“ When I was sixteen, I made the discovery—love. All at once and much, much too completely. It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow, that's how it struck the world for me. ”
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (1947). copy citation
| Author | Tennessee Williams |
|---|---|
| Source | A Streetcar Named Desire |
| Topic | love youth |
| Date | 1947 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.metropolitancollege.com/Streetcar.pdf |
Context
“I loved someone, too, and the person I loved I lost. MITCH: Dead? [She crosses to the window and sits on the sill, looking out. She pours herself another drink.] A man?
BLANCHE: He was a boy, just a boy, when I was a very young girl. When I was sixteen, I made the discovery—love. All at once and much, much too completely. It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow, that's how it struck the world for me. But I was unlucky. Deluded. There was something different about the boy, a nervousness, a softness and tenderness which wasn't like a man's, although he wasn't the least bit effeminate looking—still—that thing was there. . . .” source
BLANCHE: He was a boy, just a boy, when I was a very young girl. When I was sixteen, I made the discovery—love. All at once and much, much too completely. It was like you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that had always been half in shadow, that's how it struck the world for me. But I was unlucky. Deluded. There was something different about the boy, a nervousness, a softness and tenderness which wasn't like a man's, although he wasn't the least bit effeminate looking—still—that thing was there. . . .” source
Meaning and analysis
