A Streetcar Named Desire Key Quotes Flashcards
A Streetcar Named Desire
Metaphorical – Blanche’s desires are what brought her to both New Orleans and her lowly state. The streetcar shows that this is inescapable and inevitable, she cannot get rid of her desire/fate
“a street in New Orleans which is named Elysian Fields”
Ironic: New Orleans is a working class area, but the location is named after a Greek mythological idea of the land of the dead, in which heroes are sent. Symbolic resting place that foreshadows Blanche’s looming fate
“White frame” “faded white” “white building” “peculiarly tender blue” “turquoise” “lyricism” “warm breath” Vs. “weathered grey” “dim white” “atmosphere of decay”
Contrast between beauty and disfigurement show how the beauty of the Old South is fading, replaced by the birth of the New South. Oxymoronic phrase “dim white” shows how purity is fading.
“Her appearance is incongruous to this setting”, “she is daintily dressed”, “delicate beauty” and draped in “white”, “moth”, “her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light”
Classism – she’s clearly from upper class society and is disgusted by the diversity of New Orleans. Williams evokes images of purity and fragility within her character, but this juxtaposes the ‘weathered’ and warm depiction of New Orleans emphasising the significance of Blanche’s entrance as she represents the traditional ‘pure’ values of the Old South. Fragile, vulnerable and attracted to danger just like a moth to fire. Moreover, the fragility in Blanche’s pure appearance is tainted by Williams metaphor of her ‘moth-like’ character Here the motif of light starts reflecting the truth and reality of the new south and Blanche’s refusal to accept it. This links to the idea of expressionism vs realism presented in the play, as B. is an expressionist character in a realist play which theatrically puts her out of place and reflects the idea that she does not belong in this new setting of the south.
“They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at – Elysian Fields!”
This quote foreshadows the events of the play. The streetcar represents Blanche’s original choice to follow her desires and then ultimately her lack of control of the predestined ‘streetcar’ destination, Elysian Fields which is the resting ground for heroes in Greek mythology (signifies her as a tragic hero, inevitability, tragedy, Aristotle)
“She’s got the downstairs here and I got the up.”
Represents how Stella has decreased her social status within the class system to “downstairs”
“And turn that over-light off! Turn that off!”
Light metaphorically exposes Blanche’s wrongdoings, so she must avoid it
“I was on the verge of – lunacy”
Structurally, the hyphen reflects Blanche’s awareness of her mental state, but chooses to ignore it
“They’re something like Irish, aren’t they?”
3rd person pronoun highlights the racial divide and her racist generalisations. Reflects her snobbish façade and her desperate desire to cling onto those outdated perception of the world and social hierarchy
“Stanley throws the screen door of the kitchen open and comes in.”
Dominant and aggressive. In fact, throughout the play most stage directions associated with Stanley are somewhat violent. Important here is the way in which Stanley does not simply open the door but throws it open. All of his movements seem to exude aggression and power.
“Blanche is bathing”
Her frequent baths symbolise her yearning from emotional cleansing and her Southern Belle characteristics
“I have a lawyer acquaintance who will study these out.”
To an extent, Stanley here is less powerful as he needs to ask for help to understand the documents, showing his lack of intelligence. This reveals his façade of wisdom and knowledge which appears to be false, shown through the way in which he speaks (colloquial and comfortable manner) in comparison to Blanche’s refined language
“the blue piano sounds louder”
Plastic theatre symbolises Blanche’s heightened emotional damage
“Stanley gives a loud whack of his hand on her thigh”
Sexual, physical aggression present in their relationship, showing possessive behaviour
“Lunacy, absolute lunacy” vs “There’s nothing to be scared of. They’re crazy about each other”
Blanche is not used to Stanley’s violence and is shocked, however, no one else around her seems as terrified as she does. Mitch’s dismissal of the events reflects the idea that violence is an everyday part of the society in Elysian fields. This also provides more evidence to support the idea that their relationship is so turbulent that violence is inevitable.
