Context Flashcards
Tennesse Williams’ life
- In 1931 Williams had a nervous breakdown, and in 1937 his sister Rose was sent to a mental institution – like Blanche – and was lobotomised.
- Like Blanche’s husband Allan (called ‘a degenerate’), Williams was a practising homosexual at a time when it was still illegal.
- Suffering from depression, he resorted to heavy drinking (like Blanche) and drugs.
- He had a lifelong fear of death, especially death from cancer
New Orleans
- A city in Louisiana, a southern state in the USA, whose legal system was influenced by the Napoleonic code, cited by Stanley.
- Known as something of a cultural melting pot, where in some parts, including the French - Quarter (district), black and white lived alongside each other.
- A ‘streetcar’ (tram) went to an area called Desire, another to Cemeteries; there is also an avenue called Elysian Fields, referring to where the souls of heroes and the virtuous went in Greek mythology.
- Known as a free-and-easy sort of place, with a lot of music (as in this play), especially jazz, bars and gambling – including poker.
- Cultural meeting point
- Reputation of sexual freedom
The South
- The DuBois family’s wealth would probably have been built on slavery, abolished in the South in 1865.
- After the Southern Confederate states lost the Civil War (1861–5), the South became poor and families like the DuBois declined.
- The decline of wealthy (but slave-owning) Southern families was romanticised in literature and the cinema
- Blanche’s refined tastes, including her dislike of vulgarity, reflect the values of the old South.
The Old South
- Southern Confederate States lost the civil war (1860s)- the south became poor, influential families lost their importance-Blanche’s refined tastes reflect the values of the old south
- Wealth built from slavery
- Agricultural base could not compete with industrialisation- decline
- The decline is often romanticised in literature
Literary and theatrical background
- Williams can be seen as part of the ‘Southern Gothic’ movement, characterised by a rich, even grotesque, imagination, and an awareness of being part of a decaying culture.
- Strindberg’s Miss Julie may have influenced Williams’s pairing of class conflict and sexual tension in Stanley and Blanche.
Blanche’s refined tastes, including her dislike of vulgarity, reflect the values of the old South.
American values
- The USA prided itself on opening its arms to immigrants from all over the world, including Poland, but Blanche still calls Stanley a ‘Polack’.
- Stanley feels he is all-American, and that America is ‘the greatest country on earth’.
- Stanley has a positive attitude towards conflict and fate, as shown by his belief that, despite poor odds, he would survive the war.
- Stanley is an example of a go-getting, thrusting, competitive working-class man, prepared to crush others (like Blanche) to get what he wants.
Williams’ homosexuality
Williams was homosexual and whilst this is clearly an aspect of his work it is important to remember that for the most of his life, homosexuality remained illegal. It was however, tolerated in some places such as New Orleans.
Williams’ homosexuality
Williams was homosexual and whilst this is clearly an aspect of his work it is important to remember that for the most of his life, homosexuality remained illegal. It was however, tolerated in some places such as New Orleans.
Cultural and political context
Williams saw the South as a broken and damaged place in which the decay was somehow charming. He was an almost completely non - political writer that began to move away from writing about political issues to writing about the emotional burdens of everyday life.
Cultural and political context..
The tensions in this play come partly from cultural conflict, as the worlds of Blanche and Stanley are so opposed that neither can understand the other. They are from different worlds where money has different values.
Feminism
Women in the Old South had a social and symbolic role, were expected to be passive and chaste. This world could not give Blanche what she needed and so she tried to marry into this ‘culture’ but she discovers that there is competition and deceit behind the facade.
Feminism
Women in the Old South had a social and symbolic role, were expected to be passive and chaste. This world could not give Blanche what she needed and so she tried to marry into this ‘culture’ but she discovers that there is competition and deceit behind the facade.
Symbolism - ‘Chinese lantern’
Chinese lantern - hiding ugliness of reality. Light unveils her true age and fading beauty (Blanche), represents harshness of reality, nowhere to hide, obsession with appearance.
Symbolism - “moth”
Moth - fragility - Blanche - comes out at night, no substance, not as pretty as a butterfly.
Symbolism - “meat”
Meat package - vulgar men, sexual connotations, New South, primitive.
