Essay Questions

Why does Jasmine travel to San Francisco?

In the beginning of the film, viewers find Jasmine Francis, a widowed woman, flying from New York City to San Francisco. Jasmine is attempting to escape her own reality, given that her husband, a money manager, was arrested on counts of fraud. He committed suicide in prison, leaving Jasmine is severe debt. San Francisco is where her sister resides, and she hopes to gain some peace from her problematic world.

Throughout the film, how does Jasmine cope with the problems that she encounters?

Jasmine is somewhat of an anti-heroine, as she does not experience growth throughout the film and does little to make her life better. She continuously has flashbacks of her husband and wishes that she handled things differently, but does nothing to help her life in the present. Jasmine often gets most of her pent-up anger and fear out in the form of muttering to herself about the past.

What is Jasmine's purpose in telling Dwight Westlake that she is an interior designer?

On the surface level, it is quite obvious that Jasmine wants to seduce Dwight, and tells him that she is an interior designer. She feels that she has good design skills, and she is successful in getting engaged with Dwight.

However, Jasmine feels the need to lie about things, such as being an interior designer, because she feels that her life is not satisfactory the way it is. Should she tell Dwight that her husband placed her in loads of debt and was arrested, in her mind he would be much less interested in her. Jasmine's lies, seen throughout the film, are her way of coping and creating a fictional world in which she leads a more perfect life.