth, which will be referred to here as individual truth, which can be seen as an objectively false, but subjectively true truth that a person harbours within their world ie.àáàeapleàisàBlahesàpolaatioàthatà“HE is the younger sister, or the fact that in scene eight she claims to be twenty seven years old (p. 122)

The analysis of the character of Blanche also suggests another version of truth, also a subjective truth but not strictly individual truth, because it differs in some aspects from this. This will be referred to as the inner truth of Blanche DuBois. It is the subjectively- perceived ´true` inner-world that seems to be as Blanche really thinks it to be. Her subjective emotions, deep thoughts and feelings can be seen as being an inner truths.

Although she often appears to be a liar, Blanche clings desperately to the opinion that she would never lie in her heart (Scene Nine, p. 132). This shows that most of the time her truth is a subjective truth, probably situated, just like utopias and illusions, in a nontangible place (cf. chapter 1.3. Utopia and illusion in reality) – in a place in the spaces between words, in the depths of narrations, in the space-less place of dreams or in the (emptiness of the) heart (Foucault sec.0-36). As the perception of reality and the creation of truth are such subjective processes, created inside the self, the reader or audience member is often confronted with a kind of ´stream of consciousness`. The protagonist experiences lost moments in which her personal, illusory visions of past, present- or future- happenings melt together. This conjunction leads to the emergence of insights into the inner psyche of Blanche DuBois. In representing these images at the margins of reality and imagination, Williams is able to open unexpected doors to human consciousness.

The question of whether Blanche truly believes in her invented subjective truth, and of whether her ´untruths` (´stream of un-/consciousness`) are created consciously or unconsciously lose importance. The most important investigation will be into the nature

ofà Blahesà aiguousà tuthà ad her struggling attitude towards truth, which is udeliedààTeesseeàWilliasàliteaàstleà– to be analysed in the next subchapter.

2.1. Poetic Realism – A key to the literary expression of inner truths

A literary style called ´poetic realism`32, evidetà ià Teesseeà Williasà plas,à breaks the bounds of traditional realism to express a modified version of reality by rearranging the theatrical space (Du,Zhang 2010:1). Williams is often called a ´poetic realist` or southern Gothisist (referring to the theme of conflict in the southern states in his plays), but he saw himself as a radical playwright, experimenting with form and content to represent the contradictions and conflicts of beings (Saddik 77). The literary style of poetic realism will be referred to throughout this dissertation, as it effectively describes and summarises his literary expression, although Williams himself refused to attribute his radical artistic creations to one defined literary movement.

He is able to show perceptions of reality on stage which are far from ´reality`, but at the same time subjectively true. ´...With such a gift for theatrical measures and amid such flashes of brooding poetry, his plays become lyric works of dramatic art of a high and distinguished nature` (Donahue210). Williams uses this style to create conflicted and complex characters33 such as Blanche DuBois, who exist in between reality and illusion. Reality and illusion seem to become one and the struggling character fight against both the self and others to uaelàtheiàisioàofàlife.àWilliasàaiàatistiàgoalàouldàseeà to be to emphasise inner worlds (cf.Du, Zhang 1, 8) and offer multi-layered perceptions of life. Therefore props, noises, music, light and shadows are carefully defined and described in A Streetcar Named Desire in order to manifest the psychological states, feelings and thoughts of Blanche DuBois (cf. I.III.III. The symbolism of light and darkness). She struggles, sees terrifying shadows, hears noises and melodies from

32 Poetic Realism is a literary movement that came to prominence in Germany in the 1840s and continued until the 1880s. It is a way of expressing the inner worlds of individuals and refers to a way of mirroring reality through the veil of illusion by using poetic literary effects (Du,Zhang 2010:2) 33 Characters who long to separate themselves from the real and/or modern world: Amanda and Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie (premiered: 1944); and Serafina Delle Rose, in The Rose Tattoo (date premiered 3.2.1951).

Varsouviana34appear in moments of desperation, when her past catches up with her, or when her inner truth needs to be expressed:

´Blanche is seated in a tense hunched position in a bedroom chair that she has recovered with diagonal green and white stripes. She has on her scarlet satin robe. On the table beside chair is a bottle of liquor and a glass. The rapid, feverish polka tue, the Varsouiaa, is heard. The usi is i her id; she is drinking to escape it and the sense of disaster closing in on her, and she seems to whisper the words of the song. An electric fan is turning back and forth across her.`35 (Scene Nine, p. 125)

A poetic and figurative interpretation of the truth is also underlined through metaphorical expressions, movements, sounds and gestures. Williams uses this symbolic and non-literary method, along with auditory and visual elements, to create his so called ´plastic theatre` (Griffin 22). He explains in the preface to The Glass Menagerie: ´These remarks are not meant as a preface only to this particular play. They have to do with a conception of new, plastic theatre which must take the place of the exhausted theatre of realistic conventions if the theatre is to resume vitality as a part of our culture.` (Williams 19 XXII). Through the revelation of ´plastic` elements he intends to illustrate ´a closer approach to truth`, (Williams XXI) the deepest states of mind and inner thoughts of the broken figures he stages. Through the use of a poetic realism, the inner state of Blanch is revealed and an insight into her true emotions and varying perceptions of life is shown both in the text and on stage.

2.2. The clash of truths

This subchapter will offer an analysis of some approaches to the understanding of truth, to elaborate the statements made above. The book Truth is the Invention of a Liar – Conversations for Sceptics (Wahrheit ist die Erfindung eines Lügners – Gespräche für Skeptiker) by Bernhard Pörksen and Heinz von Foerster reminds us that it is a common belief that the perceiving consciousness mirrors what is outside it (von Foerster, Pörksen 15). In this context the term ´outside` should be understood to mean the surrounding world or that reality which is ´in front of` us. Pörksen and von Foerster ask whether we in

34 The Varsouviana is a ¾ time dance, which originated in the 1850s in Warsaw Poland. It is an elegant, slow dance which combines elements of polka, waltz and mazurka (polish folk dance). 35 cf. image index (No. 1)

fact compute, construct or invent the reality as soon as we perceive the world, rather than mirroring it. Von Foerster thinks that truth is always a computed, creatively- constructed concept, and that perception can therefore never be a passive reproduction of the existing (idem). The declaration that reality is presumably that which we consider to be real (Watzlawick, Beavin, Jackson 244) brings us closer to the acceptance that reality in the sense of the creation of truth is a personal product of every self. The discussion in the section ´personal opinions over reality` above, which showed that in A Streetcar Named Desire even ´facts` appear to be a personal thing because they are influenced by opinions, judgements or moods, allows us to conceptualise truth in a different way. It is interesting to revisit the statement of Epictetus, that it is not the things themselves but their judgments about the things that upsetàpeople.àThisàalsoàigsàtoàidàHaletsà words: ´For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.` (Hamlet, Act Two, Scene Two). In this context, if the perception of reality is such a self-constructed and self-interpreted subjective act, the perception of truth must be a highly personal product as well. As explained in chapter 2 The nature of truth – perception, representation and creation of truth, however, there is a difference between an individual truth which is subjectively invented (such as the false statement of Blanche about her age) and the objective truth, a generally- accepted truth (such as the real age of Blanche).

