Analysis

Question 1

Gender and attitude towards sexual relationships

Answer 1

-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

Question 2

Nostalgia for pre-American Civil War south:

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Old south vs New South

Answer 3

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”

Question 4

Literary genre of southern gothic

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Gender & Power

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

Dramaturgy

Answer 6

• Blanche excels at discourse
• Stanley ultimately wins the argument through physical action (paralinguistic expression), where Blanche is powerless

Question 7

Gender & Power , Dramaturgy

Answer 7

• 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.]

Question 8

Past vs Future

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

Realism vs. Fantasy, Symbolism

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

Realism vs. Fantasy

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

Varsouviana Polka

Answer 11

• Symbolises Blanche’s past with her ex-husband
• It returns to haunt her at various parts of the play

Question 12

Varsouviana Polka

Answer 12

• Symbolises Blanche’s past with her ex-husband
• It returns to haunt her at various parts of the play

Question 13

Hegemonic masculinity

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Hegemonic femininity

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Diminutive mode of address

Answer 15

Stanley calls Stella “baby” this could perhaps show that she is weak and nothing more than an infant

Question 16

Realistic/naturalistic speech

Answer 16

Williams uses features such as short or fragmented utterances, ellipsis, elision, dialect and expletives to replicate ‘natural’ speech to create believable characters

Question 17

Idiolect

Answer 17

• character speech style

Question 18

Historical context

Answer 18

Williams was affected by the American civil war (as a southerner)
- south suffered economically due to abolition of slavery (Belle Reeve)

Question 19

Freytag’s pyramid (narrative structure)

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

Aristotle’s catharsis

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Speakers acommodation

Answer 21

divergence/convergence

Question 22

Upwards convergence

Answer 22

Stanley advances his lexicon to assert his dominance over his wife when referring to legal matters (Napoleonic code)

Question 23

Upwards diveregence

Answer 23

Blanche raises her lexical proficiency to embarrass and belittle Stanley as she has a higher social class

Question 24

Old money vs New money

Answer 24

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.