A Streetcar Named Desire Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards for A Streetcar Named Desire, based on lecture notes.

Southern Gothic

A sub-genre, evident in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.

Machismo

Exploitation of power, seen in Stanley's character.

Stanley

A symbol of crude, hegemonic masculinity in the play.

Darwinian 'fittest'

Stanley is the '_ _,' asserting dominance through violence.

New America

Stanley represents this, born after World War II.

Capitalist greed

Stanley embodies this in post-war society.

Uses Sex

Stanley does this to Stella, trapping her in cycles of abuse.

Objectifies

Stanley does this to women using the male gaze.

Agency

Stanley tries to undermine this in women because it threatens his masculinity.

Brutal realism

Blanche is caught between loyalty to antiquated idealism and _ _.

Old South

Blanche is from the _ with aristocratic heritage.

Literary

Reference made by Blanche that furthers the idea of aristocracy.

Flirtation

Blanche sees this as a form of survival.

White

Blanche's name is derived from the French word '_' which symbolizes purity.

DuBois

Derived from French, associated with being hard and durable.

Irony

Blanche's name is steeped in this, in relation to her character.

Manipulates

Blanche does this, stemming from her insecurities about aging.

Aging

Blanche fears this because of its connection to mortality and Allan.

Deceive

Blanche wants to do this to Mitch into desiring her.

Lonely

Blanche is this due to loss and death in her past.

Shep Huntleigh

The only seemingly devoted character to Blanche.

Pretence

Blanche's trunk symbolizes this, her lost home and love.

Stanley

He treats the trunk with the same violence he treats Blanche.

Revelation of Blanche's past

Stanley's treatment of the trunk foreshadows this.

Lunacy

Blanche's descent into this restricts her into a life of ostracization.

American Dream

Blanche's restricts her into a life of ostracization.

Silent resignation

This indicates Blanche's ultimate mental disintegration.

Stella

Easily influenced and manipulated by Blanche and Stanley.

Stella

She shares in Stanley's passion for sex and desire.

Hamartia

Stanley is this to Stella.

Disposition, manners

Stella's aristocratic descent is apparent in her and .

New American

Stella is seduced by Stanley and, by proxy, the _ life.

Stella and Stanley's Baby

Their baby symbolizes transition from tradition to modernity.

Stella and Stanley's

Eunice's relationship is parallel to this.

Star

Stella originates from Latin for _.

Star

A symbol of light, hope, as never changing.

Stanley

Stella ends up defying her name by siding with _.

“He smashed all the light bulbs with the heel of my slipper!… I was--sort of--thrilled by it.”

Can be understood as Stella's denial of abuse.

Mitch

Depicted as sensitive and well-mannered within the play.

Mitch

He showcases values of loyalty, kindness, love, and honesty.

Masculinity

Not monolithic in this play, presentation of.

Foil

Williams presents Mitch as a to Stanley

Mitch

He develops a relationship with Blanche based on common loneliness and past sorrows.

Escape from problems

Mitch is this to Blanche.

Pure

Mitch cannot marry Blanche because she is not _.

Blanche

Has to cover her past from him as it is unacceptable in society for women to engage in casual sex.

Female purity

Even seemingly decent men like Mitch are corrupted by ideas about .

Male friendship

Mitch has this, restricted to the Kowalski's bathroom.

Changed

Allan's death Blanche into the woman she is in the play.

Subordinate

Allan is the embodiment of masculinity.

Shep Huntleigh

A symbol of Blanche's mental instability.

Blanche

Becomes increasingly dependent on illusions and magic.

Shep

Blanche’s Darling fantasy is gradually destroyed

Young Man

He symbolizes Blanche's obsession with finding Allan.

New Orleans streetcars

This place is allegorical of the journey of Blanche's life.

Desire

Her first phase is after the death of Allan Gray.

Cemeteries

A symbol for death- loss of job.

Elysian Fields

A temporary place of the souls' journey back to life.

Elysian Fields

A catalyst for Blanche's downfall is.

Kowalski apartment:

described by critics as a ‘warzone of power.

Belle Reve

Plantation lost after the Civil War.

Belle Reve

Translates into ‘beautiful dream’ insinuates a fantasy.

Southern Belle

Blanche catalysts her own entrapment through this grandeur.

Entrapment

Freedom vs ___ and Dependence

Misery

Elysian Fields becomes a place of ____ and entrapment for Blanche.

Sacrifice

On ___ levels: Stella sacrificed Blanche to the past with Belle Reve & Stella sacrifices Blanche’s mental stability

Bathing

Blanche tries to deal with the subconscious guilt from her past experiences and misdeeds through:

Varsouviana Polka

What Blanche was dancing to with Allan when she told him that he disgusted her, leading to him shooting himself

Light

Avoids _. as will expose her and so the others will see her for who she truly is

Blanche

____ disintegrates in the play, though Stella does not

Treatment of Women

The Power imbalance in the Stanley-Stella relationship, is a social commentary on the _

Victim

Stella, like Blanche is a _. of patriarchal oppression

Stanley's activeness

pacifices Stella and puts her in an insubordinate role, thus highlighting the patriarchal ideology of the play

Male Gaze

Relationship based on the _ and carnal lust

Activity/Passivity Opposition

Stanley-Stella relationship is one of the supreme examples of hierarchization of _- Koprince Magdić

Tries to break free from limitations of Old South

Stella is neither a Southern belle nor a modern woman.

Passive respondent

She is the ___ to Stanley’s lust - Leibman

Relationship

The does not develop with Blanche and Mitch.

Past

Mitches relationship with Blanche declines when he learns about her _.

Mitch

___ feels some responsibility for Blanche’s tragic fate.

Making her his

The Rape can be seen as Stanley’s brutal way of __.

Fully comprehend

Stanley feels threatened by Blanche’s presence because she represents a class and society he cannot .

Pride

Stanley's masculinity is his ____.

Threatening

dominance is affected by the similarities between Stanley and Blanche, not their differences.

Rape

symbolizes the defeat of the Old South.

"inhuman voices like cries in a jungle"

What are stage directions that accompany the rape scene.?

Nietzsche.

According to _, Blanche’s Apollonian aspects and Stanley’s Dionysian aspects disintegrate when they operate as extremes

Cultural

Stanley strips Blanche of her psychological, sexual and identity’ - Onyett

New Orleans

The play takes place in what city?

Stanley

He likes to play poker.

Blanche

She likes to take baths.

Stanley

He exposes Blanche's past.

Stanley

In scene 5, he buys Blanche shrimp for the party.

Belle Reve

What is the name of Stella and Blanche's family home?

Allan Gray

His homosexuality was the cause of much grief for Blanche.

Stella

She is pregnant with Stanley's baby.

Mitch

He is very close to his mother.

Confident and Dressier

Stella is more _ and then Blanche, she is more realistic.

Dirty grey vest

He wears a costume of a _ which contrasts sharply to Blanche’s background and aspirations

Mitch

Compared to Blanche, his world vision is more sensible and realistic