2.3. Lies within truths

This chapter will analyse the boundaries between truth and lie and leads us to the psychiatrist Jacques Lacan36, who proclaimed the intangibility of total truth: Í always speak the truth. Not the whole truth, because there´s no way, to say it all. Saying it all is literally impossible: words fail. Yet it´s through this very impossibility that the truth holds onto the real.` (Lacan 7). In this context, even if somebody wanted to tell the whole óbjective real truth`, which is not normally the case for Blanche, it could never be expressed in its totality. Antonin Artaud describes the ambiguity of language which should be expressed in theatre, saying in The Theatre and its Double: Ít is a matter of substituting for the spoken language a different language of nature, whose expressive possibilities will be equal to verbal language, but whose source will be tapped at a point

36Jacques Lacan (*13.04.1901; †à09.09.1981) French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, sees the SELF divided into the self and the other.

still deeper, more remote from thought.` (Artaud 1958b:110). He goes on to proclaim even more strongly that ´all writing is filth` (in Schumacher, Singleton 23). He wants to add another language to spoken language, in order to restore to the language of speech what he sees as its old magic, its essential spellbinding power, for its mysterious possibilities have been forgotten (Artaud 1958b:111). Through his ´Theatre of Cruelty`, átoiàátaudsàaiàisàtoàeealàtheàtuthsàofàtheàoldàadàtheàdepthsàofàtheàpsheà through a cruel explosion of gestures, lighting or sounds. A language that goes further than words is for him the key to opening consciousness to the truth of reality and to shocking the spectator. In his view ´theater must pursue by all its means a reassertion not only of all the aspects of the objective and descriptive world, but of the internal world, that is, of man considered metaphysically.` (Artaud 1958:92). Blanche DuBois can be viewed in this context as struggling throughout the play with the depths of her subjective truths in contrast with the untruth of her verbal expression. It seems that her deep thoughts and emotions (inner truth) could actually be true (in that they are backed up by her bodily manifestations and expressed through plastic theatre) but as soon as she opens her mouth to talk and express her inner world, she distorts it, because in her case words are spoken to express neither her inner truths nor the objective truth (real truth), but her individual truth. Blanche´s objectively-false individual truth is announced through literary or verbal expression. Therefore her subjectively-true individual truth becomes a blurred illusion or lie.

This direct revelation of individual truths provokes others, who perceive divergent subjective or objective truths.àTheàillàjudgeàBlahesàindividual ´truths` to be lies or ´untruths`.

2.4. Different ways of expressing truths and untruths

As discussed above, the two main characters in A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski, are two opposing extremes in the treatment of truth (cf. chapter two). They are also opposites in their use of verbal expression. This is also a key feature of Lars-OleàWalugsàitepetatioàofàtheàpla,àadàhisàatosàitepetatiosàofà their characters. Blanche DuBois (portrayed by Karin Neuhäuser), is presented at the

beginning of the drama as a stiff, literate and ambiguous gentlewoman37. Normally Blanche loves to talk and express (or more accurately invent) herself through words (exception in cf. Introduction I.III.II. Characterisation of Blanche DuBois and her ambiguity). In contrast, Stanley Kowalski (played by Sebastian Zimmler) expresses his thoughts and emotions immediately through his body language, and even his verbal language has a different impact in terms of its relationship with truth. Stanley is not afraid to stand up for subjective or objective truth. He simply confronts it:

STELLA. Shhh! She´ll hear you. STANLEY. I don´t care if she hears me. Let´s see the papers! (Scene Two, p. 33)

In the next subchapter the question of different expressions of truth will be analysed.

2.4.1. Dehierarchicalisation38 as a key to truthful expression

In Lars-Oleà Walugsà podutio,à soeà featuesà ofà otepoaà theatialà practice are used to strengthen the content and to emphasise existing contrasts in the pla.à Ità isà helpfulà toà elateà Walugsà poduction with stylistic devices used in contemporary theatre, or what the German theatre scientist and Germanist Hans-Thies Lehmann calls postdramatic theatre, in order to gain a profounder understanding of the same.

In a podium discussion held on May 16th 2010, Walburg gave his view on his theatre as follows:

We are encountering a greatly transformed theatre of speech. A variety of art forms … hae influenced our medium: It is no longer the case that we find a dramatic text perfectly expressed through a near-realistic staging. This no longer exists. And the theatre that interests me, which in the end provokes thought and feeling in me, is far more than that other [theatre form] could ever have been.39 (Osten et al 33)

37 Image Index (No. 6) 38 EthieahisieugàKolesch 156) 39 „Es ist doch so, dass wir auf ein Sprechtheater treffen, das sich sehr gewandelt hat. Die uteshiedliheàKustfoeà…àhaeàuseàMediuàsehàeädet:àEsàistàihtàehàso,àdassàià auf einen dramatischen Text treffen, der uns schön gesprochen und in einer möglichst realistischen Kulisse entgegenkommt. Das gibt es einfach nicht mehr. Das Theater, was mich interessiert, was letztendlich eine Auseinandersetzung und ein Denken und Fühlen bei mir hervorrufen kann, ist viel mehr, als es das adeeàseiàkote. (Osten et al 33)

This attitude towards theatre can be observed at points during the production in which he makes use of the stylistic device of a kind of dehierarchicalisation (Kolesch 156), meaning that forms of expression other than the traditional text are key features for the understanding of a performance. The text is no longer the only centre of attention. Music, gestures, lighting and physicality form a huge part of the play. Walburg is able to create a strong version of A Streetcar Named Desire, because through on the one hand following Williasà plastic theatre (which itself already emphasises the representation of inner worlds through props, sound, music, light and shadows, he on the other hand enforces Williams devices by initiating a dehierarchicalisation of theatrical elements. His interpretation of the play is thus able to reveal strong thoughts and feelings in the spectator. The use of dance40, musical moods41 and video projections42 enrich the podutioàadàtheseàoetsàofàdehieahialisatioàoiedàithàWilliasàdeiesà of poetic realism on stage amount to, as Walburgs says, ´ far more than the other (theatre of speech) could have ever been.` (Osteàetàalà.àWhileàWalugsàpodutioàisàotàaà true post-dramatic interpretation, as he still has to focus on a traditional dramatic form, due to the copyright agreement for use of the text, some moments of dehierarchicalisation in the production are in keeping with the main declarations of Hans- Thies Lehmann: ´the actual dialogue takes place between sound and sound space, not between the interlocutors` (cf. Lehmann 76). At some points during the production it is music and sound underlined with choreography that constructs the dialogue, rather than verbal expressions (cf. 2.4.2. Physicality as a key to truthful expression). Often it is not merely the dramatic text and verbal language (which, as analysed above, is most often in Blahesàaseàaàfalseàepessioàiàaàaseàhihàostutàtheàtheatialàsese,àutà equally the location, the set, sound and music, which serve to create a new perception in the audience.

