A streetcar named desire - quotes & context

What behavior does Stanley exhibit that links to his father's neglect?

Stanley neglects his responsibilities by playing cards with friends after Blanche leaves. Leaving Stella with the baby

Williams father

+alcoholic

+working-class salesman

+neglected his parental duties

Williams mother

+southern belle

+born into high class

+well educated - a music teacher

How does Williams mother link?

Reflects Blanche character

Williams sister

+suffered mental illnesses

+later institutionalized

How does Williams sister link?

Reflects Blanche character = she was later institutionalized as she mental state declined

Williams

+difficult childhood

+was gay = lived in a time where homosexuality was seen as a mental illness

how does Williams link?

to Alan who was Blanche's husband and was gay. He also killed himself in front of Blanche

play set in the aftermath of the Civil War

+ issues of the abolishment of slavery

+Southern states were against this as their plantations relied on enslaved people

What was the South known as after the Civil War?

racism and poverty

what does Williams explore?

the time of transition fro the American South and tension occurred resulting from the shift from old money into modernity and diversity

what does the tension reflect?

Stanley and Blanche's relationship

gender roles = what does Williams critique

the limitation that the post-world war American society imposed

+emergence of masculinity and women pushed back into traditional roles

+twist of masculinity and feminism

gender roles - Blanche

more masculine energy = sexuality and arrogance

audience reaction towards the rape scene

audience and the critic saw Stanley as a victim of Blanche's madness and attack against his masculinity, class and heritage

why is the rape scene justified

as an event initiated by Blanche's flirtation

marxist perspective

Stanley as a reigning champion of the working-class

= defeats the old aristocratic ways by removing Blanche (bourgeoisie - the ruling class)

Darwinism

'survival of the fittest'

=pass down his way of life to his new-born son as he defeats the bourgeois threat (Blanche)

feminist perspective

critique the expectations and patriarchal society

=gender roles

=oppressive side of the family

=warm bath theory - functionalist

feminist perspective = rape scene

Stanley asserts his masculine power and authority over Blanche through sexual violence = radical feminist

feminist perspectives - blanche

=look down upon for her past

=tries to look for a husband = societal norms

setting - New Orleans

=city of heritage and culture

= major economic growth and social change

=immigration

= liberal, more of a free area

Who coined the term 'Plastic theatre'?

Tennessee Williams

What does 'Plastic theatre' symbolize?

The characters' psychological state

What elements are used in 'Plastic theatre'?

Props, costumes, colours, light, sounds

What does Blanche arrive in at the beginning of 'A Streetcar Named Desire'?

A streetcar

What do the stops on the streetcar represent in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'?

Stages of Blanche's life

In 'A Streetcar Named Desire', what motivates Blanche's actions?

Coping mechanism for her grief and loneliness

What is the last stop on the streetcar in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'?

A cemetery

What does the cemetery symbolize in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'?

Blanche's mental death

Elysian Fields - stop of the streetcar

the street that Stella and Stanley lives on is called Elysian Fields and it represents the name for the land of the dead in Greek Mythology

when was the antebellum era?

1865

what happened during the antebellum era?

white plantation owners made fortunate from slave labour.

the antebellum way of life was no longer around during the 1940s but it was kept alive and romanticised by which blockbuster?

gone with the wind 1939

the southern belle was a ..... character of the deep south's ....... socio-economic class.

stock upper

what was expected of the southern belle?

that she would marry a respectable young man and become a lady of society dedicated to family and community.

when is a streetcar named desire set?

1947

what is the american dream ?

all men are born equal and can succeed equally unrestricted by the barriers of earlier civilisation placing importance on race and class.

what is the darker side of the american dream?

that the pursuit of happiness in one person can be used to justify the destruction of others.

what is the southern gothic genre?

a richly imaginative genre bordering the bizarre and grotesque to capture a dying culture that on the front seemed idyllic and romantic but in reality was built on cruel repressions: slavery racism and patriarchy.

why does the southern gothic use irrational and horrific thoughts, grotesque characters and alienated settings?

to expose the south's aberrations that slipped through official historical record.

what did hawthorne write?

the scarlet letter

what is the scarlet letter about?

set in puritan massachusetts , its about hester who tries to build a life of repentance and dignity after being alienated from society for conceiving a daughter through an affair.

what is is 'The blind are leading the blind' from?

matthew 15:14: "If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit."

significance of 'The blind are leading the blind.'

shows the importance in having a spiritual moral guide. blanche's faith condemns her so she is lost.

what is "Casting my pearls before the swine" from?

matthew 7:6 'Do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do they may turn and tear you to pieces.'

significance of 'Casting my pearls before the swine?'

she recognises her own value before the rape.

where is 'Je suis la Dame Aux Camellias! Vous êtes Armand!' from?

Dumas novel La Dame Aux Camellias.

what is La Dame Aux Camellias about?

a doomed love-she is a prostitute and he is a young bourgeois.

what happens to Marguerite?

she is shunned for her promiscuous past by Armand's father.

what picture does Dumas paint of Marguerite?

a favourable one- she is rendered virtuous through her love for Armand. Blanche wants this kind of redemption.

