A Streetcar Named Desire Flashcards

Tennessee Williams: "Wounded Genius" and A Streetcar Named Desire

Background

• Tennessee Williams was considered a "wounded genius" due to:
  • Personal trauma.
  • Mental illness.
  • Family conflicts.
  • Addiction.
  • Social alienation.
• His life experiences deeply influenced his writing:
  • Sister's mental illness and institutionalization.
  • Personal struggles with depression.
  • Identity issues.

Connection to the Play

• A Streetcar Named Desire explores:
  • Mental fragility.
  • Desire.
  • Illusion vs. reality.
  • Harshness of the modern world.
• These themes are drawn from Williams’s own experiences of vulnerability and emotional pain.
• Blanche DuBois embodies the "wounded genius" archetype:
  • Fragile and haunted by her past.
  • Trapped between illusion and reality.
  • Seeking escape and kindness in a cruel environment.

Literary Terms and Application

1. Irony (Inconsistency between appearance and reality)

• Types of Irony:
  • Verbal Irony: Saying the opposite of what is meant.
    • Example: Sarcasm, such as saying "I see you’ve cleaned up!" in a messy room.
  • Situational (Structural) Irony: When an outcome contradicts expectations.
    • Example: A thief's house being robbed while they are robbing someone else’s home.
  • Dramatic Irony: When the audience knows something a character does not.
    • Example: Romeo believing Juliet is dead, while the audience knows she is only sleeping.

2. Anachronism

• Definition: Something or someone out of place chronologically or better suited to an earlier time.
• Application in Streetcar:
  • Blanche’s behavior, speech, and values are anachronistic.
  • She represents the old Southern aristocracy in a working-class, modern New Orleans.
  • This clash highlights the tension between past and present.

3. Expressionism

• Definition: Uses light, music, setting, sound, and sometimes dance to communicate emotional truth beyond dialogue.
• Effect: The audience sees and feels what characters experience on a psychological level.

4. Epigraph

• The play’s title, A Streetcar Named Desire, is an epigraph.
• It refers to a literal streetcar line.
• Metaphorically represents the characters’ journey driven by desire and passion, leading to their downfall.

Literary Devices: Analysis & Impact

Expressionism

1. Varsouviana (polka music)

• Situation/Context: Plays repeatedly in Blanche’s mind, especially in moments of stress or trauma.
• Meaning/Symbolism: Symbolizes Blanche’s haunting memory of her young husband’s suicide, which deeply traumatized her and triggered her mental decline.
• Impact: Externalizes Blanche’s internal emotional state, linking sound to psychological distress, increasing tension and sympathy.

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

• Situation/Context: The vendor’s cry occurs outside during the play’s scenes.
• Meaning/Symbolism: Reminds the audience of death and mourning, reinforcing themes of loss, decay, and the death of the old Southern way of life.
• Impact: Acts as a grim, external reminder of fate and mortality that shadows the characters, especially Blanche.

3. The Blue Piano

• Situation/Context: A recurring background sound in New Orleans, heard throughout the play.
• Meaning/Symbolism: Symbolizes the city’s vibrancy, passion, and harshness. It reflects the chaotic, restless environment that contrasts with Blanche’s fragile world.
• Impact: Establishes mood and atmosphere; represents the vitality and brutality of life Stanley embodies.

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

• Situation/Context: Blanche sings this line while bathing.
• Meaning/Symbolism: Reveals Blanche’s desperate need for others’ belief in her illusions, showing how she clings to fantasy as a defense mechanism.
• Impact: Highlights her fragility and self-delusion, underscoring the theme of illusion vs. reality.

Anachronism

5. Blanche’s sense of superiority

• Explanation: Blanche behaves as if she belongs to a refined, aristocratic Southern world.
• Why it’s anachronistic: This social order has collapsed post-Civil War; her attitudes clash with the working-class, practical world of Stanley and Stella.
• Impact: Creates conflict between characters; underscores theme of old vs. new South.

6. Blanche’s way of dressing and manner of speaking

• Explanation: Blanche dresses elaborately and speaks in a flowery, refined manner.
• Why it’s anachronistic: Her style belongs to a bygone era, making her appear out of place and disconnected.
• Impact: Emphasizes her tragic inability to adapt; marks her as a relic of the past.

Irony (verbal, dramatic, situational)

7. Stanley overhears Blanche describing him as subhuman and animalistic

• Type: Verbal irony (Blanche’s insults) and dramatic irony (Stanley knows and uses it against her).
• Impact: Increases tension and conflict; reveals deep class and personality clashes.

8. While Blanche sings and bathes, Stanley tells Stella about Blanche’s disgrace in Laurel

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

9. “Belle Reve” means “beautiful dream”

• Type: Situational irony.
• Impact: 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.

10. Blanche often comments on reliance on “kindness” of strangers

• Type: Dramatic and verbal irony.
• Impact: Her trust is misplaced, leading to exploitation and downfall; underscores her tragic vulnerability and naivety.

Summary for AP Passage Analysis

• Tennessee Williams’s background as a “wounded genius” informs the emotional depth and themes of fragility and trauma.
• Expressionism is key in conveying the characters’ inner emotions through music and sensory detail.
• Anachronism highlights Blanche’s tragic displacement in a changing society.
• Various ironies expose contradictions between appearance and reality, driving the conflict and tragic tension.
• These devices enhance the play’s exploration of illusion vs. reality, the destruction of old values, and the harshness of human desire.