With the following assertion by Lehmann in mind, it is still not possible to call the production post-dramatic, because it includes elements he defines as being dramatic:

´dramatic theatre [is] the formation of illusion. It [wants] to construct a fictive cosmos and let all the stage represent – be – a world (this inversion is the aesthetic implication of the

40 Choreographer: Valentí Rocamora i Torà 41 Sounddesign: Markus Hübner 42 Video designer: Bert Zander

“hakespeaeaà állà theà oldsà aà stageà .à .à .à astatedà utà intended for the imagination and empathy of the spectator to follow and complete the illusion. For such an illusion neither completeness nor even continuity of the representation is necessary. What is necessary, however, is the principle that what eàpeeieàiàtheàtheateàaàeàefeedàtoàaàold,ài.e.àtoàaà totality. Wholeness, illusion and world representation are iheetàiàtheàodelàdaaà….àDaatiàtheateàedsàheà these elements are no longer the regulating principle but merely one possible variant of theatrical art.` (22) Walburg tries in his production to manifest the entire, conflicted world of Blanche. Her ieàoldàisàepesetedàthoughoutààtheàsogàLilaàWieàoeedààJeffàBukleà and Nina Simone), so that this appears as a recurring element of the play. The song is given melodically and emotionally diverse interpretations by the actress (Karin Neuhäuser) in order to express the inner self of Blanche DuBois. This, too, is a form of dehierarchicalisation. It could be argued that through his use of modern theatrical elements Walburg wants to emphasise both the wholeness and the fragmentation of the potagoist.àTheàusialàeleetsàsuhàasàtheàelodàadàsugàlisàofàLilaàWieà show the refusal of Blanche to accept reality and express her decay:

I lost myself on a cool damp light / Gave myself in that misty light / Was hypnotized by a strange delight / Under a lilac tree / I made wine from the lilac tree / Put my heart in its recipe / It makes e see hat I at to see … / Ad e hat I at to e / …

TheàsogàudesoesàBlahesàdeteioation into alcoholism and illusion. She still wants to create her own reality, and she dreams of being what she wants to be rather than what sheà eallà is.à Thoughà thisà attitudeà adà Walugsà useà ofà dehieahialisatioà sheà gradually loses her connection to her environment.

The following quotation from Lehmann illustrates that only some elements of his definition of post-daatià theateà aà eà elatedà toà Walugsà podutioà ià theà following example only the last definition offers a strong connection): Post-dramatic theatre for Lehmann ´becomes more presence than representation, more shared than communicated experience, more process than product, more manifestation than signification, more energetic impulse than information.` (Lehmann 85) This importance of energetic impulses in contrast to simple revealed information can be observed in the important recurring element of truthful physicality of ´the other world` in the production.

It seems that a traditionally dramatic and a contemporary expressive physical space are combined in one production: Walburg knows how to establish priorities and hierarchies within the theatrical elements on stage. He does not work with ´one real centre but with various possible centres` (Monteiro 394). Or, as Brecht called it, the contract between the various elements (apud Monteiro 394). By using diverse theatrical elements and through opposing characters Walburg finds balance on stage. The opposing sides, such as the old world and the new world, are underlined through this contract and by showing various possible centres on stage (ibid).

The old world (the Old South) is represented on stage through focused literary expression, intensified by the fact that Blanche DuBois is a teacher of English literature. The new world (the New South) is represented by Stanley Kowalski, who says of himself: ´I never was a very good English student` (Scene One, p. 27). It could be argued that he incorporates and manifests the element of the play that breaks strongly with the traditionally verbal, by expressing his self, his wishes, his needs and his thoughts mostly through strong gestures and movements43.

2.4.2. Physicality as a key to truthful expression

The notion that bodily expression rather than verbal expression could appear as the key to truthful expression is strengthened by the playwright and experimental theatre director Bob Wilson. Wilson is more interested in gestures than in words. He reminds us that mankind moved before it learned to speak (apud Ribeiro 10). Antonin Artaud proclaims that the soul of mankind does not exist in words and that all words are lies (apud Monteiro 388). Thus Herberto Hélder describes the art of speech (´arte de dizer`) as expressed by the actor more and more commonly through bodily expression (apud Monteiro 414).

The exploration of different expressions of truth through a focus on physicality is aàeuigàeleetàiàWalugsàpodutioàofàA Streetcar Named Desire. The different worlds of Stanley and Blanche, representing truthful expression and reality on the one side44 and lies and illusions on the other, are symbolically underlined through the use of

43 Image Index (No. 7 and No. 8) 44 The statement that the ´New South` is truthful is not generally accurate, but the general attitude of Mitch adà“taleàseesàtoàeàoeàtuthful,àthaàBlahesàattitude.àBut every single character, including those

a stylistic device of energetic and impulsive expression: drums, one of the instruments that most incorporates the body, are part of the set and stand for the physicality of ´the other world` as represented by the character of Steve Hubbles (the husband of Eunice Hubbles45 and the neighbour of Stanley and Stella). The wild but intimate rhythms, also produced through drumming on the blue cubes, often initiate physical, energetic and truthful scenes such as the first entrance of the southern boys (Stanley, Mitch, Steve and Pablo).46 Duigàtheàpokeàight,àtheàsoudàofàtheàdusàisàusedàtoàhighlightàBlahesà stiff attitude in contrast to the rough and outgoing manners of ´the other world`. The love and reconciliation scenes of Stella and Stanley, in which they move to the sound of the drums,47 are key scenes in the production, because in some moments the intense physicality or dehierarchicalisation (underlined through the drumming) is expanded into aàkidàofà´ogaiit`àogaiidade,àMoteioààiàhihàmusic is connected to the body and the heart and the mind is in agreement with its body (312) or, in this case, with the body of the other. A strong stage presence represents a close relationship between mind and body. The trustworthiness of bodily expression and spontaneous gestures and theàlaguageàofà“taleàisàsetàagaistàtheàfalseessàofàBlahesàlaguageàtoàhighlightàtheià contrasting ways of confronting truth, and thus the ambiguity of truth itself. As discussed above, Blanche oscillates between different truths, which are divided into objectively- accepted truth on the one hand, and the subjective truths which are her individual truths and inner truths. Stanley makes no distinction between a subjective, individual inner truth and an objectively- accepted truth. For him it is all the same, and he wishes always to face the truth of truths. It should not be forgotten that this is his own constructed image of himself. So even though he might appear as truthful character he still represents a subjective truth of things. His personal reality is often influenced by personal thoughts and emotions. Stanley sometimes appears as narrow-minded in thinking that his perspective might be the ´true truth` of reality. But he has no internal struggle; he is an

from the ´New South`, displays subjectivity and narrow minded opinions about life – and represents a personal reality (cf. chapter one) 45 Image Index (No. 9) 46 Image Index (No. 10) 47 Image Index (No. 11 and No.12)

unambiguous character, guided by his true and impulsive emotions rather than by inner thoughts, feelings or illusions, as Blanche is48.

2.5. Truths and untruths in memory

The interrelationships between truth and untruth in memory will be explored in this subchapter. If memory can be thought of as an accurate remembering and mirroring of past happenings (as Foerster suggests when he says it is a common assumption that perception is a mirroring of external reality); a recollection of reality would not be a lie. However during the act of memorising, the person in question recreates past ouees.à‘eeeigàtheàotetàofàhapteàto,àiàhihàtheàatueàofàtuthàasà discussed, as well as the theory that the perception of a present happening is subjectively created, rather than mirrored, leads us to an understanding of the act of memorising as a highly-tasfoedàeeatioàofàtheàtuth.àIàBlahesàaseàeàightàatheàspeak of the creation of an untruth.

