A Streetcar Named Desire Personification Quotes

And turn that over-light off! Turn that off! I won’t be looked at in this merciless glare!

– Tennessee Williams

A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene 1. Blanche doesn’t want to be seen in the light and tells Stella to turn it off. She is trying to hide her age and dark past and doesn’t want her true self and appearance revealed. The light is personified here as a cruel and malign force glaring at her. Dark and light are important symbols in the play, one representing fantasy and the other reality, which Blanche is constantly trying to hide from.

I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action.

– Tennessee Williams

A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene 3. Blanche personifies light bulb as she asks Mitch to cover it with a colored paper lantern she bought in a Chinese shop. She is trying to maintain the illusion for Mitch that she is younger than her sister, for fear that he might lose interest in her. Throughout the play she avoids bright light because she doesn’t want him to see the appearance of her age in her face. She is actually five years older than her sister.

STANLEY [with heaven-splitting violence]: STELLLAHHHHH!
[The low-tone clarinet moans. The door upstairs opens again. Stella slips down the rickety stairs in her robe. Her eyes are glistening with tears and her hair loose about her throat and shoulders. They stare at each other. Then they come 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.]

– Tennessee Williams

A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene 3. After Stanley hits Stella their reunion is described in animalistic terms as they "come together with low, animal moans." The personification of the clarinet music so that it also "moans" highlights the very strong sexual bond that exists between Stella and Stanley. Stanley’s cry "STELLLAHHHHH" and his falling to his knees to press his face to her pregnant belly does show a less dominant masculinity and more tender side to him. But even through his display of vulnerability he is showing his power over Stella. Wife beater he may be, but Stanley wants Stella back and Stanley won’t be denied.
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