What is 'I pulled you down off them columns and how you loved it, having them coloured lights going.'

reference to 'I'm falling, I'm falling' from Miss Julie.

What is Miss Julie about?

an old aristocratic breed dying out compared to Jean, the rising more fit to thrive adaptable man.

where is is the "Rosenkavalier" from?

Opera Der Rosenkavalier- shows Blanche's culture and desperation to live in a fantasy world where love conquers all.

what did Tennessee Williams say he could identify with in women?

fragility and vulnerability. "I draw every character out of my very split personality."

what was the inspiration for SND?

williams lived in New Orleans in 1958 and saw 2 streetcars named desire and cemeteries and thought these were the two leading factors of life: death and desire.

what happened to williams' sister Rose?

She had a breakdown in 1957 and was admitted to a mental hospital where she was lobotomised.

williams suffered with depression, what did he fear would happen to him?

he would go insane.

what is an Aristotlean Tragedy?

a man of high status falls to low status due to fatal flaws.

what are Blanche's hamartias?

pride and prejudices and refusal to change.

why does SND not conform to Aristotlean tragedy?

because Blanche falls before the play and her flaws come from desperation not dominance. Also it is the compassionless New South that causes her downfall. symbolises the way the New South exploited the Old South after the Civil War.

what does Williams lament the loss of?

culture, poetry, gentility, grace and manners, he also acknowledges the rejection of class prejudice and newly installed liberal values.

Tennessee quote linking to one of the characters

"I am Blanche DuBois" (repeated many times)

Tennessee quote for describing true human nature

"We are all savages at heart"

Tennessee quote for his main theme in his work

"I have only one major theme for my work which is the destructive power of society on the sensitive, non-conformist individual"

Three ways to describe Tennessee's parents relationship

Unhappy

difficult

Strained

Three facts about Tennessee's father

He was an alcoholic

He had dominant personality

He was working-class (a salesman)

Three facts about Tennessee's mother

A faded Southern belle who fantasied about her past genteel Southern living

Born to higher class

Resented her husband's drunken and philandering ways

Three facts about Tennessee's sister

Called Rose

Suffered from mental illness

Eventually institutionalized

What where many of Tennessee's characters built around?

His real life relationships

What happened to his father in a poker game?

Part of his ear was bitten off during a fight

Who did Tennessee have a love affair with and why did his relationship end?

Kip Kiernan - he left Williams to marry a woman, Tennessee was distraught

What information do we have about Tennessee's mental health pre-1946?

Suffered with depression

Had nervous/mental breakdown in early 20s (was 36 when wrote streetcar

In which year was the play set, written and first performed?

1947

How was America viewed at this time?

As the land of opportunity

What is the American dream?

Idea that anyone can suceed through hard work and personal endeavor

No matter your humble background, you can rise to top of society through hard work

What is the genre of the play?

Tragic drama

What are the Greek tragic terms as outlined by Aristotle?

Hamartia - mistake du to fatal flaw

Hubris - excessive pride or arrogance

Anagnorisis - characters insight into mankind through the plays unraveling

Peripeteia - result of reversal of fortune

Catharsis - emotional outpouring which causes relief/renewal

How can A Streetcar Named Desir be seen as a social realist play?

Deals with many issues e.g. class distinction, gender role, immigration and powerplays between genders

Who embodies the American Dream?

Stanley

1940s and Masculinity

American society expected men to adhere to characteristics defining masculinity

Some admirables ones were courage and bravery

More noxious traits were agression, competition and toughness

What was Stanley's role in WW2?

A master sergeant in the engineers' corps - honourable, but not glamorous position in the U.S. army

What did WW2 enable for American men?

Image of heroism - spotlight shone on working class men like Stanley who helped and survived in the war - they embodied the American hard working spirit

What was the emphasis on for females at the time?

Typical femininity and being stay-at-home mothers who fulfilled domestic roles such as cleaning, cooking and taking care of children

What does the play present?

Sharp critique of the way the institutions and attitudes of post-war America placed restrictions on women's lives

What were seen as taboo subjects at the time?

Homosexuality, female sexuality and mental illness

Why is Blanche's past viewed as unacceptable?

She is a woman and the emphasis was placed on respectability and no sex before or outside of marriage

When was the American Civil War?

1861-1865

What were some Old Southern interests and values?

Rigid social hierarchy, aristocracy, etiquette and gentility

What is the antebellum?

Before the American Civil War

What is a Southern Belle?

Young, unmarried woman in the plantation-owning upper class of Southern society

After the Great Depression, what did New Orleans emerge as?

The champion of diversity and acceptance.

Which derogatory term does Blanche use to show her xenophobia?

'Polack'

What is the term Polack indicative of?

Prejudice many first or second-generation European immigrants faced

What streets do the Kowalskis live on?

Elysian Fields

What is the translation of Elysian Fields from Greek mythology?

'Paradise for the Dead'

What Darwinian phrase from his evolutionary theory can we link to Stanley?

'Survival of the fittest'

What were the generally accepted ideas surrouding gender at the time?

There were rigid gender roles within the patriarchal society

What percentage of women were in the national workforce during WW2?

37% (an increase of 10% before the war)

However, what happened to working women after the war?

Women were pushed back into traditional domestic roles