A Streetcar Named Desire

Question 1

What are the themes in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’?

Answer 1

Desire
Death
Power
Conflict
Gender roles
Old v. New

Question 2

What is the Napoleonic Code?

Answer 2

The belief that whatever belongs to the wife also belongs to the husband e.g Stanley believes Belle Reve was part of his inheritance through marriage to Stella.
links to feminist reading

Question 3

What does Belle Reve mean? What does it refer to in the play?

Answer 3

Belle Reve means ‘beautiful dream’ and refers to the American Dream that was the Dubois early life

Question 4

Tennessee Williams

Answer 4

‘We are all savages at heart’

Question 5

Tennessee Williams

Answer 5

‘One major theme for my work is the destructive power of society on the sensitive non-conformist individual’

Question 6

Samuel Tapp

Answer 6

‘Blanche Dubois is a victim of the mythology of the Southern Belle’

Question 7

Eliza Kazan

Answer 7

‘Stella is a refined girl who has found a kind of salvation or realisation, but at a terrific price’

Question 8

Alvin B Kernan

Answer 8

‘Stanley is a realist who trusts only his own senses… he is easily swayed by rhinestones, believing them to be diamonds and easily angered’