A Street Car Named

Desire: Allusions and

References
Ghoul-haunted ghostland of Weir: This line, spoken by Blanche as she looks out
a window, is quoted from Edgar Allan's 1847 poem "Ulalume." The poet is
attempting to cope with the loss of his love. Blanche, course, is still coping with
the loss of Allen Grey.
Napoleonic code: Laws established by Napoleon on which Louisiana based its
civil law. Stanley cites this law, telling Blanche it means that what belongs to a
wife belongs to a husband. Therefore, Stella as part-owner of Belle Reve was
entitled to part of the property. If Blanche mismanaged it or used proceeds
from it improperly, then she mismanaged or misused property Stanley owned,
under the Napoleonic code.
The blind are leading the blind: Blanche speaks this line when Stella leads her
away from the poker game. This is a paraphrase of Matthew's Gospel, Chapter
15, Verse 14, which says that if one person leads another blind person, both
will fall into a pit.
And if God choose, / I shall but love thee betterafterdeath!" This is an
inscription on Mitch's lighter, read by Blanche. The line is from Elizabeth Barrett
Browning's "Sonnet 43." The significance is that Blanche still thinks about her
deceased husband, Allen.
Arabian Nights: Blanche tells the young collector for The Evening Star
newspaper that he looks like a young prince "out of the Arabian Nights." She
kisses him, then tells him he must go because "I've got to be goodand keep
my hands off children." This scene tells the audience that wanton desire still
haunts Blanche.
My Rosenkavelier: Blanche addresses Mitch this way this way when he brings
her a bouquet of roses. Der Rosenkavelier (The Knight of the Roses) is the title
of a 1911 opera by German romantic composer Richard Strauss (1864-1949).
Pleiades: While surveying the night sky, Blanche says she is "looking for the
Pleiades, the Seven Sisters." The Pleiades were seven daughters of the Titan
Atlas and the ocean nymph Pleione. Their names were Alcyone, Celaeno,
Electra, Maia, Merope, Sterope, and Taygete. They became a group of stars
(constellation). Unlike the Pleiades, Blanche is alone. She has a sister, yes, but
it becomes
increasingly clear that Stella sides with Stanley against her.
Je suis la Dame aux Camellias! Vous tesArmand! Blanche speaks this line to
Mitch. It is from La Dame aux camlias, a play by Alexandre Dumas the
Younger (1824-1895), which he adapted from his 1848 novel of the same

name. The line means, "I am the Lady of the Camellias! You areArmand!" In
Dumas's play, the lady is a courtesan (prostitute catering to the nobility) who
forsakes Armand. It may well be that Blanche foresees the outcome of her
relationship with Mitch. Notice that author Williams uses the English spelling,
camellias, rather than the French camlias.
Huey Long: Stanley, asserting himself against encroachment on his authority
by Stella and Blanche, cites Huey Long (1893-1935) as saying, "Every man is
king!" Long, who was elected governor of Louisiana in 1928 and U.S. senator in
1932, took the part of the downtrodden and the dispossessed. Although he
enjoyed popularity among the people, he was dictatorial and manipulative. He
was assassinated in 1935.
Queen of the Nile: Stanley's reference to Blanche that compares her, in
response to her pretensions to elegance, to Egypt's Queen Cleopatra.