Why does Blanche avoid strong light?

In s
, Blanche DuBois
makes a habit of always avoiding bright light, which is
symbolic of her
avoidance of reality. Blanche cannot face the truth about her life and
herself,
so she makes up lies. However, Blanche is unable to avoid her
impending breakdown. No amount of
shading of the truth will make it go
away.

One fear that Blanche covers up is
getting older.
She is so afraid that she will end up alone as she ages that she tries to
appear
younger. To keep up the fa§ade that she is still a young, beautiful
woman, she tries to remain
in as much darkness as possible. She even tells
Mitch that Stella is the older sister, as she is
obsessed with youth. She
covers the lamp, creating a shadowy dim light in the room. She refuses
to go
out during the daylight, preferring instead the semi-darkness, which shades every
wrinkle
or feature that would betray her true age.

The
darkness also covers up the
truth about Blanches past. Symbolically, she
remains in the dark because she wants her past to
stay hidden. She is
tormented by her role in her husbands suicide. She has also had
inappropriate
relationships with young men. She has lost the familys home. She has been
released
from her job. Her mind is breaking down. Light hurts Blanche because
it forces her to face
reality.

The only good light in
Blanches life was when she was young. When
she fell in love with Allan, it
was like a blinding light was turned on. When she lost him,
that light was
turned off, and she has never been able to recapture it. She has spent her
life
tryingand failingto find that light again.