ASND

Context (Historical)

- play reflects the societal adjustments after WW2, returning to traditional gender roles

- new south: challenging old hierarchies, bringing new opportunities

- new orleans as a microcosm: mix of poverty, class and industrial boom

- gender roles: conflicting expectations of women, societal expectations.

- southern gothic tradition: to explore dark undercurrents of southern society

Context (Personal)

- strained relationship with his mother (aristrocrat but struggling)

- mentally unwell sister

- homosexual finding new orleans accepting

- abusive father

Context (Social)

- old vs new south: blanche embodies outdated ideals of the south whereas stanley embodies the upcoming america challenging old ideals

- post war: reflects changing social roles, especially women

- class: blanches refined background vs stanleys working class drives the plays conflict

- social realism: represents wider conflicts in the real world

Context (Cultural/Political)

- post WW2 shift, decline of southern aristocracy with the rising industrial working class

- class conflict and struggle

- masculinity/gender roles

- repressed sexuality and racism

Plastic Theatre

Symbolic, unrealistic style using stage elements like light and sound, props, costume, music to reveal psychological states of characters and deeper truths, beyond literal representation.

Examples of Plastic Theatre

- blanches bathing for purity

- blanches rejection of the light

- blue piano reflecting desire

- light representing harsh truth/reality

- varsouviana polka, reminder of her late husband, foreshadows her descent to madness

- blanche wearing white contrasted to stanleys harsh denim

Modern Tragedy

Ordinary people rather than noble people, facing internal flaws and societal pressures.

Realism

Presenting life truthfully, focussing on believable characters, everyday situations and social issues, uses realistic language/setting, sometimes breaking the fourth wall

Expressionism

Modernist movement, distortion of reality to express intense inner emotions, subjective experiences and societal critiques

Theme: Desire

Central destructive force, drives characters to illusion, violence and madness.

- "they told me to take a streetcar named desire"

- "i dont want realism, i want magic!"

- "what you are talking about is brutal desire"

- Blanche: seeks security, companionship and escape from her past

- Stanley: desire for blanche, not only to get rid of her but in a dominant sexual way too

- Mitch: companionship, truthfulness, but his desire is fragile

- Desire in manifested through action, the streetcars, illusions

- Play is driven by desire

Theme: Illusion vs. Reality

used as a device for escape by blanche

- "i dont want realism, i want magic"

- "after all a woman's charm is 50% illusion"

- Blanche is fantasy, avoids harsh light, fabrication of stories, lies about drinking until she almost convinces herself (self-deception)

- Stanley as brutal reality, seeking to unravel Blanches web of illusions, sees her falsivity as a threat and an insult

- Stella as the bridge between the two

- Clash of worlds with a tragic outcome

Theme: Gender

Rigid 1940s gender roles.

Contrast of Stanley's aggressive masculinity compared to Blanche's Southern Belle femininity, highlights female entrapment

- represents clash between old and new ideals

- patriarchy and dominance, "im king around here", "power and pride of a richly feathered bird"

- fragility of women, "i cant stand a naked light bulb", "im fading now"

- clash, "poker shouldn't be played in a house with women"

Theme: Class

Southern aristocracy compared to working class, industrialised New Orleans.

- "richly feathered birds among hens" shows how little her background means to him, disrespect

- "i have the misfortune of being an english instructor"

- "we are the apes that were on the jungle floor"

- dependence and survival in line with realism and illusion

"always depended on the kindness of strangers"

- masculine dominance "stalks" "snatches" "tosses"

Character: Blanche

- aging southern belle in a state of perpetual panic, with narcissistic qualities.

- aversion to light

- dead gay husband (allan grey)

- hamartia is her inability to face reality

- wants to escape the past but is ultimately stuck in it

- relies on male validation and depends on others

- viewed as a threat by stanley

Character: Stanley

- central antagonist, defined by his raw, aggressive masculinity.

- He provides the role of exposing Blanche's truths and ultimately leads to her downfall.

- "Stellaaaaa!"

Character: Stella

- represents the bridge between classes, stanley and her sister.

- Stella is latin for star, suggesting she is a guiding light or beacon of hope

- "I couldn't believe her story and go on living with Stanley"

- "what have i done to my sister?"

- "when he's away for a week i nearly go wild"

- Ego between Stanley's Id (primal and aggressive) and Blanche's superego

- Stella's hamartia is her choice to believe Stanley, triggering her sisters downfall

- Stella as a victim of the 1940s hegemonic masculinity as a result of societal expectations and dependency

Character: Mitch

Complex middle ground between Stanley's harsh realism and Blanche's fragile idealism.