BLANCHE. I was so exhausted by all I´d been through my – nerves broke. (Nervously tamping cigarette.) I was on the verge of lunacy, almost! So Mr. Graves – Mr. Graves is the high school superintendent - he suggested I take a leave of absence.` (Scene One, p. 16)

Memory can be a consciously-influenced product or a naturally and unconsciously transformed product of past. The American existential psychologist Rollo Reece May puts it as follows: ´memory is not just the imprint of the past time upon us; it is the keeper of what is meaningful for our deepest hopes and fears` (May 1953:220). Past but real happenings are transformed through the subjective recreation of the past, so that the essence of truth loses its contours in memory. At some points during A Streetcar Named Desire it remains unclear whether Blanche reinterprets herself in memory and in the here and now consciously or unconsciously:

BLáNCHE.àIàdo´tàatàealis.à…àI´llàtellàouàhatàIàat.àMagi! (Mitch laughs.) Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don´t tell truth, I tell what ought to eàtuth.à…à“eeàNie,àp. 130) *

48 Image Index (No. 13)

BLáNCHE.àNeeàiside,àIàdid´tàlieàiààheat.à…à (Scene Nine, p. 132)

Desperate proclamations such as this show us the extent to which Blanche is lost in autosuggestion: though she is sometimes aware that she ´misrepresents things`, at other times she truly lives in a moment, past or present, characterised by the denial of reality. Often she hardly tries to believe in her invented, memorised stories, even though her body, soul and surroundings give signals of denial (Poetic Realism). She struggles, hears noises and melodies, and sees shadows when threatened by the truth, but she continues to hold on to her desired world and express it, mostly through words.

A fitting example is the fact that she proclaims she never drinks more than one drink, after already having drunk a hidden glass of whiskey. It shows the ambiguity of Blanche, hence it is possible that it is her desired and unconscious personal reality (self- delusion) that she is manifesting through verbal expression, or even a conscious lie.

BLáNCHE.à…à“heàdiksàuikl.àOhàthisàuzzesàightàthough me and feels so good! STELLA. Won´t you have another? BLANCHE. No, one´s my limit. (Scene One, p. 17)

In scene three she also tries to delude Mitch, and herself again, saying she is not accustomed to much alcohol, when in fact she has a serious alcohol problem:

BLáNCHE.à …à Mà togueà isà aà little – thik!à …à I´m not accustomed to having more than one drink. Two is the limit - and three! (She laughs.) Tonight I had three. (Scene Three, p. 55)

The penchant for autosuggestion and self-delusion of Blanche DuBois will be discussed in the following chapter, in order to better understand her complex creation of the self.

.àBlaheàadàheàeatioàofàtheàselfà

Theà otaditiosà ià Blahesà tuthsà aeà epessedà oà stageà thoughà Poetià Realism. This is used to distinguish her true and inner self from her illusory-, invented- selves. While her inner self is manifested through her subjective inner truths, the

commonly-accepted objective truth of herself is manifested in her true self her illusory- invented selves are manifested through her subjective individual truths. In the first chapter, a distinction was made between common reality and personal reality. It is helpful to remember this point, because common reality is part of objective truth (such as the true age of the protagonist, or the fact that Blanche has a serious alcohol problem), whereas the personal reality comes from the subjective-truths of the haate.àBlahesàsubjective truth is created by her illusory, invented selves (the false age, or the proclamations of being a delicate woman who drinks a maximum one glass of alcohol) or individual truth, but also by her inner truth which is established in her inner self. This inner self is designated as her true inner world and is normally manifested through bodily expression and poetic realism. The inner self and true self seem to be quite similar, and might both be analysed as generally accepted truths, but the first explains the inner, subjective part of Blahes character, the second the objectively true part of her character (these concepts will be focussed on and questioned in the following subchapters and in the last chapter). In the following text, the usage of the widely-discussed and debated psychological and philosophical terms ´I`, ´me` and the ´self` will be evoked in the case of Blahesàself. The self seems to be most accurate description because the term can encapsulate the ambiguity and complexity of subjective and objective truths and the layers of an individual personality. Blanche is a highly subjectively-influenced character with many layers, best expressed through use of the term self. This describes her inner worlds, personal perceptions, emotions, thoughts and therefore her ambiguous personality. The appearance of different selves in Blanche will be considered in the context of the ideas of a variety of philosophers, psychologists and sociologists in order to allow for a broader isioàofàBlahesàeatioàofàseles. Her metamorphosis of selves is influenced by personal moods, thoughts and her ever changing environment. This metamorphosis will be analysed in the subchapters that follow; first through the presentation of a theory that speaks of social chameleons rather than of a self or individual.

3.1. The social chameleon

As Blanche is able to invent for new situations completely new versions of herself, in an analysis of Blanche it would be useful to distinguish and highlight her different versions of ´selves`. The American social psychologist Kenneth J. Gergen, analyses in his book The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life social relations and the construction of the individuals. He says that our visions and personal limits have been broadened through the richness of social lives and development of opportunities. In the contemporary world he prefers to speak of ´pastiche personality` (Gergen 150) rather than of personalities with a homogenous centre. He calls this varying personality the ´social chameleon`, as it constantly borrows parts of its identity from the countless sources that surround the individual (150). In different situations these new pieces will be constructed anew by the social chameleon. Blanche DuBois appears to be a social chameleon rather than someone possessing a strongly-defined self. From every changing interlocutor and situation sheàoosàaotheàpatàofàidetit.àIàBlahesàaseàtheseà other parts of identity seem to be illusory identity-structures. They can appear in social situations:

BLANCHE. I was so exhausted by all I´d been through my – nerves broke. (Nervously tamping cigarette.) I was on the verge of – lunacy, almost! So Mr. Graves – Mr. Graves is the high school superintendent - he suggested I take a leave of absence.` (Scene One, p. 16) * MITCH. You are Stella´s sister, are you not? BLANCHE. Yes, Stella is my precious little sister. I call her little in spite of the fact she´s somewhat older than I. Just slightly. Less than a year. (Scene Three, p. 56) and these invented selves can appear also when she is alone. The consumption of alcohol, for example, intensifies her metamorphosis of herself:

(false/ illusory/ desired/ invented self:) (As the drinking and packing went on, a mood of hysterical exhilaration came into her and she has decked herself out in a somewhat soiled and crumpled white satin evening gown and a pair of scuffed silver slippers with brilliants set in their heels. Now she is placing the rhinestone tiara on her head before the mirror of the dressing-table and murmuring excitedly as if to a group of spectral admires. … (true/inner self:) Tremblingly she lifts the hand mirror for a closer

inspection. She catches her breath and slams the mirror face down with such violence that the glass cracks. She moans a little and attempts to rise.) (Scene Ten, p. 136-137)

Iàtheàeapleàfoàtheàtetàaoe,àBlahesàfirst self includes lies, utopias or illusions, the other self includes the sudden acceptance of reality and truth. As a social chameleon, Blanche presents diverse selves in diverse social or isolated situations: the specific true self (including real truth) or inner self (including inner truth), or other false selves, which include Blanche`s individual truth.

According to Gergen, the social chameleon changes its personality, or uses another part of its selves with every social interaction. This can be seen ià Blahesà desperate struggle to reinvent herself - unifying diverse selves and having a ´pastiche personality` (cf. I.III.II. The characterisation of Blanche DuBois and her ambiguity). Gergen considers the contemporary manifestation of the self to be that of the social chameleon, or someone who explores different parts of the self in different situations. If we observe Blanche, a complex character is shown, in whom the ´ideal of authenticity frays about the edges` and ´the meaning of sincerity slowly lapses into indeterminacy` (Gergen 150) that of her false, invented, illusory selves and another part, which belongs to her hidden personality - a true inner self.

