A Streetcar Named Desire

Question 1

Stella and Stanley

Answer 1

• financially and sexually dependent (something that happen between a man and a woman makes everything go away)
• she is dismissive, silences the brutality of her marriage and she chooses the illusion that the stability of her marriage is more important than its brutal reality
• Steve and Eunice (tolerance and normalcy of violence in relationships)
• she is financially trapped
• she has conformed to the social values of a wife
• she described Stanley as being “as good as a lamb” after he hits her

Question 2

Stanley

Answer 2

• he uses sex as power (abusive behaviour in scene 4)
• Stanley raping Blanche
• enables him to assert his dominance towards Blanche and Stella and keep them in submissive and subordinate position
• embodies the New America: the working class
• he resents the Old South values and in turn Blanche for being socially superior to him leading to her eventual downfall (rape)
• intense masculine, virile and confident persona
• “I am king around here, don’t forget it”

Question 3

Mitch

Answer 3

• could be described as socially marginalised, due to his attachement/relationship with his mother, which portrays him as sensitive, caring and gentle
• doesn’t embody the steortypical virile masculinity – contrasts with Stanley
• when he discovers Blanche’s promiscuous past, he rejects and shames her: “you are not clean enough”
• judges Blanche, Mitch’s reaction to Blanche’s truth/to herself breaks her further

Question 4

Illusion and Deception

Answer 4

• Blanche wears white to present herself as innocent and pure
• she highlights her social class (ex: pearls)
• Blanche’s biggest flaw is her inability to face up to her own reality, in particular her sexual self, as represented by the concept of desire which in part inevitably leads to her destruction
• The idea that Blanche was not sexually desired has led to her sexual self-destruction and being overly flirtation to compensate her lack of sexual desire
• she entraps herself in her own illusion as an escape from reality
• after the loss of belle reve and her rejection from laurel she becomes marginalised

Question 5

“Depending on the kindness of others”

Answer 5

despite the fact that Blanche is being institutionalised for insanity
- blanche’s vision is “buried in a serene state at sea”
- she sees death as a release and escape (water motif she will cleansed and pure)
- distortion of the varsouviana mirrors her mental instability
- she has succumbed to the internal and external pressure
- blanche’s vulnerability leads to the audience’s compassion

Question 6

Cat sreeching

Answer 6

• The cat screeching is a representation of Blanche’s uneasiness (scene 1)
• externalisation of her mental state

Question 7

The locomotive

Answer 7

• “the sound of it turns into a roar of an approaching locomotive.”
• use of dramatic irony creates tension
• foreshadows that something malicious is about to happen between Stanley and Blanche.
• the sound effect hides the noise of Stanley moving progressively closer to Blanche
• locomotive is powerful, symbol of powerful emotions

Question 8

Polka music

Answer 8

This polka music is played throughout the play with varying degrees of intensity – it is used as a device in order to emphasise and highlight Blanche’s thoughts and add to her memories of her dead lover. When Blanche had danced with Allan (just before he committed suicide) they danced to this music
- in the background for a lot of the scenes to do with Blanche too, as if to subtly state to the audience that the memory of Allan is with her everywhere, always in the back of her mind. This is all played to the audience to give them the effect of being inside Blanche’s mind, as if they can hear what she is feeling.
- she still feels guilty

Question 9

social class

Answer 9

• Blanche is wearing she is incongrous to her setting
• the men at poker are wearing “white, blue, red and purple tanks”
• difference in social and power dynamics”
• the bold and loud colours overshadow Blanche’s end of old south
• new America (the American flag)
• pearls she is a reminder of the disparity between two social classes
• reponds to eunice with monosyllabic words because she looks down on her

Question 10

Tennesse Williams uses detailed stage directions with strong sensory imagery

Answer 10

the background sounds of tamale vendors and flower sellers
the roar of locomotives.
These elements all help create a vibrant and often threatening sense of place. Colour imagery in Blanche and Stanley’s clothing highlights differences between themes and intensifies a sense of apprehension, as these two directly oppose each other

Question 11

The Old vs New South:

Answer 11

Clinging on the past helps her shield herself from the harsh reality that she is no longer a Southern Belle and that the Old South is disappearing. This is seen through her wardrobe and language. Blanche decides to dress in white, with pearls to demonstrate her social class and separate herself from the others.
- it constrats Stanley’s blue denim jeans: he is from the working class
- a source of conflict between the two

Question 12

illusion and the guilt of her husband’s death + tenesse Williams has compassion and doesn’t condemn deception and points out the society’s cruelty towards those that do

Answer 12

Blanche is haunted by the death of her husband and she continually seeks to suppress these memories by constructing a world of fantasy and illusion for herself. her clothes reflect the glamorous style and comfort of the white South rather than her present situation
The play points to the cruelty of a society that treats those who are mentally unstable as worthy only of further isolation and exclusion

Question 13

The Rape Scene:

Answer 13

The walls of the apartment “become transparent” and a violent exterior world merges terrifyingly with a threatening interior one

Question 14

blue piano

Answer 14

Throughout the play, the blue piano appears when Blanche is talking about the loss of her family and Belle Reve, but it is also present when kissing the Young Man
The blue piano represents her longing for love which the adjective blue already suggests
It describes Blanche’s emotions and her need/lack of companionship and love
The blue piano is heard when Blanche tries to get in touch with Shep Huntleigh
It is heard when Mitch said that he will not marry her
“the distant piano is slow and blue”, expressing a melancholic situation. Her hopes of finding love in New Orleans are crushed, and her loneliness resurfaces in a slow and grievous fashion.

