A Streetcar Named Desire Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary, literary terms, and devices relevant to Tennessee Williams' 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'

Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams was known as a "wounded genius" because his life was marked by personal trauma, mental illness, family conflicts, addiction, and social alienation.

Blanche DuBois

A character in A Streetcar Named Desire who embodies the wounded genius archetype—fragile, haunted by her past, trapped between illusion and reality, desperately seeking escape and kindness in a cruel environment.

Irony

Inconsistency between appearance and reality

Verbal Irony

Saying the opposite of what is meant.

Situational Irony

When an outcome contradicts expectations.

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows something a character does not.

Anachronism

Something or someone is out of place chronologically or is better suited to an earlier time.

Expressionism

Uses light, music, setting, sound, and sometimes dance to communicate emotional truth beyond dialogue.

Epigraph (A Streetcar Named Desire)

Refers to a literal streetcar line but also metaphorically represents the characters’ journey driven by desire and passion that leads to their downfall.

Varsouviana (polka music)

This music plays repeatedly in Blanche’s mind, especially in moments of stress or trauma; Symbolizes Blanche’s haunting memory of her young husband’s suicide.

Mexican vendor cries “Flores para los Muertos” (Flowers for the dead)

Reminds the audience of death and mourning, reinforcing themes of loss, decay, and the death of the old Southern way of life.

The Blue Piano

Symbolizes the city’s vibrancy, passion, and harshness, reflecting the chaotic, restless environment that contrasts with Blanche’s fragile world.

Blanche’s song in Scene 7: “But it wouldn’t be make-believe if you believed in me.”

The lyric reveals Blanche’s desperate need for others’ belief in her illusions, showing how she clings to fantasy as a defense mechanism.

Blanche’s sense of superiority (Anachronism)

Blanche behaves as if she belongs to a refined, aristocratic Southern world; this social order has collapsed post-Civil War; her attitudes clash with the working-class, practical world of Stanley and Stella.

Blanche’s way of dressing and manner of speaking (Anachronism)

Blanche dresses elaborately and speaks in a flowery, refined manner; Her style belongs to a bygone era, making her appear out of place and disconnected.

Stanley overhears Blanche describing him as subhuman and animalistic (Irony)

Blanche is insulting Stanley while Stanley overhears; Stanley knows and uses it against her.Verbal irony (Blanche’s insults) and dramatic irony (Stanley knows and uses it against her).

While Blanche sings and bathes, Stanley tells Stella about Blanche’s disgrace in Laurel (Irony)

The audience sees Blanche’s façade crumbling while Stella and Stanley’s relationship is tested. It heightens suspense and tragic inevitability. Dramatic irony.

“Belle Reve” means “beautiful dream” (Irony)

The estate is lost, a symbol of failed dreams and decay of old Southern gentility, highlighting the central theme of illusion shattered by harsh reality. Situational irony.

Blanche often comments on reliance on “kindness” of strangers (Irony)

Her trust is misplaced, leading to exploitation and downfall; underscores her tragic vulnerability and naivety. dramatic and verbal irony