STREETCAR CONTEXT

What did Williams struggle with?

his own homosexuality,

What did Williams have to deal with as a child?

several serious childhood illnesses

Where did Williams live?

in an ugly tennament and was bullied for his accent

What happened to William when he was placed in an institution?

he was lobotomised

How did Williams use alcohol?

to overcome shyness

When did Williams begin to accept his own homosexuality?

the late 1930s

Who did Williams have an affair with?

Kip Keirnan, a Canadian dancer, Kip later left him to marry a woman and died 4 years later (aged 26)

What was William’s first success?

the glass menagerie in 1944/5

When was Streetcar written?

1947

What happened to Williams in the 1960s?

turned to alcohol and drugs, hospitalised in 1969

How did Williams die?

surrounded by bottles of wine and pills, died in a New York hotel room on the 25th February 1983

What is the ‘lost cause’ given to?

the idea that the old south may rise up and break away from the north, giving a romanticised view of the lifestyle of the old south focusing on glamour rather than its link to slavery

What is the southern gothic as subgenera of gothic fiction?

in American literature, that takes place in the American south - reaction against the ‘lost cuase’ idea. Common themes include deeply flawed, duisturbing or eccentric characters in decayed or derelict settings, grotesque situations to other sinister events stemming from poverty, alienation, crime or violence

What does the southern gothic style employ?

the sue of macabre, ironic events to examine the values of the American south, u like normal gothic fiction it uses the gothic tool to create suspense but also to explore social issues and reveal the cultural character of the American south

What are some more features of the southern gothic style?

exploring madness, decay, despair, continuing pressures of the past on the present, particularly with the lost ideal of the dispossesed southern aristocract and continued racial hostilities, Villians who disguise themselves as innocents or victims are often found in southern gothis literature, giving us a blurred line between victims and villian. Southern gothis literature sets out to expose the mith of old antebellum south and its narrative of anidyllic past hidden by social, familial and racial denials and suppression

What is Faulkner’s novel ‘the sound of fury’ like?

is set in Mississippi, it centres on the Compson family, former southern aristocrats who are struggling to deal with the loss of their family and its reputations, over the course of the next 30yrs the family falls into financial ruin, loses its religious faith and the respect of the town of Jefferson and many die tragically

What was the impact of the plantations?

the old south were decaying, urban growth and capitalism was doing well

What does the locomotive represent?

the shift to modernity, the fast intrusive changes that the old south underwent under the American civil war

Who was close to Williams due to his poor family life?

his sister Rose who suffered from Schizophrenia and as she got older eventually resulting in a full frontal lobotomy which Williams always regretted not stopping

What are two articles published between 1947-9 on the Time and Newsweek?

published on homosexuality, relied largely on second hand sources and were highly critical calling it degenerate and disgusting

How were homosexuals portrayed in the war?

given blue discharges as a dishonourably discharge to remove them from the army

What are the features of an arisotlean tragedy?

traditional greek tragedy was said by Aristotle to have a change in circumsatnce for the central charcter which could be good to bad fortune or vice versa, the central character should not be good/bad but ome who has a ‘fatal flaw’ which brings on their downfall which also makes the character much more like real people, making the play more relatable, the object of a tragedt is to arouse feelings of wonder and awe in the audience

What are the features of a Hegelian tragedy?

expressing a tragedy as a battle of two opposing moral claims (ideas) which are both valid but the claims cannot coexist, so one belief must be eradicated (tragic hero dies)

What is a nietzschan tragedy?

expressng tragedy as an internal conflict between the Appollomiam ordered side pf a charcter and the chaotic dionysian side

How was the USA represented as a Good Samaritan?

helping other countries to achieve democracy, progress and economic security

What is the wordplay surrounding ‘poker’?

she’s not invited to play poker, also not welcome to ‘poke around’ in their lives

What is the influence of Freud?

the decision to have a music and madness in the play

How did New Orleans become a ‘melting pot’?

welcoming immigrants of all races and religions to a new life of freedom and opportunity, immigrants often escaping from poverty, oppression and conflict

What essential themes of great tragic dramatists are there?

like Williams, Miller and Eugene O’Neill - questioning cultural calues which the vast majorities of the contemporaries held dear (Great Gatsby, Mice and Men, death of a salesman)

Where was New Orleans the birthplace of?

jazz, spanish style architecture, mardi gras parades as well as soul food and Mardi Gras parades

What was New Orleans seen as?

the ‘big easy’, hot humid, surrounded by water on three sides so flooding is a constant threat