places in the book is supposed to symbolize is that Belle Reve actually stands for "beautiful dream" in French. It is where Blanche and Stella originally came from before Stella moved to Elysian Fields. Belle Reve can be seen as Blanche's fantasy on how her life was supposed to be lived out. Elysian Fields can represent the trajectory of Blanche's life on how she arrived to Elysian Fields and what in her life brought her here. She said she rode a streetcar named desire- resembling how many intimacies she had within her life after her husband killed himself, and then she transferred onto a streetcar named Cemeteries- resembling all the deaths in her family while Belle Reve was slipping through her fingers.
References to symbol in the play
Belle Reve is brought up when Blanche first comes to visit her sister and she mentions that she lost Belle Reve to try and guilt trip Stella on how she left Blanche to fend for herself in Laurel. It is brought up again when Stanley finds out about the losing of Belle Reve where for a spread of multiple scenes, he talks about how Stella's land and business is also his land and business because of the Napoleonic code and so he asks around about the happenings of Belle Reve in Laurel and accuses Blanche of lying for the first time. Elysian Fields is brought up when Blanche first arrives as well as she critiques the place her sister has come to live in as she has left Belle Reve to go live in this "dump" as Blanche would describe it.
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Credits:
Created with images by 132369 - "vaulted cellar tunnel arches" • sman_5 - "central cemetery vienna grave" • aaronstrout - "A Streetcar Named Desire" • Martin_PHX - "Cutrer Mansion"