3.2. ´To Be or not to Be [herself]: that is the question` (Hamlet, Act III, Scene I)

This subchapter will explore whether Blanche plays roles in her everyday life. “oeà ideasà foà Pauloà Filipeà Moteiosà ´‘epesetatioà ià Eedaà Life`à (´Representação na Vida Quotidiana`) will be highlighted.

As stated in the introduction, it might seem that Blanche, like all of us, plays roles in her everyday life and that the ´traditions of [her] individual role will lead [her] to give a well-designed impression of a particular kind and yet [she] may be neither consciously nor unconsciously disposed to create such an impression` (Goffman 3). It should not be forgotten, however, that a ´real` part of herself (and of every self) continues to exist which from time to time comes to the surface. This refused real part of a person which is in Blanche´s case a sore point for herself, can be compared with the idea of the ´inner fear` of a soldier described by Combs and Mansfield. Unlike Blanche, though, a soldier must

suppress this inner part of himself to be accepted by his colleagues and officers. Through this inner fight he becomes a being that seems to be courageous and anxiety-free. He becomes the mask he used before (cf. Combs, Mansfield XX).

Furthermore it is interesting to note that Paulo Filipe Monteiro quotes Marlon Brando, the actor who coincidentally portrayed Stanley Kowalski on Broadway in 1947 and in the film production of A Streetcar Names Desire directed by Elia Kazan in 1951. He once declared ácting, not prostitution, is the oldest profession in the world` (Apud Schirmer 31). This declaration shows the sense in which ácting` and ´representing` are inherent in society, and that every being is constantly playing a variety of roles. This theme is echoed by the Shakespearean character of the melancholy Jaques in As You like it: Áll the world´s a stage` (Act II Scene VII). Blanche, as discussed above, plays roles within the social structures of ´the other world`, where she might feel observed and where she might feel a kind of ´stage fright` (148) as Lyman and Scott call it in their text ´Stage fright and the problem of identity`. This pressure to represent different roles and pefoàiàheàeedaàlifeàisàopaaleàithàtheàfeeligàofàeigào`àMessigeà.à TheàfatàthatàBlahesà´tueàhaate`àofteàhidesàehidàtheàolesàsheàplasàeposesà the fact that she has problems in being and accepting who she really is – herself. That self is a complex and ambiguous being, never completely definable (cf. subchapter 3.6. Complexity and intangibility of self).

3.3. The formation of identity

The assertion of Georg Herbert Mead that interaction with society precedes individual consciousness (Mead 127) shows the importance of communication for the individual. The theorist Lothar Krappmann also believes that individuals come into being through co-operation and interaction with other individuals. He thinks this process of interaction (Interaktionsprozess) is indispensable for identity-forming (Krappmann 11). The audience and reader of A Streetcar Named Desire are confronted with a non- functional society, suggesting that communication and interaction with individuals is probably the key method of constructive identity-forming in the case of Blanche DuBois (cf. chapter Conclusion - Reality, communication and community.à Kappasà understanding of individuals is siilaàtoàGegesàdesiptioàofàsoialàhaeleos,àheà he notes that everybody seems to play diverse roles in their everyday lives (Krappmann

.àThisàeidsàusàofàBlahesàaiguousàeatiosàofàealitàadàheself.àKappa proclaims that every individual presents itself and its identity by interpreting itself anew in every situation, always bearing the expectations of the interlocutor in mind. Identity should therefore not be confused with rigid self-image: for Krappmann it is always the process of interaction that forms identity (Krappmann 8-9). He attributes a positive role to communication and interaction: they enrich identity by allowing it to learn from others about itself. This theory can be applied to A Streetcar Named Desire in so far as the two main characters, Blanche and Stanley, treat identity-forming in very different ways. Even when Blanche invents and expresses diverse aspects of her identity in diverse situations, she neither enriches nor learns from it. She ends up defeated and delusional, and with every reinterpretation of herself, and with every fatal interaction she distances herself more and more from her initial identity and true self.

STANLEY. Delicate piece she is. STELLA. She is. She was. You didn´t know Blanche as a girl. Nobody, nobody, was tender and trusting as she was. But people like you abused her, and forced her to change. (Scene Eight, p. 123)

Blahesàeatioàofàheàidetitàadàofàselesàisàdiffeetàtoà“tales.à“taleà comes across as having a strengthened personality and identity, which let him appear as a character that does not reinterpret his personality anew with every interlocutor. His unwavering self-confidence and strong self-awareness are the qualities that let him act independently of the thoughts and expectations of others.

STELLA. Shhh! She´ll hear you. STANLEY. I don´t care if she hears me. Let´s see the papers! (Scene Two, p. 33)

In scene eight, (p. 122) after Stanley has offered Blanche a return bus ticket to Laurel on her ´twenty seventh` birthday (which, as disussedà aoe,à is,à oeà ofà Blahesà liesà oà individual, subjective truths):

“TELLá.à…àDoàouàthikàou´eàgoigàoligào? STANLEY. Sure. STELLA. You´re not going bowling. (She catches hold of his shirt.) Why did you do this to her? STANLEY. I done nothing to no one. (Scene Eight, p. 123)

In moments in which he acts impulsively, following HIS instincts without feeling any empathy for the world around him, his identity appears as a rigid self-image. In contrast ithàKappasàtheo, he does not interact to process his identity-formation.

3.4. The narrative or narrated self

As shown before Blanche rarely manifests her inner self (inner truth) or her true self (real truth), because she desperately fights for (self-) acceptance through self- delusion and lies49. In deluding almost everybody she most often plays roles and so represents her false, illusory invented selves. We have seen that Blanche therefore suppresses memory and tries continually to create herself anew through narrated histories. This leads us to the theory of philosophers of the mind Marya Schechtman and Daniel Dennett. In ´The Narrated Self`, Schechtman describes the way in which every being relates to past experiences and future intentions in narrative form. In that narrative the self becomes a character playing a role (apud Gallagher 15). In this we can see a strong parallel with Blanche DuBois, who is influenced throughout the play by her past epeieesà adà futueà epetatios.à Ità seesà thatà Blahesà true- and inner self consciously or unconsciously distances itself from her more and more through these narrations (as shown in 3.2.).

STELLA. Why are you sensitive about your age? BLANCHE. Because of hard knocks my vanity´s been given. What I mean is – he [Mitch] thinks I´m sort of – prim and proper, you know! (She laughs out sharply.) I want to deceive him enough to make him – atàe….à“eeàFie,àp. 85f.) * BLáNCHE.àIàdo´tàatàealis.à…àI´llàtellàouàhatàIàat.àMagi! (Mitch laughs.) Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don´t tell truth, I tell what ought to eàtuth.à…à“eeàNie,àp. 130)

Blanche appears often as a narrated character playing a role rather than a strong self and personality who decides its own actions. It is interesting in this context to explore the assertion of Daniel Dennett in his 1992 text ´The Self as a Centre of Narrative Gravity`. He describes the self as being narrated rather than being a narrator of itself (apud

49 Image index (No. 13)

Gallagher 15). This underlines the assumption that people often recreate themselves and interpret their own ´entrance` onto the world stage (cf. Monteiro 15) anew with each moment. Those who interpret their selves again and again through narration, according to Dennett, relinquish their ´existential reality` (apud Gallagher 15). This can be applied to Blanche, as narrated rather than a narrator of herself. That narration often contains no elements of truth:

MITCH. You lied to me, Blanche. BLANCHE. Don´t say I lied to you. MITCH. Lies, lies, inside and out, all lies. BLáNCHE.àNeeàiside,àIàdid´tàlieàiààheat.à…à (Scene Nine, p. 132) * STANLEY. As a matter of fact there wasn´t no wire at all! BLANCHE. Oh, oh! STANLEY. There isn´t no millionaire! And Mitch didn´t come back with roses `cause I know where he is – BLANCHE. Oh! STANLEY. There isn´t a goddam thing but imagination! BLANCHE. Oh! STANLEY. And lies and conceits and tricks! BLANCHE Oh! (Scene Ten, p. 142)

Stanley stands in marked contrast to Blanche and her urge to reinterpret herself through narrations. He rarely questions himself, lives in the present, hardly reminisces about past happenings or envisages the future and often expresses his true self through bodily expressions.

