A Little More On The Time Period And It's Contexts

Historical context

• Williams was working on Streetcar at the end of WW2.

• Despite the fact that the events of the war had been cataclysmic, they only received a brief mention in the play.

• Men’s capacity for evil and destruction also continued to grow.

• As a Southerner, he was more affected by the events of the American Civil War (1861-1865).

• Following their defeat, the South suffered economically.

• However, the air of decaying grandeur added to the romantic appeal for many writer including Williams.

• Industrialisation continued in the cities.

• Whilst the plantations continued to decay, urban growth and capitalism flourished in the cities.

• Williams was interested in the progress of American history

• Stanley represents the American Dream that all men are born equal and can succeed equally, whilst Blanche represents the old world, where class and race are still important issues.

• Williams was homosexual. For most of his life it remained illegal. In some places it was tolerated such as New Orleans.

Cultural and political context

• Williams saw the South as a broken and damaged place in which the decay was somehow charming.

He said:

• I write out of the love for the South…once a way of life that I am just able to remember - not a society based on money…I write about the South because I think the war between romanticism and the hostility to it is very sharp there.’

• Williams is an almost completely non-political writer.

• He writes about the emotional burdens of everyday life.

• The tensions in the play come partly from cultural conflict - the worlds of Stanley and Blanche are so opposed that neither can understand the other.

Social context

• Women in the Old South were expected to be passive and chaste.

• This world could not give Blanche what she needed (scene 5) and so she tried to marry into the ‘light and culture’, she discovers that there is corruption and deceit behind the facade.

• Blanche and Stanley are from different worlds where money has different values