Question 15

Tamale vendor

Answer 15

Red hot” contributes to the steamy atmosphere, realism, chaos, and maybe even a phallic symbol portraying the sexual tension in the play between the characters
‘red hots! Red hots!’: The colour red symbolises the passion and desire which is demonstrated by Blanche as she desires to be loved and has a passion for men. The red may also be a warning as the ‘red hots’ is in anticipation of the poker night scene in which men violence dominates.It adds realism to the play

Question 16

doctor

Answer 16

firstly appears as heartless but he offers Blanche his jacket. He portrays how Blanche always accepts the support of others - she lives by it. He could be possibly a representation of her saviour which once again shows that Blanche’s happiness depends on men

Question 17

The blind Mexican woman:

Answer 17

an ominous presence reminding Blanche of death when she cries out selling her flowers for the dead. It could foreshadow the rape scene, a reminder that death follows Blanche. She is a reminder of the multiculturalism in Elysian Fields

Question 18

strettcar synopsis

Answer 18

A Streetcar Named Desire recounts the story of Blanche Dubois, a fallen Southern Belle, who moves in with her younger sister and her brutish husband Stanley in the multicultural neighbourhhod of Eysian Fields, New Orleans. Blanche’s promiscuous past, fragile mental state and desire for love leads her to be the inevitable victim of the harsh reality of a male-dominated society.

Question 19

The Victorian Social Conventions;

Answer 19

The societal conventions represent an obstacle to Lucy’s ability to gain independence and freedom.
The motif of indoors versus the outdoors are used to reflect the constraining Victorian ideals set on Lucy which prevent her from expressing her desires and ideas freely
The body must be hidden, a thing of which one should feel ashamed (When Emerson speaks the word “stomach” it was considered as vulgar and inappropriate)
passions must be controlled and regulated by rules tied to class and gender.
Lucy has to overcome these conventions if she is to allow herself to love George

Question 20

an example of victorian ideals preventing her from experiencing new ideas

Answer 20

Despite arriving in Italy, the pension in which Lucy and Charlotte are staying is described as a typical British room, with a portrait of Queen Victoria “heavily framed”. This simple description emphasises the omnipresence of the Victorian societal conventions.
The Victorian ideals and social conventions seemed to have followed Lucy to Italy, she finds herself within the same and familiar environment as she was in England.
The Victorian social conventions are preserved and protected, and the pension prevents Lucy as well as the guests from being exposed to new and different Italien social conventions
E.M Foster uses the Bertollini pension as a reminder of the Victorian conventions that prevent Lucy from experiencing new ideas and think freely

Question 21

Charlotte

Answer 21

Charlotte is a representation of the Old Victorian ideals
She represses Lucy and prevents her from gaining freedom and independence
Charlotte clouds Lucy’s ability to think freely
“She fastened the window shutters” – the recurring motif of the outdoors is seen, a representation of imprisonment
“It gave Lucy the sensation of a fog, and when she reached her own room she opened the window and breathed the clean night air.”
Fog conveys confusion and the blurring of reality (Lucy’s mind is constantly “muddled” when in the presence of Charlotte)
Lucy is described as breathing the clean night air – enables herself a sense of clarity and once agains

Question 22

Cecil Vyse

Answer 22

A satire of an obsession with Victorian Ideals
Lucy is not a rebel at heart, but she is often frustrated by the limitation put on her sex.
Her marriage to Cecil could never be one between equals.
Cecil is not so much in love with Lucy as he is in love with some idea of what a woman is supposed to be.
He constantly compares her to a work of art, which, although it may be flattering, also objectifies her and ignores that she is a living person.
She has no desire to be protected or instructed
Cecil Vyse acts as a metaphorical vise for Lucy slowly entrapping her in a marriage without love and prohibiting her development of a view as well as the exploration of female sexuality
Just like Stanley towards Stella, Cecil Vyse sees Lucy as an object

Question 23

“The curtains at the end of the room parted and revealed a clergyman”

Answer 23

very theatrical and dramatic entry. The theatre diction is seen throughout the novel to reflect the deception and roles and masks certain characters are playing/wearing just like in theatre. This links back to the puritanical social conventions of the Victorian era. This also highlights E.M Foster’s use of humour and comedy to expose the hypocrisy of the the British Victorian society
- link to the scene fo the young italians

Question 24

Light and darkness motif street car

Answer 24

The motif of light and darkness is used throughout the play to help convey the theme of reality vs. the illusions of the characters.

