A Streetcar Named Desire

Question 1

When was ‘Streetcar’ set?

Answer 1

Late 1940s, Post World War II

Question 2

What are the main settings of the novel?

Answer 2

1. French Quarter of New Orleans
2. Elysian Fields
3. Belle Reve
4. Stella and Stanley’s Apartment

Question 3

What are the EIGHT contexts of ‘Streetcar’?

Answer 3

1. Williams’s own life
2. New Orleans
3. The Deep South
4. American Values
5. Napoleonic Code
6. Huey Long
7. Abolishment of Slavery
8. The American Dream

Question 4

What is meant by ‘Williams’s own life’?

Answer 4

• 1931 Williams had a nervous breakdown, and in 1937 his sister Rose was sent to a mental institution – like Blanche – and was lobotomised.
• Suffering from depression, he resorted to heavy drinking (like Blanche) and drugs.
• Lifelong fear of death, especially death from cancer

Question 5

What is the context behind ‘New Orleans’?

Answer 5

• Known as an acceptinf area, black and white lived alongside each other
• Southern state in the USA, whose legal system was influenced by the Napoleonic code
• Known as a free-and-easy sort of place, with a lot of music (as in this play), especially jazz, bars and gambling

Question 6

What is the context behind ‘The Deep South’?

Answer 6

• Streetcar serves as a requiem (token of rememberance for the deep south)
• DuBois family’s wealth would probably have been built on slavery, abolished in the South in 1865.
• Represents the decline of the aristocratic families traditionally associated with the South.
• Women gained the right to vote in 1920 and the old Southern tradition of an agrarian family aristocracy ruled by men, started to come to an end.

Question 7

What is the context behind ‘American Values’?

Answer 7

• USA prided itself on opening its arms to immigrants from all over the world, including Poland, but Blanche still calls Stanley a ‘Polack’.
• Stanley feels he is all-American, and that America is ‘the greatest country on earth’.
• Stanley is an example of a go-getting, competitive working-class man, prepared to crush others (like Blanche) to get what he wants.

Question 8

What is the context behind ‘The Napoleonic Code’

Answer 8

• A set of laws devised by the French
• Napoleonic Code made the authority of men over their families stronger, deprived women of any individual rights, and reduced the rights of illegitimate children.

Question 9

What is the context behind ‘Huey Long’?

Answer 9

• He said “Every man is a king” - Stanley agreed with his ideals, bodying his and Napoleon’s perspective.

Question 10

What is the context behind ‘The Abolishment of Slavery’

Answer 10

• Slavery was abolished in 1865

Question 11

What is the context behind ‘The American Dream’?

Answer 11

• Based on the principles of endless opportunity and second chances for all, the hope freedom from their past mistakes.
• Stanley – Constantly wanting more, that’s why he immigrated to America, stereotypical man.
• Women aren’t able to achieve The American Dream due to the Napoleonic Code, represented through the animalistic personality of Stanley Kowalski and his brutish behaviour towards Stella and Blanche Dubois.

Question 12

What are the FIVE themes in ‘Streetcar’?

Answer 12

1. Dependence on Men
2. Madness
3. Death
4. Gender
5. Social Class

Question 13

How does ‘Dependence on Men’ link to ‘Streetcar’?

Answer 13

• Streetcar presents a sharp critique of the way the institutions and attitudes of post-war America placed restrictions on women’s lives.
• Williams uses Blanche’s and Stella’s dependence on men to expose and critique the treatment of women during the transition from the old to the new South.
• Both Blanche and Stella see male companions as their only means to achieve happiness, and they depend on men for both their sustenance and their self-image. Blanche recognises that Stella could be happier without her physically abusive husband, Stanley.

Question 14

How does ‘Madness’ link to ‘Streetcar’?

Answer 14

• Tennessee Williams’ sister Rose was the recipient of a lobotomy, the theme of madness running through Streetcar in the form of Blanche’s neurosis and self-delusion may reveal some of the playwright’s fears about the instability of his own mental life.

Question 15

How does ‘Death’ link to ‘Streetcar’?

Answer 15

• Blanche’s fear of death manifests itself in her fears of agine
• Williams frequently suggests that her character’s sexual past is the reason for her downfall. Obvious connections to her arriving on the streetcar named Desire to Elysian Fields and Cemeteries. Williams suggests that sexual desire directly leads to death.

Question 16

How does ‘Gender’ link to ‘Streetcar’?

Answer 16

• Female protagonists of the play, Blanche DuBois and Stella Kowalski, serve to support the theory of female stereotypes. Through their thoughts,speech, and actions we are able to see how gender stereotyping works in the play.
• Patriarchal society - Men could treat women however they wanted with no repercussions, juxtaposed by the introduction of the new woman in the 1920s.
• Napoleon Bonaparte - The Napoleonic Code made the authority of men over their families stronger, deprived women of any individual rights, and reduced the rights of illegitimate children. All male citizens were also granted equal rights under the law and the right to religious dissent, but colonial slavery was reintroduced.

Question 17

How does ‘Social Class’ link to ‘Streetcar’?

Answer 17

• Represented in various ways through characters, symbols, ideas, and language. Characters such as Blanche is
  used to represent the aristocracy.
• Stella, Mitch, and Stanley are used to represent the working class.
• Blanche is known as a Southern Belle- rich, beautiful, etc.
• The American South - An area in South America that opposed the abolishment of slavery (to keep slaves).

Question 18

What are the THREE symbols in ‘Streetcar’?

Answer 18

1. The Streetcar
2. Music
3. Bathing

Question 19

What does ‘The Streetcar’ symbolise in ‘Streetcar’?

Answer 19

• To get to Stella’s apartment in New Orleans, Blanche must transfer from a streetcar called Desire to one called Cemeteries in order to get to the slum known as Elysian Fields, introducing the themes of death and desire that resonate within the play.
• The streetcars add to the mood of the play, a continuous but subtle reminder of the play’s setting.

Question 20

What does ‘Music’ symbolise in ‘Streetcar’?

Answer 20

• Two kinds of music that dominate – what Williams called “blue piano” - the blues music first associated with Southern Blacks, later to develop into the music of New Orleans’ bars and night clubs, suggesting unrestrained physical pleasure, animal strength and vitality.
• Appears at significant emotional moments in the play.
• The other type is – The Polka Music, also known as Varsouviana, heard only by Blanche, signals crucial moments in the development of the plot.

Question 21

What ‘Bathing’ symbolise in ‘Streetcar’

Answer 21

• Blanche bathes frequently – she is obsessed with trying to clean herself which could be in reference to her sexual promiscuity and bathing is her character’s attempt to cleanse herself of her past.
• Blanche also uses the bathroom to escape the apartment and to escape reality at the same time.
• She wants to be “buried in a clean white sack” at sea – her obsession with cleanliness links to death
• Stanley also turns to water to undo a misdeed when she showers after beating Stella: The shower serves to soothe his violent temper; afterwards he leaves the bathroom feeling remorseful and calls out longingly for his wife.

Question 22

What are the FOUR main settings of the novel?

Answer 22

1. French Quarter of New Orleans
2. Elysian Fields
3. Belle Reve
4. Stella and Stanley’s Apartment