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Varsouviana Polka
Blanche takes frequent baths throughout the play to “soothe her nerves.” Bathing is an escape from the sweaty apartment: rather than confront her physical body in the light of day, Blanche retreats to the water to attempt to cleanse herself and forget reality. Blanche’s constant washing is reminiscent of Lady Macbeth’s famous hand-washing scene in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in which the queen tries and fails to wash the blood from her guilty hands. Blanche also seeks rejuvenation, as though the bathwater were a Fountain of Youth. But although bathing may provide a temporary respite, she can never escape the past. In contrast with Blanche’s use of bathing to escape reality, the men dunk Stanley in the shower to sober him up so that he face the real world.
Bathing Quotes in A Streetcar Named Desire
The A Streetcar Named Desire quotes below all refer to the symbol of Bathing. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Scene 2
Quotes
I never met a woman that didn’t know if she was good-looking or not without being told, and some of them give themselves credit for more than they’ve got.
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Scene 7
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It’s only a paper moon, Just as phony as it can be–But it wouldn’t be make-believe If you believed in me!
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Bathing Symbol Timeline in A Streetcar Named Desire
The timeline below shows where the symbol Bathing appears in A Streetcar Named Desire. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Scene 2
It is the next day, at six o’clock in the evening. Blanche is taking a bath offstage. Stella tells Stanley that she and Blanche are going out to the French Quarter...
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Blanche emerges from the bath in a red satin robe and lightly closes the curtains to dress. When she asks...
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Scene 3
Blanche is about to take a bath when Mitch emerges from the bathroom. Mitch is sheepish and awkward, and Blanche looks at...
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Scene 7
...into the kitchen to find Stella decorating for Blanche’s birthday. Blanche is taking yet another bath to soothe her nerves, which Stanley mocks. Throughout the scene, Blanche’s singing of the popular...
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Scene 8
...begins to cry. Blanche asks her again what Stanley had said while Blanche had been bathing, but Stella refuses to tell her.
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...join her. Blanche reproaches herself for calling Mitch. Stanley complains about the heat from Blanche’s bath, and she retorts that a “healthy Polack” couldn’t understand about having delicate nerves. Stanley heatedly...
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Scene 11
It is several weeks later. Stella is packing Blanche’s things. Blanche is in the bath. The men are playing poker in the kitchen, where the atmosphere is raw and lurid...
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