ASND: Terminology

dramaturgy

the theory and practice of dramatic composition and theatrical representation

‘plastic theatre’*

A technique adopted by Williams in use of props, staging, and music to impress abstract ideas upon the audience

‘sculptural drama’*

the use of all stage resources, lighting, sound, music, movement, sets and props, in order to generate a theatrical experience greater than realism.

method acting/Stanislavski

Stanislavski: an acting training system made up of various different techniques designed to allow actors to create believable characters and help them to really put themselves in the place of a character.

method acting focuses almost exclusively on an actor’s interior experiences to drive a performance, whereas Stanislavski’s System emphasises a balance between interior thought and physical action.

Realism

an attempt to depict real life and society as it is without idealisation or romanticisation

Domestic realism

expresses and focuses on the realistic everyday lives of middle or lower classes in a certain society, generally referring to post-Renaissance eras.

Psychological realism

focuses on why something happens and not just the scenario that plays out, focusing on mental processes of characters and often their inner thoughts and feelings along with their motives for behaviour

naturalism

a movement in European theatre that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Refers to theatre that attempts to create an illusion of reality through a range of dramatic and theatrical strategies

expressionism

a rejection of realism in favour of dreamlike states; non-linear, often disjointed structures, a utilisation of imagery and symbolism in the place of naturalism, a focus on abstract concepts and ideas.

symbolism

the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities

emotionalism

a tendency to regard things emotionally; undue indulgence in or display of emotion

surrealism

the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations

romanticism

a style of theatre focused on the individual actor’s imagination, emotion and appreciation of nature

memory play

a play in which a lead character narrates the events of the play, which are drawn from the character’s memory

metatheatre

aspects of a play that draw attention to its nature as theatre or the circumstances of its performance

e.g.:

direct address to the audience, expression of an awareness of the presence of the audience, acknowledgement of the fact that the people performing are actors, plays-within-plays

melodrama

a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions

hamartia

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

anagnorisis

the point in a play/novel where a principal character recognises or discovers another character’s true identity or the true nature of their own circumstances

peripeteia

a sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances

inexorability of fate

impossible to stop, alter, or resist. inevitable

catharsis

the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from strong or repressed emotions

protagonist

the leading character or one of the major characters

Anti-hero

A central character who lacks conventional heroic attributes

• Blanche

Denouement

The final part of a play in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved

Pathos

A quality that evokes pity or sadness

Tragic victim

Innocent bystanders who get caught up in the action and suffer as a result

• E.g. Mitch

Unity of action

Part of the three unities: A tragedy should have one principal action

• Clash of Stanley and Blanche

Unity of space

Part of the three unities: A tragedy should exist in a single physical location

• The small flat in New Orleans, small enough to cause friction/tension

Colloquial register

The informal language used in everyday conversations, including slang and phrases that are commonly used by a particular group or region.

• Stella and Stanley, Eunice, the boys

Idiolect

The speech habits peculiar to a particular person

• Blanche's lack of confidence - pauses, false starts, repairs

• Stanley's rough, primitive tone

basilect

A less prestigious dialect or variety of a particular language

• Stanley, Eunice, Mitch

acrolect

The most prestigious dialect or variety of a particular language

• Blanche

Elevated style

Formal, dignified language, often uses more elaborate figures of speech

• Blanche

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language

• Blanche's sophisticated use of syntax

Double entendre

A word/phrase that is open to two interpretations, one of which usually risqué or indecent

• Red-hots, horn, Blanche's flirtations

Graphology

• Turn taking (interruptions and overlaps)

  • Excitement, negativity

• Non-fluency features (pauses, false starts, repairs)

  • Repairs: saying something then going back and changing it

• Prosody (stress, pitch, volume, intonation)

  • For B: elegant, sophisticated, musical, eloquent, soft

  • Stanley: rough, staccato, masculine, powerful, loud

• Ellipses, hyphens, exclamatory lines/marks

proleptic irony

The irony of anticipation where a character anticipates something where the audience knows things will turn out differently.

• Blanche believing she's going on a trip with Shep Huntleigh only to be institutionalised 

analepsis

A literary device in narrative where a past event is narrated at a point later than its chronological place in a story.

• Stanley recounting Blanche's promiscuous past

• Blanche describing the events that drove Allan to his suicide

Coup de théâtre

A sudden sensational turn in a play; a sudden dramatic effect or turn of events

Deus ex machina

A plot devise whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence.

literally, “a god from a machine” (the crane that held up Gods in ancient Greek and Roman drama)

southern gothic

A genre of Southern writing focusing on the grotesque. May contain some supernatural elements, but often more realistic flawed characters and settings.

ante-bellum

Before the American Civil War (1861-1865)

post-bellum

After the American Civil War

class antagonism

The resentment of one social class by members of another social class

• A common example being poor people resenting wealthy people

• Blanche resenting anyone other than Stella (her rudeness to Eunice in the exposition)

symbolic motif

Recurring images/quotes/concepts that take on a figurative/symbolic meaning throughout the drama

• Varsouviana, bathing, cat screaming, locomotive, light

allegory

A story/poem/picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden moral/political meaning

• Blanche's songs, Paper Doll

• Blanche's journey on Desire through Cemeteries to Elysian Fields

  • Death is a controlling force, when it takes over characters must submit - are carried to the end of the line.

leitmotif

A short recurrent musical phrase associated w a particular person/idea/situation

• Varsouviana thinking about Allan, jungle noises w Stanley

freudian symbolism

Representation of a repressed idea or wish through symbols

• E.g. a dream about climbing a ladder symbolises ambition or desire for success

• Williams' homosexuality and guilt - the play embodies sex/love and death symbolised by streetcar named 'Desire' and 'Cemeteries', played out by Blanche taking refuge from her fear of death in promiscuity, expressing her guilt in audio-hallucinations and bathing.

• The characters are expressions of Williams' psyche, the play's symbols and imagery examples of unconscious impulses.

  • "I think I write mainly from my unconscious mind" Williams, 1986

objective correlative

(literary criticism) a group of things/events that systematically represent emotions

• Lighting, music