Analysis Flashcards
Gender and attitude towards sexual relationships
-Attractive, expected to cultivate beauty
-upper class ladies of society be subservient
-expected to marry respectable young men
- having chaste demeanour, but also flirtatious
Blanche’s attempts to maintain a Southern Belle image contributes to her vulnerability, and, thus, her tragedy. Mitch’s reaction of his offer of marriage is crucial to this
Nostalgia for pre-American Civil War south:
large white houses; cavalier gentlemen; cultured, literate people who enjoyed music and literature; stable economy based on cotton. But this ignored Slavery, racism and violent oppression
Old south vs New South
Stanley = New South
Blanche = Old South
Stella = adaptation to New South
“But maybe he’s what we need to mix our blood with now that we’ve lost Belle Reve to protect us”
Literary genre of southern gothic
Lurid reflections appear on the walls around Blanche. The shadows are of a grotesque and menacing form…
The night is filled with inhuman voices like cries in the jungle. The shadows and lurid reflections move sinuously as flames along the wall spaces
Gender & Power
- Misogynistic America where women exists to serve men
- Explains Blanche’s dependence on the attention of men for self validation
“Men don’t even acknowledge your existence unless they’re making love to you.” - Blanche, Scene 5
“Law that says the lady mush entertain the gentlemen - or no dice!” - Blanche, Scene 6
Dramaturgy
- Blanche excels at discourse
- Stanley ultimately wins the argument through physical action (paralinguistic expression), where Blanche is powerless
Gender & Power , Dramaturgy
- Audience imagines the slap, which makes it more graphic and impactful
- Men dominate women through physical means
[Stella backs out of sight. Stanley advances and disappears. There is a sound of a blow.]
Past vs Future
- Even Blanche recognises the change in social structure. However, her pride and arrogance as a Southern Belle still remains.
“Maybe he’s what we need to mix with our blood now that we’ve lost Belle Reve.” - Blanche, Scene 2
Realism vs. Fantasy, Symbolism
- When Blanche arrived, she put on nothing but a facade.
- Here Stanley physically retrieves the symbol for fantasy and returns it to her. Stanley symbolises reality and snaps Blanche out of her fantasy
- Social realism triumphs over fantasy
“You left nothing here but empty perfume bottle - unless it’s the paper lantern. You want the lantern?” - Stanley, Scene 11
Realism vs. Fantasy
- The web of lies Blanche spins is the only thing protecting her from the blinding truth that is her past
- She deliberately live in her own manufactured truth
“I don’t want realism. I want magic!” - Blanche, Scene 9
Varsouviana Polka
- Symbolises Blanche’s past with her ex-husband
- It returns to haunt her at various parts of the play
Varsouviana Polka
- Symbolises Blanche’s past with her ex-husband
- It returns to haunt her at various parts of the play
Hegemonic masculinity
the prevalent view of what it is to be a man
- Stanley shows this by demanding “what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband”
this shows his territorial and possessive nature
Hegemonic femininity
the prevalent view of what it is to be a woman
- the woman has the subservient role within a relationship, they are seen as weak and dependent on men
Diminutive mode of address
Stanley calls Stella “baby” this could perhaps show that she is weak and nothing more than an infant
Realistic/naturalistic speech
Williams uses features such as short or fragmented utterances, ellipsis, elision, dialect and expletives to replicate ‘natural’ speech to create believable characters
Idiolect
- character speech style
Historical context
Williams was affected by the American civil war (as a southerner)
- south suffered economically due to abolition of slavery (Belle Reeve)
Freytag’s pyramid (narrative structure)
- five part dramatic structure that goes from introduction, into the rise to the climax, falling action and finally the resolution (denouement)
- the entire plot is driven by conflict
Aristotle’s catharsis
describes catharsis as the purging of the emotions and pity and fear that is aroused in the viewer of the tragedy
Scene 10 - Blanche is unable to escape the harshness of her life as Stanley “takes a step towards her” she is attacked by both her past and the people in her present life
Speakers acommodation
divergence/convergence
Upwards convergence
Stanley advances his lexicon to assert his dominance over his wife when referring to legal matters (Napoleonic code)
Upwards diveregence
Blanche raises her lexical proficiency to embarrass and belittle Stanley as she has a higher social class
Old money vs New money
Stanley represents the American dream that all men are born equal and can succeed equally, whereas Blanche represents the old world, where class and race are still important issues.
