context

Question 1

what was the ‘declining aristocracy’ of the south caused by?

Answer 1

the fact it never fully recovered economically from the civil war

Question 2

what were working class men empowered by?

Answer 2

growth of the trade unions

Question 3

what does Belle Reve mean in french?

Answer 3

beautiful dream

Question 4

why is the poker game a metaphor for the play?

Answer 4

it revolves around hiding your emotions

Question 5

What was Elysian Fields in Greek Mythology?

Answer 5

heaven/paradise

Question 6

What was an earlier version of the play called?

Answer 6

the moth

Question 7

what biblical reference does Blanches red robe have?

Answer 7

the scarlet woman (prostitute)

Question 8

why would the idea of mixing with ‘polack’ blood repulsed Blanche so much at that time in america?

Answer 8

america was obsessed with eugenics

Question 9

1951 film censorship laws meant was happened differently at the end of the film version?

Answer 9

stella left stanley - he had to be punished for being a rapist

Question 10

what year were the confederates beat?

Answer 10

1865

Question 11

what year was the play published?

Answer 11

1945

Question 12

the south continued to be romanticized in the arts, give a film example

Answer 12

gone with the wind

Question 13

what was southern gothic about?

Answer 13

favoured individuality, the eccentric and outcasts

Question 14

When Williams lived in new orleans what did he write an essay about?

Answer 14

desire and cemmetries streetcars

Question 15

Blanches fear of death could be linked to Williams…

Answer 15

crippling hypochondria

Question 16

which of the 3 unities of drama did Williams break?

Answer 16

unity of time - set over more than 24 hours

Question 17

what does each scence end with?

Answer 17

a tableau vivant

Question 18

williams was a film critic at his high school, how can this influence be seen in his plays?

Answer 18

many short scenes of violence and passion - 15 of his plays became films

Question 19

how did the 3rd edition show how pivotal the poker scence was to the action?

Answer 19

the play was named ‘the poker party’

Question 20

the ritual of bathing is seen in many great tragedies - name one famous Shakespearean one

Answer 20

macbeth - ‘will all great Neptune’s ocean was this blood clean from my hands’

Question 21

what element of film did glass menagerie use in its scenes?

Answer 21

screen images and titles

Question 22

what extra character did the 2009 African-american production include?

Answer 22

Allan

Question 23

what would be a noticeable difference between modern and contemporary audiences reactions to Blanche being raped?

Answer 23

early audiences laughed

Question 24

women were being held to high standards about their looks because of what cultural phenomenon?

Answer 24

the rise of the hollywood woman