The portrayal of Blanche as Butterfly or Moth in A Streetcar Named Desire In A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams uses description and dialogue to develop the characters of the work. At the beginning of the show, Williams describes Blanche as a "moth". A moth and a butterfly look very similar; however, they have very different outward appearances and habits. A butterfly is very "flashy" as it flutters throughout its life, while a moth tries hard not to draw attention to itself. The butterflies are open and very visible, but the moth is nocturnal and secretive. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a butterfly as "a person interested primarily in frivolous pleasure"; a self-centered person addicted to pleasure (line 2). Although Williams describes Blanch as a moth, his use of description and dialogue brings out sexual overtones that portray Blanche as a butterfly rather than a moth. In Scene I of A Streetcar Named Desire, Williams writes: His appearance is incongruous in this setting. . She is elegantly dressed in a white dress with a fluffy bodice, a pearl necklace and earrings, white gloves and hat, and looks like she is arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in the Garden District... There is something in her manner uncertain, as are his clothes, which suggest a moth. (qtd. In Bloom 51) Williams' description leads others to perceive Blanche as an insecure and unassuming person, a typical Southern Belle: a moth. Although the color of Blanche's clothes suggests simplicity, the style of her clothing contrasts with her surroundings. Blanche wears this dress when she arrives at her sister's house. His sister lives in a dilapidated three-room apartment. The apartment contains the...... half of the sheet...... interpretations of A Streetcar Named Desire: a collection of critical essays. Ed. Jordan Y. Miller. New Jersey: Prentice, 1971. Monarch Notes. "Works of Tennessee Williams." Williams, Tennessee, January 1, 1963 (http://www.elibrary.com/s/edu mark/search). Preston, Rohan. “Actors bring gritty, fast-paced 'streetcar' to life” Minneapolis StarTribune. March 3, 1999, 04E."50th anniversary of the tram" All in all. NPR. WWNO, New Orleans. December 1, 1997.The American Heritage Dictionary, CD-ROM. Microsoft Bookshelf 98. Microsoft Corp. 1987-97.Williams, Dakin and Shephard Mead. Tennessee Williams: An Intimate Biography. New York: Arbor House, 1998. Williams, Tennessee. “A Streetcar Named Desire,” a New Directions book, copyright 1947. Canada: Penguin, 1980. Williams, Tennessee. Memoirs. Garden City, New York: Double Day, 1975.