A Streetcar Named Desire and Duchess of Malfi Flashcards
“Elysian Fields”
Final resting place of the dead
“heaves the package” “red-stained package” (Scene 1)
Stage directions about Stanley - masculinity
“her appearance is incongruous to this setting” (scene 1)
about Blanche - alienation, outsider
“daintily dressed in a white suit” “ear-rings of pearl” (scene 1)
Blanche - Southern Belle, beauty, outsider
“her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light” (scene 1)
Blanche - beauty
“Belle Reve”
Beautiful dream
“and turn that over-light off” (scene 1)
Blanche - light imagery
“you haven’t said a word to me” “you haven’t given me a chance to, honey” (scene 1)
Blanche, Stella - sister dynamic
“I was on the verge of - lunacy, almost!” (scene 1)
Blanche
“you haven’t said a word about my appearance” (scene 1)
Blanche - self-conscious, needs compliments, beauty all she has
“as plump as a little partridge” (scene 1)
Blanche - demeaning, harsh
“will it be decent?” (scene 1)
Blanche - link to desire, gentlemen or not
“Blue piano” (scene 1)
nervous, anxiety, trauma
“animal joy in his being is implicit in all his movements and attitudes” “power and pride of a richly feathered male bird among hens” “gaudy seed-bearer” “territory” (scene 1)
about Stanley - physical, masculine, not intellectual, compared to an animal
“her little weakness” (scene 2)
Stella - about Blanche
“what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa” (scene 2)
Stanley - relationships
“feathers and furs” “costume jewellery” “bracelets of solid gold” “a crown for an empress” (scene 2)
Stanley - appearance, beauty
“red satin robe” (scene 2)
Blanche - lust, desire
“a little bit on the primitive side” (scene 2)
Blanche - about Stanley
“raw colours of childhood’s spectrum” “coloured shirts” (scene 3)
“whiskey bottles” (scene 3)
masculine, strong
“Seven-card stud” (scene 3)
deception, bluffing
“a loud whack of his hand on her thigh” (scene 3)
harsh, brutality, physical
“pink silk brassiere and white skirt in the light” (scene 3)
feminine, under the spotlight, beauty
“sorrow makes for sincerity” (scene 3)
Blanche - forced intimacy
“little coloured paper lantern” (scene 3)
light imagery
“i can’t stand a naked light-bulb, any more than i can a rude remark or vulgar action” (scene 3)
“there is the sound of a blow” (scene 3)
abuse, violence (offstage)
“Stell-lahhhhh!” (scene 3)
Stanley
“her hair loose about her throat and shoulders” (scene 3)
Stella - angelic
“low, animal moans” (scene 3)
“her face is serene” “narcotized tranquility”
Stella - Virgin Mary, angelic, numbed, empty
