The Tarantula Arms! That’s Where I Brought My Victims! Blanche Dubois, or the Journey from Southern Belle to Evil Woman
In: Illuminating the Dark Side: Evil, Women and the FeminineSearch for other papers by Maika Aira Gallardo in
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Blanche Dubois is probably one of the dramatic characters who has called the attention of spectators, readers and critics ever since the play opened on Broadway in 1947. However, she seems to be inexhaustible in her complexity, for new perspectives can be applied in an analysis of her downfall. In this paper, we intend to trace her evolution, by studying her journey from the lost plantation’s Southern belle to the nymphomaniac, and child-abuser, who is evicted from her town and is forced to escape and seek refuge in her sister’s house. As she tries to leave her past behind, and forget the reputation of ‘evil, pervert woman,’ she will enter the stairway to hell, and will be condemned to madness as her only way out. As a final touch in her characterization process, we will try to connect her with other ‘evil’ women that appear in 20th century American drama, like Minnie Foster in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles or Regina Giddens in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes.