Streetcar Named Desire

What happens in Scene 1 of the play?

Blanche arrives at Elysian Fields- Eunice lets her in. Blanche admits that she has lost Belle Reve and her husband is dead.

"You came to New Orleans and looked out for yourself! I stayed at Belle Reve and tried to hold it together!"

Establishing Blanche's pattern of using exclamatives portrays her erratic and hysterical mental state. She is traumatised and indignant.

"And funerals are pretty compared to deaths"

Fronted conjunction- as if it is just something she thought to say, but in fact something she must think about often. Declarative.

What happens in Scene 2?

Stanley is suspicious of Blanche's story about losing Belle Reve due to her many possesions. Blanche attempts to flirt with Stanley but he asserts male dominance. Foreshadowing? Stanley gets hold of Blanche's love letters from her ex-husband and Stella is pregnant.

"And when your'e swindled under the Napoleonic code I'm swindled too. And I don't like to be swindled"

Repetition of swindled implies that Stanley is saying it menancingly, thus asserting his male dominance. Prosodics on swindled implies his threatening tone.

"The treasure chest of a pirate!"

Noun pirate implies that Stanley thinks of Blanche as being a thief.

"Jumps up and kisses him which he accepts with lordly composure"- SD Stella

The verbs "jump" and "kiss" imply the primal nature of Stella and Stanley's relationship. The verb "accepts" implies that Stanley makes the decisions in the relationship and is doing Stella a favour by allowing her affection.

"Simple, straightfoward, a little on the primitive side"

The use of sibilance implies a hidden malice in Blanche's words , foreshadowing her uneasy relationship with Stanley. The dimuinitive "a little" shows that in this respect Blanche feels superior to Stanley. Sibilance mimics sounds of a serpent, showing Blanche's cunning and provocative side.

What happens in Scene 3?

It is polker night. Blanche and Mitch make a connection and build a flirtatious friendship. Stanley becomes annoyed at the noise and drunkenly hits Stella. They end up making up however.

"I can't stand a naked lightbulb any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action"

Use of premodifiers show Blanche's sensitivity and quickness to judge. Declarative presents the theme of beauty and decay, symbolising that just like Blanche can't avoid lightbulbs that will expose her skin she cannot avoid her past.

"Drunk-drunk-animal thing,you!"

Use of dash shows broken speech- shows how upset Stella is. Use of negative face here is in contrast with Stella's normally consistently positive face around Stanley. Zoomorphism- she compares Stanley to the primitive, animalistic caricature that Blanche sees him as. Also links to the primitive qualities of their relationship.

"hurls" "throws" "hound"

semantic field of violence- reinforces Stanley's status as an animal in this scene.

What happens in scene 5?

Blanche says she is reading a letter from Shep Huntleigh. Blanche is afraid of growing old alone. Steve and Eunice fight upstairs, as Eunice accuses Steve of sleeping with another woman.

"The Hotel Flamingo is not the sort of establishment I would dare to be seen in!" "You always going up!" "Capricorn-the goat!"

Pattern of exclamatives

What happens in Scene 6?

Blanche and Mitch go on a date. Blanche wants to seem very ladylike. Mitch is awkward and their personalities clash. Blanche confesses that she married a gay man who shot himself. Mitch promises to comfort her and keep her company.

"Is that streetcar named desire still grinding along the tracks at this hour?"

Interrogative to convey sarcasm. Streetcar may be symbolic of the play- how is it still going? Blanche's inevitable downfall.

"Voulez vous couchez avec moi ce soir? Vous ne comprenez pas? Ah quel dommage!"

French lexis- shows her alienation from Mitch, cut off by a different language. Shows her percieved sophistication but also her alienation in New Orleans. Interrogatives followed by an exclamative shows her unstable mental state, as she consoles herself by talking to herself.

"oh alpaca"

"oh lightweight alpaca"

"oh"

These mirrored responses from Blanche to Mitch's rambling phatic language show how different these characters are.

"When I was sixteen I made the discovery-love"

The declarative before the word "love" adds melodrama to the sentence showing how some of what Blanche says is for attention and that she knows how to craft a story. Use of a dash is a pattern in Blanche's speech- erratic.

"Which wasn't empty but had two people in it..."

Elliptical sentence shows Blanche's wistfulness towards the past and hesitancy caused by trauma.

"Could it be- you and me Blanche?"

Use of pronouns is deliberately grammatically incorrect, showing Mitch's inferioir intellectual status. Blanche may be trading sexual desire and the idea of a soulmate for stability. Social realism.

What happens in Scene 7?

It is Blanche's birthday. Stanley exposes Blanche's past to Stella while Blanche is in the bath. Blanche's birthday as used as irony and juxtaposes against Blanche's internal suffering.

"But Sister Blanche is no lily! Ha Ha! Some lily she is!"

Fronted conjunction shows that Stanley's condemnations of Blanche happen spontaneously without a second thought, showing his lack of empathy and social grace. The noun "lily" could be a metaphor for Blanche's fantasies of ladylike purity that have been thrown away. The plosive, onomatopaiac "ha ha!" are cruel and evoke humiliation and mocking towards Blanche. Links to melodrama- here Blanche embodies the fool.

"All this sqeamishness she puts on!"

The verb "put on" implies that Stanley sees through the persona Blanche is presenting throughout the play and releases tension as both Blanche and Stanley address issues with each other's flawed characters to keep the audience engaged and wanting one of them to face up to their mistakes.

"Soaking in a hot tub"

Motif throughout of Blanche wanting to clean herself- rid herself from the past. Ironic as she is being exposed while she does this. Also ironic as she is in "hot water".

"Dame Blanche"

Noun phrase- sarcastic and mocking of all Blanche's airs and graces.

"her future is mapped out for her"

The use of pronoun "her" implies that Stanley does not respect Blanche enough to even refer to her by name. The cliche of her future being mapped out is ironic as usually this has positive connotations of a bright future- here it is subverted as Stanley is sending her away.

What happens in Scene 8?

Blanche, Stella and Stanley sit around the table for Blanche's birthday dinner. Stanley flies into a rage. Stanley presents Blanche with a Greyhound bus ticket back to Laurel.

"Ticket! Back to Laurel! On the Greyhound! Tuesday!"

Lack of grammatically arranged exclamatives- show disjointed speech. Stanley's speech is just as erratic as Blanche's as he loses control of his enthuiasm and excitement at the idea. Use of deixis shows that this has been practically thought out and planned.

Pattern of Stanley's language: Contractions

Stanley's words are often shortened for colloquial purposes.

Eg: "H'lo. Aw, yeh, hello Mac"

This portrays him as more urbanised and less refined than Stella and Blanche, he is the new American society.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing!"

Use of tricolon shows that Stella is upset and feels conflicted between her husband and sister.

"Oh those pretty, pretty, little candles!"

This outburst from Blanche is ironic given what we have just learned about her past and the audience is encouraged to believe that Blanche is putting on a front. The pre-modifiers pretty reference her obsession with looks and the diminuitive little shows that values innocense in people. Pattern of language- Blanche often uses the emphatic "oh!" when speaking to show her emotions- wants people to think she is emotionally adept?

"Your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go and wash up and then help me clean the table"

These imperatives are a rare negative face act for Stella towards Stanley and may reflect Blanche's influence on trying to turn her against him.

What happens in Scene Nine?

Mitch comes over and confronts Blanche. They have an arguement and Mitch accuses her of not being clean enough. He forces Blanche to show her face in the light and discovers she is older than he thinks.

"Me. Mitch"

These cold minor sentences imply that Mitch is angry and hurt. He feels betrayed by Blanche's promiscuity. Irony as Blanche is portrayed as being the one who is old-fashioned.

"My my what a cold shoulder! And a face like a thundercloud!'

These figurative metaphors are used to try to entice Mitch out of his anger. The discourse marker "my my" appears patronising and as if Blanche is admonishing him.

"That goes relentlessly on and on in your head? No of course you haven't, you dumb angel-puss, you'd never get anything caught in your head!'

Hypophora- pattern of Blanche's language.

"Lapping it up all summer like a wild-cat!"

Zoomorphism- Blanche's behaviour has changed Mitch's perception of her.

"Light? Which light? What for?"

Interrogatives show that Blanche is scared.

"The poor man's Paradise- is a little peace..."

Plosive phonetics. Poetic sounds. Shows that all Blanche wanted was to be left alone. Tries to illicit sympathy for her unfair treatment throughout the play.

What happens in Scene Ten?

Whilst Stella is giving birth, Stanley rapes Blanche.

"It came like a bolt from the blue!"

Use of a collocation shows that Blanche sees this as a positive surprise. Foreshadows negative consequences of the scene.

"Then-just now-this wire"

Erratic, hesitant deixis shows that she is skating over the details

"And came up with that gorgeous-diamond-tiara?"

Change of heart- positive face acts from Stanley. Shows that he is humouring her, manipulating her.

"I guess we are both entitled to put on the dog"

Americanism

"A cultivated woman, a woman of intelligence and breeding"

Agricultural semantic field. Old-fashioned ideals of Old South.

"Tiger-tiger!"

Zoomorphism, Blanche has gone from a cat to a bird to a tiger.

What happens in Scene Eleven?

Blanche has lost her sanity after being raped and Stella decides not to believe her. She is taken to a mental institution.

"Put it in English greaseball."

Imperative shows lack of understanding towards foreigners in the US. Portrays critique of US society.

"You...you...you....Brag....brag...bull...bull.."

False starts and stammering show Mitch is upset and traumatised by events with Blanche.

"Life has got to go on"- Eunice

Collocation-mantra for women in this period- put up with bad behaviour.

"Tragic radiance in her red satin robe"- SD Blanche

Blanche is a tragic herione. Genre of tradgedy.

"And when I die, I'm going to die on the sea".

Fronted conjunction, shows Blanche's metaphorical, symbolic death, that she deserves.

"Now Blanche... now Blanche... now Blanche..."

Repeated, non-diegetic for rest of characters. The audience sees inside Blanche's head. Aims to illicit empathy but instead seems to alienate audience from Blanche instead.

"What have I done to my sister? Oh God, what have I done to my sister?"

Repeated interrogatives show that Stella regretted her actions. Apostrophe "oh god" shows that she is praying to a higher power.

Blanche: patterns of speech.

Ellipsis, unpredictable stream of consciousness, exclamatives, interrogatives, emphatic declaratives, hypophora, archiac lexis, figurative, poetic and metaphorical langauge.

Stanley: patterns of speech.

Uses Americanisms and contractions to show background. Harsh imperatives, angry declaratives, sarcasm

Stella: patterns of speech

Less unpredictable and frenetic speech than Blanche and Stanley. More hesitant, less confident in her beliefs.

Who does Tennessee Williams relate to as a character in the play?

Blanche Du Bois

What was Tennessee Williams' father?

An alcoholic

What event created the new American society which glamourized the working class?

WW2

What terms suggest Stanley experienced xenophobia due to his Polish ancestry?

"Polack" and "Swine"

Which characters occupy traditional gender roles?

Stella and Stanley

Which characters subvert traditional gender roles?

Blanche- sexuality and arrogance are masculine.

Mitch- awkwardness and sensitivity is feminine.

What does Tennessee Williams criticise?

Ideas of sexual morality- Blanche is shamed for having multiple partners but Stanley gets away with domestic abuse.

Who called Tennessee Williams an ultra realist?

Robert J. Leeney

Marxist perspective of the play:

Cheering during the rape. Stanley is a champion of the working class and removes bourgeoisie Blanche from his life. Passes on his way of life to his baby.

Feminist perspective of the play:

The rape scene sees Blanche as a victim of the patriarchy which removes her sanity as she feels she needs to find a husband.

What year was the play published?

1947

What made the play attractive for audiences?

Exploration of taboo themes.

What happened at the first performance of the play on 3rd December 1947?

30 minute round of applause.

What awards did the actors get?

Tennessee Williams won a Pulitzer Prize, Jessica Tandy who played Blanche won a Tony Award.

What is unusual about the play?

There is no interval.

How does Williams manipulate reality?

Uses expressionistic techniques.

What techniques does Williams use in the play?

Music, costume and props, stage directions

What changes had been made to the 1951 film?

Significant censorship- issues of homosexuality, defence of domestic abuse and Blanche's sexual advances on younger men were removed.