phrases for streetcar context

critiques the limitations that post-war American society imposed on itself

the gender stereotyping that men face is also addressed implicitly

cultural tensions that pervaded the nation after the horrors of WW1

an idealistic and ambitious nation proved its power

to be american is to be powerful

battle between fantasy and reality

aristocratic southern belle

a culture that has unhealthily repressed its connection to primal and natural urges

suppressed desire erupts

Blanche pays for her lust in sanity

Blanch has never reconciled her identity with her desire, divide is too great

each represent values which are antagonistic to the others’ modern success

duping Mitch into playing along with her self-flattering charades

the DuBois’ wealth was built on slavery, links Blanche’s fall to the fall of the Old South and to the exploitative bourgeoises way of life

Stanley as a brutally realist character, who associates women with falseness

drink as a catalyst for conflict and violence

Blanche’s reliance on kindness as small chances for escaping reality

the streetcar as an allegory

the social Darwinism inspiring progression (Old South) replaced by a return to primitive

Blanche approaches the men (poker) with boldness, unnerves Stanley

when women born into such social cultural gentility were shielded from the abrupt, rapid shifts of a multicultural nation

how hard it is to resist moral compromise when all one knows is desperation

multi-faceted characters, who inspire pity and disdain in equal measure

both blanche and stanley ‘desire’ individual power and agency, in a world that rejects or doubts their value

in raping blanche, stanley symbolically lays claim over the socioeconomic status she represents

old confederacy south vs emerging post-war America

confederacy values of racial hierarchy and and aristocratic distinction (OLD)

cultural diversity and social mobility were quickly gaining ground

irony of elysian suggesting harmony, with the clashes of new orleans

divergence in values between stella and blanche

Blanche’s pathological need to disguise her true self in layers

descended into moral vulgarity

Stella as the stewardess of his biological legacy

Stanley cannot fit into the Old South Blanche represents, so instead seeks to destroy it/ lay claim over it/ assert power

the psyche of an entire generation of american men, who had just returned from war, reintegrating into society

entering a changed world, post-war, where women beginning to work would have threatened the already destabilised sense of self many young men had

the impulse to overcompensate and prove their manhood

with every abuse and insult towards Blanche, Stanley seeks to rehabilitate his masculinity

a rapidly changing gender landscape, cultural and ideological shifts

blance as a threat to the Kowalski household

Stanley’s animosity towards Blanche may be motivated by a self-protective instinct

Blanche’s violation of their home is a challenge to his identity

Blanche and Stanley’s relationship is founded on a mutual insecurity about where they each stand in a distorted, post-war socio economic landscape

operating in a state of primal regression, reverting to that of the beast

sees Blanche as possessing a more crucial power, that of socio economic status and intellect, than his masculine physical strength

Blanche moral hypocrisy and idealism threaten his worldview, and to sway Stella - his wife, and Mitch - his friend away from his influence and power

Stella as the fulcrum between two energetic forces: the neurotic excitability of Blanche, and Stanley’s sexual magnetism

a time of such cultural, social and historical upheaval

Stellas pregnancy acts as the ‘clock’ in the play, a ticking time bomb, where as the baby (the future of Stanley and Stella, and the New America) grows, the Old South falls

Mitch first lacks the ability to see through Blanche’s illusion, and later lacks the wisdom and insight to recognise her value