Streetcar Named Desire - Context

Life of Tennessee Williams

• Born in Mississippi - given nickname Tennessee in his frat house

• Dad was an alcoholic - aggressive, involved in a poker fight where he lost half his ear

• Sister (Rose) was schizophrenic and was lobotomised and incapacitated for the rest of her life - lived in an institution and he payed for her care once he was financially able to - close relationship, left his estate to her

• Mother was a Southern Belle

• Pulled out of university to work at the International Shoe Company Factory - his memories of this period and a particular co-worker influenced the character of Stanley Kowalski

• In late 1930s, Williams began to explore his homosexuality, joining a gay circle in New York

• Many relationship with men (including abusive one) - long-term partner Frank Merlo died of lung cancer in 1963, causing Williams to spiral into depression

• In 1939, Williams moved to New Orleans where he lived in the French Quarter (setting for Streetcar)

• Struggled with substance abuse and alcoholism

• Died in 1983 after swallowing the plastic cap of a medicine bottle

Old South vs New South

• Old South - rigid social hierarchy, aristocracy, culture, and etiquette

  • Southern Belle and Gentleman

  • Manners and gallantry

• Socio-economic effects of the Civil War on the South - rapid change through industrialisation, immigration and the deepening of capitalism

• New South - working class, Darwinian survival of the fittest struggle of the American Dream and places no value on old class hierarchies

  • Domineering masculinity and immigration

  • Stanley as a patriotic second-gen immigrant determined to carve out his own path and be accepted into American society (“one hundred percent American… and proud as hell of it”

  • Southern aristocracy is no longer relevant

The American Dream

• Utopian ideal involving freedom, independence and equality of opportunity for all, irrelevant of pre-existing social class barriers

• Typically represented in Stanley Kowalski

• 1940s infatuation with achieving the American Dream is demonstrated through Stanley’s deep-seated detestation for Blanche

Southern Gothic

• Began as a res[Penske to losses faced by the South in the aftermath of the Civil War

• Archetypal plot involved the existence of dark, illogical and transgressive characters, or desires, that blurred the lines between what was socially accepted

• Contains many elements, such as a lyrical writing style, a grotesque protagonist who is filled with torrid longing and on the verge of psychological disintegration, as well as a sense of the supernatural supplied by the shadows on the wall, polka music and sounds of echoing voices

Gender and Social Class

• Southern Belle - woman with a privileged upbringing from the Deep South’s upper socioeconomic class

• Widespread controversy regarding the role of women and the society also boundaries she may cross

• Degrades Stanley’s class and race - “Polack”, “ape-like”, “animal habits”, “sub-human” - establish her superiority

• Following WW2 (ended two years before Streetcar was published), while many women went back to their pre-war jobs, many found new employment in industries such as healthcare, banking, textiles and light industries - wartime empowerment

Marxist Reading

• Marxism hinged on the revolution of the proletariat and the destruction of capitalism by taking down the exploitative bourgeoisie

• Stanley as a Marxist hero as he represents the working class, and in taking down Blanche, fulfils purpose of dismantling upper class - symbol of the proletariat rising against the bourgeoisie

• Rape symbolises the destruction of the ‘Old South’ and the bourgeoisie

Types of Masculinity (Connell)

• Hegemonic - dominant, stereotypically ‘masculine’, aggressive (Stanley)

• Complicit - passive, benefit from social dominance of men but do not actively work to change it

• Subordinate - non-conformative to traditional masculinity, treated as lower on gender hierarchy

• Marginalised - unable to conform to/ derive benefits from hegemonic masculinity (Allan)

Plastic Theatre

• Created by Tennessee Williams - new, distinct style of drama

• Setting, music, sound, visual effects, costume, etc. must combine to reflect and enhance the action

• Non-verbal elements

  • Varsouviana Polka

  • Blue piano

  • Locomotive

  • Voices/ shadows (“lurid reflections”)

  • Cat screech

  • Tamale vendor/ flower merchant

  • Lighting (e.g. Scene 3 - “vivid green” lighting)

Dionysian and Apollonian (Nietzsche in Birth of Tragedy)

• Apollonian - dreaming state full of illusions (Blanche)

• Dionysian - liberation of instincts, emotional/ irrational - primordial unity (Stanley)

• Union - destinies are inevitably linked (need to coexist) - the collision and union of forces precipitates Blanche’s final descent into insanity and spiritual death

Original Titles

• The Poker Night

• The Moth

• Primary Colours

• Blanche’s Chair in The Moon