…“taley thros the sree door of the kitchen open and comes i. … Aial joy i his eig is ipliit i all his oeets ad attitudes. Since early manhood the centre of his life has been pleasure ith oe, the giig ad takig of it … ith the power and pride of a rich feathered male bird among hens. Branching out from this complete and satisfying centre are all the auxiliary channels of his life, such as his heartiness with men, his appreiatio of rough huour, … (Scene One, p. 25)

Stanley can thus be seen more as a narrator of his true (´common`, as Blanche calls him in Scene Seven, p. 106) self, while Blanche is most of the times a narrated self of her own false self.

IàeaiigàBlahesàeatioàofàheàidiidualàpeeptiosàofàtheàoldàadàheà illusory self through narrations, we should recall the words of Michel Foucault about the spaces in between narrations and the depths of words being the space of utopias. Here we can also draw parallels with Antonin Artaud, Marya Schechtman and Daniel Dennett, as they all combine discussions of narrations or language with that of the creation of selves or false worlds. Through her narrations ´fictional worlds` (cf.Pavel) appear inside and around Blanche. It is not a fictional world in the sense of containing fairy creatures or the like: Blanche often constructs a realistic but better fictional world. She usually presents this utopian life as her real world because she desperately wants to believe in its truthful existence (cf. I.III.III.).

3.5. Self and the sense of self

If we now combine the illusory and invented part of the self, or the false self, of Blanche, as it is expressed through narrations and manifested in individual truths, with the truthful part of herself, which we have called true self (although it is manifested through inner truths and real truth), we can find a link with the theory of Australian philosopher Miri Albahari. She describes a theory of ´self` derived from Buddhism. This complex theory will not be analysed in detail here, but her terms will be employed for an analysis of Blanche and her creation of selves, as this helps in our understanding of the diffeetà appeaaesà ofà Blahesà selesà adà opiiosà oà ´seses`à othesà haeà ofà Blahesàseles.à

Albahari describes the self as being divided into ´self` and ´sense of self`. With this distinction she aims to underline different perceptions of self. The personal, illusory opinion of a self she calls ´the self`, while a generally- accepted self is called ´the sense of self`. As Albahari puts it, while the sense of self is real (i.e. non-illusory), the self is not real (i.e. illusory) (Albahari 17). The SENSE of self (self being more subject than object) should not be confused in this context with the ´five (object-tracking) sensory organs, because ´sense` in this context is a definite but often vague awareness or impression` (Albahari 18).

Applying this theory to Blanche it is possible to observe the unreal self - ´the self` - manifested in the invented, objectively false selves she reveals through conversations:

MITCH. You are Stella´s sister, are you not? BLANCHE. Yes, Stella is my precious little sister. I call her little in spite of the fact she´s somewhat older than I. Just slightly. Less than a year. (Scene Three, p. 56) * MITCH.à…àYouàaeàisitigà“taleàand Stella? BLANCHE. Stella hasn´t been so well lately, and I came down to help her for a while. She´s very run down. MITCH. You´re not -? BLANCHE. Married? No, no. I´m an old maid school-teacher! (Scene Three, p. 56)

After this conversation, in which Blanche reveals her ´self` to Mitch, he might expect Blanche to be the younger, helpful, innocent, perhaps lonely sister of Stella. But other characters in the play, the audience and reader have already been exposed to the sense of self (non-illusory self) of Blanche, which is quite generally accepted, in the form of a ´definite but often vague awareness or impression` (Albahari 18).

This ´sense of self` might be compared with the true self, as it forms part of the objective and real truths. The non-illusory sense of self is that which is perceptible in common reality (cf. chapter 3 Blanche and her creation of the self). It might include more facts, or general impressions about the self. Examples in the play are the TRUE age of the potagoist,àBlahesàseious alcohol problem or the fact that SHE is the one who is ´not very well`(Scene One, p. 19) , not her sister.

´The illusory self` described by Albahari, on the other hand, is influenced by the subjective truths and personal realities of Blanche. She creates her illusory, invented selves and characteristics, such as the false age, assertions of being a delicate woman who drinks very little or the fact that she might be the helpful, stronger sister.

Through the fictive character of Blanche, the reader and audience gains an impression of the complexity and ambiguity of truth, reality and the perception of the same. As she creates and expresses her various selves in different situations, influenced by her personal moods or judgments, it is sometimes difficult toà etagleà Blahesà intentions. It might be that she really does change her own thoughts about herself again and again, that she changes her mood unconsciously towards herself and others, even

thoughàsheàsoetiesàassetsàtheàopposite:à´BLáNCHE.à…àIàant to deceive him enough to make him – atà e….`à “eeà Fie,à p. 85f.)). Still, the roles Blanche takes on throughout the play and the fact that she reinterprets herself again and again, switching between one self and another, opens doors to an understanding of the complexity of individual perceptions of life and the acceptance of the illusory nature of reality.

Keepigàálahaisàoeptàofàtheàselesàiàidàhelpsàusàtoàseeàthatàeeàtheà sense of self (the non-illusory self) cannot be totally proven or true, as she does not call the ´non-illusory self` a ´true self`. And it exposes the question of whether a concept like reality might never be a tangible fact. What it might be is a SENSE, a ´definite but often vague awareness or impression` (Albahari 18) of being. Although the surrounding interlocutors might understand and think they have grasped a sense of the self of another being, the whole truth and complexity of the real and inner self of a person, the real characteristics of mankind and thus the entagleetàthatàisàealitàaeàeeàtotallà provable or tangible. In other words, neither a totally tangible `true self` nor a tangible ´ inner self` might exist, but only ´the sense of self`.

3.6. Complexity and intangibility of self

The complexity and intangibility of the self in general is highlighted by Paulo Filipe Monteiro in his chapter ´The individual and the representation` (´O sujeito e a representação`). Here Monteiro underlines the point of view that every role one might play belongs in the end to the complexity of our self. A self might therefore never be totally tangible. He states that every representation of a person forms a part of the self; and is not a lie. It might only be insufficient in relation to our totality50 (Monteiro 143).

So the ´individual` Blanche might never be totally tangible, because every represented role she portrays during the course of the play is somehow part of her self. For this reason, we must be careful in speaking of ´lies`, when analysing her. While we might think objectively that Blanche often represents often false parts of herself; for her they might seem real (unconsciously represented). And even if she does feel that she is

50 ´(…) cada representação é uma parte de nós, e não uma mentira: apenas é insuficiente, isto é, mente em relação à nossa totalidade.` (Monteiro 143)

representing a ´false part` of herself (conscious representation), this also somehow defines her.