Light illuminates the truth for people to see, whether good or bad. It also implies that reality itself is harsh and ‘merciless’ when it illuminates people for everyone to see and judge.

Darkness conversely, as it blinds character’s (Mitch) from the truth, allows Blanche to indulge in dreams and fantasies as well as providing an escape from the ugly reality of change and time.

Question 25

Synopsis a room

Answer 25

A Room With A View describes the journey of Lucy Honeychurch, a young higher-class woman who travels to Florence, Italy where she meets and falls in love with George Emerson, a lower-class young man, who helps her challenge her views on the world, by pushing her to break free from (the restricting) societal conventions

Question 26

What is the main effect and theme of both novel

Answer 26

Criticises society’s oppressive forces against which women struggle for independence of mind and body.

Question 27

The kissing scene

Answer 27

The link between nature and man is very prominent in this scene
George deciding to suddenly kiss Lucy shows his lack of control due to his strong feelings
The power of nature is too strong to ignore and pushes George to kiss Lucy
Lucy feels the influence of spring – the desire of love, for the first time emphasises the idea that she has been repressing her feelings and desires for a very long time
It is important to note that their kiss occurs outside in nature and outside of the restrictions of society. Once again the motif of views and the outside being associated with progressive and open-minded ideas is further introduced and emphasised
This scene is a celebration of physical love and passion

Question 28

The violets and Charlotte

Answer 28

• colorful colour
• faithfulness and love
• Charlotte stands brown
• Charlotte is described as “brown against the view”, when interrupts George and Lucy kiss – the use of the colour brown conveys the idea of dirt obstructing a view, she also harshly contrats the colour of the purple violets – she represents/symbolises the Victorian social conventions)

Question 29

Light and beauty envelops Lucy

Answer 29

Light is a symbol of joy and happiness
- the power of nature

Question 30

The use of nature and spring to criticize Victorian conventions

Answer 30

Do you suppose there is any difference between spring in nature and spring in man” – he thinks it is ironic that British travellers, riding up the hills to see spring, while they reject spring in human beings
Spring weather and the natural beauty it creates, he wonders why they want to censor/reject the “spring” in human beings, eventhough they celebrate the spring in nature
Spring is the symbol of love, youth, rebirth and transformation

Question 31

The young Italian couple

Answer 31

Chapter 6, the group is on their way to Fiesole – a young Italian couple decides to kiss
Mr.Eager’s annoyance about the innocent kiss emphasises the difference between the English attitudes towards sex, romance, body and the Italien’s view on it
The couple are draw to each other physically and it is warm and natural, they are both unconstrained
It is ironic that Mr.Eager lives in Italy yet he seems as intolerant as ever, and refuses to adapt or understand the Italien views/perspective on love and desire, instead he decides to impose his British views on them and asks for the young Italian woman to leave the carriage

E.M Foster uses Mr.Emerson as a voice to openly critique and condemn the prudish Victorian conventions and their intolerance towards public (or private unless done in a marriage) affection of love and sexual desire. The Victorian society compels to deny one of the basic aspects of human nature: sexual attraction

Question 32

The sacred lake

Answer 32

When they take off their clothes, they strip themselves off the burden of social conventions and their joy in romping around the lake exemplifies the joy found in liberation from the social norms
Water is able to wash away the burden of the Victorian social conventions
George Emerson, Mr.Beebe and Freedy Honeychurch are able to have fun, be careless and found joy and are free of judgement
It is also a celebration of the body and re-birth, as all three men found themselves naked
It symbolises masculine freedom
The scene promotes a garden of Eden type baptism and explores the idea of the natural body being divine
It is used to cleanse or purify the three men raising the idea that nature is religion

Question 33

Lucy and Cecil

Answer 33

Lucy’s love for Cecil Vyse is convenient and conventional: it isn’t based on physical attraction
Cecil is in the same social environment Lucy inhabits, a suitable match for the heroine
Foster presents physical passion, mutual respect and a form of equality as an ideal basis for marriage

Question 34

Dark

Answer 34

When Lucy rejects George and denies her true feelings the “vast armies of the benighted” envelop her, this representation of darkness and war diction shows the destructive nature of repressing true feelings as well as represents Lucy’s internal darkness and confusion

Question 35

Outdoors and indoors

Answer 35

This association indicates the reader that indoor spaces symbolise restrictive social conventions while wide, outdoor spaces and views reflect open-mindedness and freedom
It highlights England’s passage from traditional Victorian society (close-minded) into the more modern Edwardian culture (progressive and open)
The motif of rooms vs views also accentuates the value of freedom from social conventions
Cecil, the embodiment of upper-class snobbery is compared to a “drawing room” with no view