‘A street car named desire’ essays Flashcards
Climactic Scene - Scene 10 Essay Quotes
- “Crumpled white satin evening gown” and “Scuffed silver slippers”
- “Slams the mirror facedown with such violence that the glass cracks”
- “The silk pyjamas I wore on my wedding night!”
New Paragraph - “Casting my pearls before swine”
- “There isn’t a goddamn thing but imagination”
- “Cover the lightbulb with a paper lantern”
New Paragraph - “Don’t come in here!”
- “Caught in a trap”
- “You think I’ll interfere with you? Ha-Ha!” “We’ve had this date from the beginning”
“Crumpled white satin evening gown” and “Scuffed silver slippers”
Costuming
“Crumpled” damaged or used.
“White satin” and “gown” wedding dresses, innocence and purity, high society
“Scuffed” image if wear
Symbolises Blanche’s soiled reputation and damaged good.
Old south crumbling to new south
“Slams the mirror facedown with such violence that the glass cracks”
Costuming
“Face down” Blanche can no longer hide from reality
“Glass cracks” foreshadows the disaster that is about to break Blanche’s will, links to destruction of old south being broken by new
“Violence” also foreshadows fate
“The silk pyjamas I wore on my wedding night!”
Costuming
“Silk pyjamas” sexual undertones that foreshadow
“Wedding night” relates to consummation of marriage, shows Stanley’s intentions and foreshadows rape
“Casting my pearls before swine”
Theme
Metaphor offer something of high value to an animal - old beauty is not appreciated by simple modern man
Builds tension and angers Stanley to foreshadow explosion
“Cover the lightbulb with a paper lantern”
symbolism
Light continues symbol of truth, hiding the reality from others
Also makes staging darker, foreshadowing vulgar deed
“You think I’ll interfere with you? Ha-Ha!”
“We’ve had this date from the beginning”
Offensive mocking tone
Suggests beneath him and unattractive, opposite of dynamic at start of Blanche superior
Them changes mind
Shows inevitability of ending, matching foreshadows
He then rapes and gets off unscathed
New victory over old south
Character Essay Quotes
- “There is something her uncertain manner, as well her white clothes that suggests a moth”
- “I wont be looked at in this merciless glare”
New Paragraph - “You haven’t said a word about my appearance”
- “Yes - clothes are my passion”
New Paragraph - “I know you must have some liquor in the place. Where could it be I wonder?
- “Virgo is the virgin”
- “A hot bath always gives me a brand new outlook on life”
New Paragraph - “Funerals are pretty compared to deaths”
- “Whoever you are - I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”
“There is something about her uncertain manner, as well her white clothes that suggests a moth”
costuming
“Uncertain” out of place there
“White” clean, pure. As audience can’t expect them to stay pure
characterisation
“Moth” self-destructive, invasive pest, that light kills
Audience impression that she is doomed
“I wont be looked at in this merciless glare”
Symbolism
Light symbolises truth.
Blanches awareness of her fragility.
“Merciless glare” describes how unkind light has been to her in the past.
Feel sympathy for her vulnerability.
“You haven’t said a word about my appearance”
characterisation
Desperate need for praise and the high value she places on her appearance.
Audience not sure how to interpret at early stage, either needy or sympathy.
“Yes - clothes are my passion”
Confirms love for style and fashion.
Obsession with appearance, audience can assume her clothes act as disguises to her truths.
Makes audience pay more attention to clothes to understand character.
“I know you must have some liquor in the place. Where could it be I wonder?”
characterisation
Audience sees her lies, becomes more wary of Blanches deceptions.
Also leads audience to why she drinks so much.
“Virgo is the virgin”
Another attempt to uphold innocent lies and fantasy.
Image of innocence and purity she portrays - matches feminine and romantic old south.
“Whoever you are - I have always depended on the kindness of strangers”
“Whoever” suggests desperate and vulnerable nature despite not knowing where she is going.
“Kindness of strangers” due to cruelty of her family and Stanley, her desperation is used to show she is clearly alone which William’s used to justify and forgive sins.