ItàightàeàusefulàtoàopaeàBlahesàappeaaesàithàtheàiagiatioàofàPeeà Gynt (also highlighted by Monteiro on p. 144-145). Peer compares himself (in the sense of his complexity as a person) with the countless layers of an onion: peeling it layer by layer he is always encountering new parts of himself but never encountering the ´heart`, the inner part (i.e. inner self) of the onion (i.e. self).

Peer: …à(Strips off several layers at once) The number of skins there are hidden away! Time that the heart saw the light of day! (tears the whole onion to pieces) I´m damned if it does! To the very interior- The same old skins, only thin and inferior. – Nature is witty! (Throws away the remains) … (Peer Gynt, Act V)

If we compare this text with Blanche´s representation of herself throughout the play, it might be useful to imagine her ´false` subjectively influenced selves (such as that of being the younger, strong and delicate sister who drinks a maximum of one glass of alcohol) as being a part of her whole complex white onion (self), but these ´false layers` could be imagined as red onion layers, visible from time to time through the rest of the white ´true` onion (self). Blanche´s self might therefore be understood as a complex intangible self which is defined by conscious and unconscious, true and false, subjective and objective, white and red layers.

.àColusioà–à‘ealit,àouiatioàadàouit

To conclude this dissertation, some of the main interrelated concepts will be revisited, namely the ambiguity of reality, the creation of diverse selves and communication as being the key method of expressing reality or subjective truths.

Theà osideatioà ofà Blaheà asà aà fitioalà pesoalità ià Williasà daaà oà interpreted by an actress on stage), allows access to countless layers of reality. While

reality is an omnipresent entity it might never be revealed or narrated as a total truth. Williams allows us to consider whether both reality - theàoutsideàoldàhapteàoeà- and ´the inside world` - are created abstractions. Reality can never be fully perceived or reflected, but is a creation in which selves can lose themselves in illusion. The refrain of the song by SoKo mentioned above (in chapter 1) shows a comparable state of lostness in reality:

Cause my dreams dictate my reality My dreams reflect my insanity And I´m as frightened as I could be FoàIàoàlogeàkoàhatsàealit

Blahesàealitàappeasàostàofteàasàaàauto-suggestive process, in which she deludes herself more than anybody else, until she no longer knows who she really is. It could be argued that she embodies the well-known quote of the Irish playwright, politician and satirist George Bernard Shaw: she creates herself rather than finding herself in life51 (in Hutson 2013:234). In describing her struggling relationship with reality Blaheàightàalsoàeàseeàtoàefletà“ha:àealitàis´tàaoutàioigàit.à‘ealitàisà aoutàeatigàit.à

The process of creation of reality, truth- and self is manifested through communication, in the case of Blanche through false expressions, mostly verbal, which might lead us to the assumption that Tennessee Williams wants to expose the chances and risks inherent in everyday communications. The play appears as a door opened onto a deeper understanding of our world, society and cultural exchanges. The reader or audience is reminded that communication should be seen as one of the trades that exist in life, in which each participant gains something by paying with personal goods. When people productively communicate with each other (through verbal, bodily, gestural or emotional expression), they are respecting one another, offering ´the other` who appears in front of the self time, space and freedom to expressing his/her inner emotions and thoughts. The American existential psychologist Rollo Reece May proclaims that communication leads to community, which he defines as understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing. In this context community is simply a group in which free conversation

51 lifeàis´tàaoutàfidigàouselfà- lifeàisàaoutàeatigàouself (George Bernard Shaw)

can take place, a space in which people can share their innermost thoughts, express their deepest feelings, and know they will be understood (May 1972).

The escalating conflicts depicted in A Streetcar Named Desire, which usually have their basis in the failure of true communication, result in the breakdown of community. This failure of working community in Elysian Fields illustrates the danger of ignoring the attitudes of others and oneself, of non-communication and of communicating untruths or lies. In working communication, no matter which kind of basis for communication and mode of expression is used, as long as it is truthful on one side and tolerated on the other side, the exclusion of individuals is a hindrance to a communicating and candid society. If productive language or any other kind of working communication had been established in A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche could have probably developed a positive process of identity-formation. As Mead and Krappmann point out, a process of interaction is indispensable for identity-formation. It is important to note that Blanche is unable to form a stable identity throughout the play, hence an unsuccessful process of interaction in Elysian Fields is one of the key factors in her failure and descent into autosuggestion.

Tolerance, time, interest, empathy or even productive criticism are the recipes for productive communication, allowing each individual to enrich his own way of thinking and to form his own ´true` and complex individuality through interaction.

As Williams exposes the risks and benefits of personal and cultural heterogeneity it is interesting to observe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as he appeals in Maximen und Reflexionen II, No. 91 (1976) for this open mindedness, for never closing the eyes or ears to others, saying that he who does not know strange or foreign languages does not know anything about his own52. ´Languages` can be seen in this case as a metaphor for the different opinions, thoughts, emotions and attitudes found in other individuals or cultures. With this statement Goethe is advocating tolerance in general towards ´the others`, because it enriches our own language (thoughts, emotions, individuality, identity and culture), but also because our ´own language` exists only through the knowledge of others (cf. Goethe).

52 „Weàfedeà“paheàihtàket,àeißàihtsàoàseieàeigee.à(Goethe 1976: II; No. 91)

Through Blanche DuBois we have understood that personality is a complex construct influenced by the individual as well as by past, present, future occurrences and soialàiteatios.àIàthisàsese,àBlahesàselfàustàeàudestood as a multifaceted, multi-layered and intangible self.

With the creation of the character Blanche DuBois, Tennessee Williams wants to open the minds of his audiences to the subjective inner worlds of individuals. Williams, according to Du and Zhang, ´dediatesàhiselfàtoàtheàeploatioàofàasàieàeig,àasà he believes that the actual world that people physically inhabit is different from the sujetieàoldàhihàisàoealedàdeeplàiàpeoplesàheatsà.àTheseàieàolds,à which are often individual illusions or utopias, as Foucault expresses it, are hidden in the spaces between words, in the depths of narrations or in the space-less place of dreams and emptiness of hearts (Foucault 1966:sec.0-36). As Jennifer Banach puts it: ´in fact, Williams´s build up-break down technique allows us access to the inner selves of the characters` (105). While Blanche is a particularly struggling individual, we might still see ourselves in her desperate searching and attempts to hold on to an illusory realism, just as we all might make use of a little ´magic` (Blanche, Scene Nine, p.130), in which illusory or dreamed parts of us, and/or necessary roles we play become part of our selves.

WilliasàdeisioàtoàallàhisàtielessàplaàA Streetcar Named DESIRE emphasises theàieitaleàeffetàofàBlahesàieàdesiesàf.àI.III.III.àoàheàostutioàofàillusiosà and utopias. It thus makes an appeal to its audience, by questioning the depths of ´Wunschlosigkeit` or ´desirelessness`, showing Blanche as a character who ´drifts, seeks after a truth in which (she) can no longer believe` (cf.Bigsby 165). To ´believe in something` can be interpreted as internalising a wish or a desire for something to become true. Through his revelation of an unending-desire Tennessee Williams wants to show that if people such as Blanche cannot accept reality; can never be contented beyond desire, they can probably never find inner balance and accept their inner truth in the inner self or even the real truth in the generally accepted true self (sense of self).

