A Streetcar Named Desire

Question 1

Authorial context

Answer 1

Tennessee Williams 1911-1983
Difficult personal life- sister with schizophrenia- problems with alcohol and drugs- homosexuality
Boyfriend Pancho used to colour the character of Stanley.

Question 2

Historical context

Answer 2

Streetcar first performed in 1947
Set in 1940s America
New Age vs Old World

Question 3

Cultural context

Answer 3

New Orleans has the oldest operating street railway in the US.
Desire line established in 1920 but replaced in 1948 by bus.
The sounds become a part of everyday life

Question 4

Social context

Answer 4

Stanley represents the American Dream
Blanche represents the Old South.
Class and race distinctions not important within New Orleans, which is why Stella and Stanley seem to make a fine match.
Civil war after the abolition of slavery.
Southern whites wanted to revert back to old way of living

Question 5

Geographical context

Answer 5

Born in Mississippi in the Deep South of America.
Play set in the French quarter- influenced by Spanish architecture.

Question 6

Gender roles

Answer 6

In the South, social status derived from the family.
Role of the husband to provide and protect
Role of the Wife to nurture the family.
Southern ladies seen as ‘Belles’- delicate and fragile.

Question 7

Theatre styles

Answer 7

Realism
Romanticism
Epic Theatre
Plastic Theatre

Question 8

STAGE DIRECTIONS “Stanley carries his bowling jacket and a red-stained package from a butcher’s”

Answer 8

Stanley’s outfit evocative of the working class and the new world.
Working class ‘American Dream’
Foreshadowing.

Question 9

“Then put the bottle away so she wont be tempted… I want you to look at my figure”

Answer 9

Appearance vs reality of her alcoholism
Physically and mentally stuck in the past.

Question 10

Melodrama

Answer 10

An exaggerated drama, often dealing with sensational or romantic topics.

Question 11

Van Gogh The Night Café

Answer 11

The Night Café
-red and green represents the “terrible human passions”
-harshness- Stanley’s brutal directness
-a personal is drawn to ‘go mad’
-‘yanked into the painting’, a feeling of no escape.

Question 12

STAGE DIRECTIONS “They are men at the peak of their physical manhood, as coarse and direct and powerful as the primary colours”

Answer 12

The layers of harsh colours reflect the male dominance.
The men clearly overpowering Stella and Blanche

Question 13

“I bought this adorable little coloured paper lantern at a Chinese shop on Bourbon. Put it over the light bulb! Will you, please?

Answer 13

Blanche cannot stand vulnerability
The light is representative of her true self.

Question 14

“You look fresh as a Daisy”
“One that’s been picked a few days”

Answer 14

Stella and Blanche
Blanche past her prime of being a Southern Belle
Time is slipping from her

Question 15

STAGE DIRECTIONS “Stanley gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh”

Answer 15

The first act of aggression
Foreshadows physical violence against women in the scene and throughout the play

Question 16

“I cant stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or vulgar action”

Answer 16

Blanche cannot stand to see what she has become
Old traditional values stand in regards to politeness.
Refuses exposure

Question 17

STAGE DIRECTIONS “They come together with low animal moans”

Answer 17

Zoomorphism
The romanticism of Stella and Stanley’s relationship
Raw connection.

Question 18

“There’s so much-confusion in the world…Thank you for being so kind”

Answer 18

Ironic- Blanche has had a complete lack of kindness for Stella throughout the play so far.
Mitch has become a beacon of hope
Blanche proving that she has such a fragile mentality that she will find comfort in anyone.

Question 19

STAGE DIRECTIONS “STANLEY hesitates, licking his lips. then suddenly he turns stealthily about and withdraws through the front door”

Answer 19

Unnerving and raw
Establishes Stanley as predatory
Hunting for prey

Question 20

Quote to show Blanches loneliness?

Answer 20

“You left! I stayed and struggled!”
“You’re all I have in this world”

Question 21

Clothing symbolism for Blanche

Answer 21

Often wearing white clothing to show her desperation for purity. Her clothes being costume shows loss of status.

Question 22

Light symbolism for Blanche

Answer 22

Blanche constantly avoids the light so as to not expose her true self.

Question 23

Symbolism of the name Blanche

Answer 23

Blanche means white, symbolic of her delicate persona. It is a juxtaposition of her real identity.

Question 24

Symbolism of Blanche bathing

Answer 24

Constantly trying to erase her past. Link to her alleged prostitution.

Question 25

Felicia Hardison Londre criticism

Answer 25

“She is an artist who dramatizes herself as if she were a stage character”
“Mitch as her enthralled audience”

Question 26

Camille Saunders criticism

Answer 26

“Blanche shows very little weakness throughout the play, but rather is broken by her past”
“The only thing she succumbs to is her inescapable fate”