The most obvious symbol used in A Streetcar Named Desire is its title and the actual reference in the work to streetcars called Desire and Cemeteries. They are the means by which Blanche was brought to Stanley and Stella's home, and as the play unfolds, we realize that the names of the streetcars have greater significance. Blanche's instructions were to "take a tram called Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries." When Blanche first arrives she is possessed by a desire for love and understanding, but in the background always lurks the fear of death and destruction. it is not possible to obtain one, transfer to the other will be the inevitable alternative Blanche indicates this in her speech to Mitch in scene nine: "Death: I sat here and she sat there and death was as near as you. I am . .. We didn't even dare admit we'd ever heard of it. The opposite is desire." A subtle use of the symbol makes the sixth scene very touching: Mitch and Blanche have just returned from the amusement park and Blanche, worried about transport to bring Mitch home, is surprised to hear that Desiderio runs all night. The two fundamental drives, desire and death, persist throughout the work in determining Blanche's overall behavior. The destination of Blanche's tram journeys is the Champs Elysees, which also has symbolic meaning for the opera. It is the section of New Orleans where Stanley and Stella live as well as a reference to Greek mythology meaning heaven. In Streetcar, Stanley and Stella have created their own kind of paradise in the sensual, blissful existence they live in. Ironically, the location instead has an opposite effect on Blanche of finding happiness and contentment... in the middle of the paper... at the flickering of a candle. She intends to keep it that way because she is willing to protect herself from the harsh light of reality with the use of a paper lantern. The paper lantern becomes a symbol of Blanche. He covers every light bulb for fear that his life of illusions will be exposed. Mitch finds the real Blanche by snatching the lantern from the light, and Stanley gives her the remnants of her torn illusion in the final moment of the show, as she is taken to an asylum. Works Cited Adler, Thomas P. A Streetcar Called Desire: the Moth and the Lantern. Boston: Twayne, 1990. Sievers, W. David. Twentieth-Century Interpretations of a Streetcar Named Desire: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Giordano Miller. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1971. Williams, Tennessee. A tram called Desiderio. New York: New American Library, 1942.