One recipe for accepting this inner self and true self (sense of self) might be to revisit previous old chapters of life, to give one a chance to renew or redefine the self, though not at the expense of suppression of the other old inner self or true self (sense of self). As applied to Blanche, if she could be who she really is, by changing habits, attitudes

and opinions of her old inner self but not deceiving herself, she could probably be accepted even by ´the other world`, as she would appear as a truthful, whole person, conscious about her inner self and her true self (sense of self) and tolerant and accepting of new layers of inner self. But by presenting a struggling being, oscillating between illusion and reality, Williams questions conceptions of the inner self. Through his exposure in A Streetcar Named Desire of conflicting inner and outer worlds on the one hand and the self-deluded protagonist on the other, he makes an appeal for tolerance while remembering that it is not tolerance towards others that solves problems. He also sees the exchange of world views, acceptance of new ways of thinking and the ability to be self-critical as enriching to individuals.

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PAVEL, Thomas (1986) Fictional Worlds, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, Harvard University Press

SADDIK, Annette J. (2005) ´YouàJustàFogeàáhead:àIage,àáuthetiit,àadàFeedoàin the Plays of Tennessee Williams and Sam Shepard`, in: South Atlantic Review, Vol. 70, No. 4, Tennessee Williams in/and the Canons of American Drama, South Atlantic Modern Language Association, available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20064688, pp. 73-93, last accessed: 16-02-2016

SAMBROOK, Hana (2003) York Notes Advanced. Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Pearson Educación

SCHECHTMAN, Marya (2011) TheàNaatedà“elf,ài:àGáLLáGHE‘,à“hauàedt., The Oxford Handbook of the Self, New York, Oxford University Press, p. 394-416 SCHUMACHER, Claude; SINGLETON, Brian (org.) (2001) Artaud on Theatre, London, Methuen Publishing Limited SHAKESPEARE, Williams (1993) Hamlet, Stuttgart, Reclam (ed. 1603), Act II/ III, Scene II/I SHAKESPEARE, Williams (1986) As you like it, Stuttgart, Reclam (ed. 1623), Act II, Scene III WATZLAWICK, Paul; BEAVIN, Janet H.; JACKSON, Don D. (1990) . Stufen des Wissens – PäisseàditteàOdug,ài: Menschliche Kommunikation – Formen, Störungen, Paradoxien, Bern/ Stuttgart/ Toronto, Verlag Hans Huber, p. 242-246 WILLIAMS, Tennessee (2015) A Streetcar Named Desire, Stuttgart, Reclam (ed.:1947)

WILLIAMS, Tennessee (2008) Camino Real, New York, New Direction Book (ed. 1953), foreword xxx:iii WILLIAMS, Tennessee (1978) ´Tennessee Williams: Facts about me (The world I live in)`, in: Where I live: Selected Essays, New York, New Direction WILLIAMS, Tennessee (1984), The Glass Menagerie, Stuttgart, Reclam (ed. 1945)

Musià‘efeees

BUCKLEY, Jeff; SIMONE, Nina (cover) (org. àLilaàWieà

SOKO (2015) MàDeasàDitateàMà‘ealit

‘efeeesàaoutàtheàpodutioàatàThalia Theater

Website Thalia Theater: https://www.thalia- theater.de/de/spielplan/repertoire/endstation- sehnsucht/ last accessed: 28.06.2016 Trailer of the production on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBzw5Lr-1js last accessed: 28.06.2016

Website of the photographer: http://www.krafft-angerer.de/index.php?article_id=1 Last accessed: 28.06.2016

IageàIdeà

Scene, No. Title of the photo53 Quote of stage Reference direction in thesis 1 Blanche DuBois (Karin Neuhäuser) Beginning - Scene p. 1/ p. 27 Nine (Williams 2015:125) 2 Stanley Kowalski (Sebastian Zimmler) and Scene Five p. 3 Stella Kowalski (Patrycia Ziolkowska) 3 Mitch (Stephan Bissmeier) and Blanche Scene Three p. 9

4 Blanche and Mitch Scene Nine p. 9

5 Blanche and video projections, the doctor Scene Eleven p. 20 (Lorenz Hochhuth) and his nurse (Christina Geiße) 6 Blanche Scene One, p. 30 (Williams 2015:8-9) 7 Steve Hubbles (Tilo Werner) and Eunice Scene One p. 33 Hubbles (Christina Geiße) 8 First entrance of the southern boys Scene One p. 33 (Stanley, Mitch, Steve and Pablo (Arman Kashimiri)) 9 Stanley holds Stella Scene Three, p. 34 (Williams 2015:63) 10 Stella and Stanley Scene Three p. 34

11 Stanley at the Poker Night Scene Three p. 34

12 Stanley and Stella well advanced in pregnancy Scene Eight p. 34

13 Blanche and Stanley Scene Ten, p. 35/ p. (Williams 2015: 143) 42

53 Name of Photographer: Krafft-Angerer

No. 1, Blanche DuBois (Karin Neuhäuser), Beginning Scene Nine ´… The usi is i her id; she is drinking to escape it and the sense of disaster closing in on her, and she seems to whisper the ords of the sog. … ` (Williams 2015: 125) p. 1/ p. 27

No.2, Stanley Kowalski (Sebastian Zimmler) and Stella Kowalski (Patrycia Ziolkowska), scene five, p. 3

No. 3 Mitch (Stephan Bissmeier) and Blanche, Scene Three, p.9

No. 4, Blanche DuBois and Mitch (Stephan Bissmeier), Scene Nine, p.9

No. 5, Blanche and video projections, the doctor (Lorenz Hochhuth) and his nurse (Christine Geise), Scene Eleven, p.20

No. 6, Blanche DuBois, Scene One, ´Blahe oes aroud the orer, arryig a alise. … Her expressio is oe of shoked diselief. Her appearae is iogruous to this settig. … There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth.` (Williams 2015:8-9), p.30

Nr. 7, Steve Hubbles (Tilo Werner) and Eunice Hubbles (Christina Geiße), Scene One, p. 33

No. 8, First entrance of the southern boys (Stanley, Mitch, Steve and Pablo (Arman Kashimiri), Scene One, p.33

No. 9, Stanley holds Stella, End of Scene Three, ´… They stare at eah other. The they oe together with low, animal moans. He falls to his knees on the steps and presses his face to her belly curving a little with maternity. Her eyes go blind with tenderness as she catches his head and raises him level with her. He snatches the screen door open and lifts her off her feet and bears her into the dark flat` (Williams 2015:62), p.34

No.10, Stella and Stanley, Scene Three, p. 34

No. 11, Stanley at the Poker Night, Scene Three, p. 34

No. 12, Stanley and Stella well advanced in pregnancy, Scene Eight, ´…“he follos hi. Do you think you´re going bowling now? STANLEY. Sure. STELLA. You´re not going bowling. (She catches hold of his shirt.) Why did you do this to her? (Williams 2015:123), p. 34

No. 13, Blanche and Stanley, Scene Ten, ´“TáNLEY:àI´eàeeàoàtoàouàfoàtheàstat!à…àIàsaà– Ha – Ha! Do you hear me? Ha- ha – ha!` (Williams 2015: 143), p. 35/ p. 42