- Mitch is a direct contrast to Stanley's hyper-masculinity and dominant personality, he is shy and respectful of women. His mother is dying and Stanley mocks him as a "mummy's boy", marking him as an outsider.

- Mitch represents a lifeline to Blanche, a shred of hope for a stable life

- Analogue to Allan, he too is soft in a group of rough men

- Mitch's eventual cruelty, tearing the paper lantern (full circle) demonstrates that a gentle man can be easily influenced by prejudice and Stanley's influence.

- Stage directions mark him as awkward, "fumbling" like a "dancing bear"

- Despite his initial gentleness, Mitch rejects Blanche on the grounds that she is not "clean enough" to meet his mother.

- At the end he is simply a tragic witness and the only male to show remorse at the sight of Blanche being taken away. This shows the tragedy of a man who was almost capable of saving her.

Minor Characters

Important for developing themes of social change, mental instability and normalisation of domestic violence. They ultimately contribute to the catalysation of Blanche's downfall.

- Steve and Eunice serve as a window into Stella's future, cycle of violence and reconciliation in their marriage, normalising domestic abuse.

- Mexican woman is used as a symbol for externalising Blanche's inner turmoil, "flores para los muertos" (flowers for the dead, foreshadows Blanche's metaphorical death.

- Doctor and Nurse, embody the cold institutional reality that breaks Blanche and her illusions.

- Allan Gray, never appears but his suicide is the trauma driving Blanche's descent into madness

- Shep Huntleigh, represents Blanche's fading hope for rescue and return to her aristrocratic lifestyle. His character becomes more prominent as she slips into madness.

PT: Light and Shadows

- paper lantern

- Stanley's exposure and realism is paired with a bright light

- Blinding light of love, which was turned off when Allan died

- Shadows as a space to hide, allow her to deceive herself and those around her by creating a fantasy world. even Stella uses the 'dark' to ignore the violence in her marriage

- Scene 10, there are lurid reflections just before Blanche's rape, and "grotesque and menacing shadows" on the wall, externalising her internal terror

PT: Varsouviana Polka

- Plays when Blanche reflects on Allan Grey's death.

- Ashamed of herself and it only ends after she hears a gunshot.

- All in her head, she as well as the audience are the only people who hear it.

- Is a significant contribution to her mental deterioration.

Structure of the Play

- 11 episodes rather than the traditional 3 act structure of the time.

- Series of playlets.

- Blanche as the only character present in every scene.

- Allows Williams to manipulate time more easily, seems like a short amount of time but it happens over a period.

- Slow beginning: 1-6

Accelerated Climax: 7-10

Epilogue: 11

- cyclical structure: poker game

- streetcar journey is reflected in Blanche

- all scenes take place in the apartment, claustrophobic as Blanche feels entrapped with a lack of privacy

Stage Directions, Costume, Lighting, Sound

Stage Directions

- atmospheric decay, 'blue light' in New Orleans

- animalistic imagery, Stanley's movements are described with animalistic verbs 'heaves', 'stalks', 'paws', establishing primal dominance

Costume

- Blanches 'white suit', 'pearls', 'feathers and fuss'

- Stanley's 'harsh denim work clothes'

- Scene 10, Blanche's 'crumpled' white dress and 'rhinestone tiara' represent the total mental collapse of her Southern Belle facade

Lighting

- Paper lantern, 'merciless glare'

- Poker Night, 'vivid green glass shade' over the lightbulb, emphasising aggressive primary colours of men's world

- Lurid Shadows

Sound

- Varsouviana Polka

- Blue Piano, represents the spirit of New Orleans and its diverse vibrant life, plays during moments of passion or emotion

- Jungle Cries, 'inhuman voices like cries in a jungle'

- Locomotive, Stanley is often paired with this sound, a loud industrial noise that symbolises the unstoppable progress of the New South crushing the fragile Old South

Full AO1

- maintain a sharp thesis

- signpost ideas/link

- avoid summarising, explain why Williams does it

- terminology

- embed quotations

- don't story tell!!

Full AO2

- plastic theatre and expressionism

- analyse stagecraft

- structure

Scene 1: Blanche's Arrival

Scene 3: Poker Night

Scene 9: Blanche and Mitch's Confrontation

Scene 10: Climax

Scene 11: Blanche's Departure

- "I've always relied on the kindness of strangers"