STREETCAR - recall

What decade is ‘Streetcar’ set in?

1940s

What term means ‘the process of releasing emotions’?

Catharsis

What part of America is New Orleans in?

The South

Who directed the play?

Elia Kazan

What genre of play is ‘Streetcar’?

Tragedy

What event in 1865 caused the decline of the Southern states of the

USA?

Defeat in the American Civil War (the North won)

[Williams] Blanche must … have the understand and compassion

of the audience.

[Williams] Blanche must finally have the understanding and

compassion of the audience.

[Clurman] The play becomes the … of Stanley Kowalski with the …

of the audience.

[Clurman] The play becomes the triumph of Stanley Kowalski with

the collusion of the audience.

[Boxill] Stanley is the defender of … and … against a hysterical

intruder.

[Boxill] Stanley is the defender of hearth and home against a

hysterical intruder.

[Williams] It is a thing (…) not a person (…) that destroys her

[Williams] It is a thing (Misunderstanding) not a person (Stanley)

that destroys her

[Time magazine review] He … … … on her and … …

[Time magazine review] He gets the goods on her and lets fly

[Boston Post] without pity, this play is a … thing

[Boston Post] without pity, this play is a scandalous thing

Establishes the setting; appears at emotional moments; changes into a

nightmarish cacophony during the rape scene

Blue Piano

Non-diegetic sound; used when Blanche’s marriage is represented;

symbolic of ‘Old’ America

Varsouviana Polka

‘Wouldn’t be make believe/if you believed in me’

Paper Moon

Hides Stanley in Scene 4; cuts off Blanche discussing Allan’s death; ‘glares’

at Blanche during the rape scene

Train

Domestic violence nearby; represents how people are aware of it but

nothing changes

Steve & Eunice – start of scene 5

Who said ‘Williams ‘never turned away from things that

frightened him’?

Marlon Brando

What happens to Blanche’s clothing across the play?

Deteriorates –

symbolising mental decline/rejection

What is the flat symbolically next to?

Railroad tracks

What noise symbolises New Orleans?

Blue piano

What noise symbolises Old America and is non-diegetic?

Polka

What noise represents masculinity and modernity?

The train

Why do Blanche’s clothes go from white to blue across the

play?

Symbolise female independence changing to religious modesty

The date between Mitch and Blanche

6

Blanche wears a satin scarlet robe

9

Blanche kissing the young man

5

Where Stella says Stanley is a ‘different species’

1

Mitch turning up drunk to see Blanche

9

When the cathedral bells are heard

11

What scenes does the N – woman appear in?

1,5,10

What audience reaction exposed the reality of views about gender in

1940s America?

‘Titillated laughter’ at the rape scene‘

Stanley is the defender of … and … against a … intruder (Boxill)

Stanley is the defender of hearth and home against a hysterical

intruder (Boxill)

Without …, this play is a … thing (Boston Post, 1947)

Without pity, this play is a scandalous thing (Boston Post, 1947)

An … thread of … through the air (Lura Robinson, 1948)

An unbroken thread of music through the air (Lura Robinson, 1948)

If only they had ... about … … (Williams)

If only they had known about each other (Williams)