themes

death vs desire

• ASND - inevitably self destructive power of desire

  • blanches hamartia

  • streetcar metaphor

  • blindness motif

  • blanche’s sexuality to mitigate her fear of mortality and preserve her as young

  • death of alan

  • blanches metaphysical death

• TDOM -

  • sexual innuendos

  • body natural prioritised

  • madness in ferdinand - lycanthropy

  • corrosive incestuous desire of ferdinand

outsiders

• ASND - the complete destruction of those who don’t belong

  • “the ravishment of the tender… by the savage & brutal forces of modern society”

  • Stanley as a symbol for modern brutal america

  • radical sexual desire

  • stanley’s social class

  • subversion of outsiders in terms of class

  • mitch as effeminate and outside of hegemonic masculinity

• TDOM - the complete destruction of those who don’t belong

  • radical sexual desire

  • antonio as foil to brothers

  • subversion of social order - duchess and antonio

relationships

• relationships as a source of pain

  • entrapment of stella

  • persecuted marriage tdom

  • lead by desire

  • corrupt & fragmented

violence

justice -

• ASND - an inverted presence of justice or a world completely void of it?

  • restoration of equilibrium - twoness motif

  • blanche as stanley’s antagonist

  • rape as a hellish punishment

  • cyclical return of order

• TSOM - perverted sense of justice/ faltering attempt / no justice found in a meaningless universe

  • Bosola characterised as avenger

  • tragic comedy - mistakes

  • misogynistic control of brothers

masculinity vs femininity

• ASND - femininity as an antagonist to masculinity

  • poker night - primary colours

  • atomizer & paper lanterns

  • costuming

• TDOM

  • mirror - symbol of femininity, entered priv space

madness

suffering

illusion vs reality

• costuming of blanche and duchess - disguise

• light motif in both

• deceptive props of brothers - wax & hand

power