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.