Context

Question 1

Historicist Approach

Answer 1

Looking at texts while considering the historical context of the time.

Question 2

Deep South

Answer 2

States of America including (most notably): Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Question 3

When was the play first performed?

Answer 3

1947.

Question 4

Bourgeoisie

Answer 4

The middle class who follow conventional attitudes, and materialistic values.

Question 5

What was happening with the Bourgeoisie in 1947?

Answer 5

They were fading away, making room for newer working-class, self-reliant attitudes.

Question 6

What happened to New Orleans during, and post WW2?

Answer 6

New Orleans was a space for materials and troops, then became modernised post-war, getting rid of Southern distinctiveness.

Question 7

When was the Antebellum Era?

Answer 7

1783-1861.

Question 8

What was it like in the Deep South pre-Civil War?

Answer 8

Rural, agricultural economy, dependent on export trades of sugar, tobacco, cotton, grain, and rice. Class divide was deeply regimented, society dictated by an elite class - the wealthy plantation owners.

Question 9

Plantations

Answer 9

Large estates with mansions and huge areas of land, dependent on slave labour.

Question 10

What were styles like pre-Civil War?

Answer 10

Highly influenced from the wealthy English and French styles.

Question 11

When was the American Civil War?

Answer 11

1861-1865.

Question 12

What caused the Civil War?

Answer 12

Slavery. The Union in the North wanted to abolish slavery, while the Confederacy South were still reliant on slave labour, and thought of slaves as inferior.

Question 13

What was the result of the Civil War?

Answer 13

The Union won the war. However, the image of the South and their racism was deeply ingrained.

Question 14

What was happening in New Orleans in 1947?

Answer 14

Lots of multiculturalism, compared to the rest of the Deep South. Ideology centering around the American Dream. The upper-class lost their wealth.

Question 15

The American Dream

Answer 15

People acknowledged that the working-class could achieve anything if they worked hard enough. People strived for the ideals of suburbanism and consumerism.

Question 16

New Orleans Culture in 1947

Answer 16

Birthplace of Jazz music, multiculturalism, large population of European and African immigrants. Lots of Bohemians and ex-service men and war-workers lived here, due to cheap rents. Buildings were derelict and cheap.

Question 17

When and where was Tennessee Williams born?

Answer 17

Born in Tennessee, lived from 1911-1983.

Question 18

What was Williams’ childhood like?

Answer 18

His father was an alcoholic, and his parents had an unhappy marriage. His father was a working-class salesman, and his mother was a Southern Belle. He was bedridden as a child for two years, making him reserved, and bullied. He was close to his sister, who was eventually institutionalised for mental health issues. Williams was gay, which was considered a mental illness at the time.

Question 19

Which character has Williams compared himself to and why?

Answer 19

Williams said that he is Blanche Dubois, as they both share hysteria, and the tendency to lie, specifically about their age.

Question 20

Where did Williams live before success?

Answer 20

New Orleans - he found it decaying yet charming.

Question 21

What did Williams say about the South?

Answer 21

‘I write out of love for the South … once a way of life that I am just old enough to remember - not a society built on money … I write about the South because I think the war between romanticism and the hostility to it is very sharp there.’

Question 22

When did Streetcar debut in Broadway and how was it received?

Answer 22

December 1947, the audience were silent for a while before applauding for 30 minutes.

Question 23

What did some reviewers say about the play?

Answer 23

Some rejected the bold portrayal of sexuality, morality, and desire. Robert J. Leeney called Williams an ‘ultra-realist’.

Question 24

Plastic Theatre

Answer 24

Using the set, props, lighting, sound, etc. to enhance action, themes, characters, and language.

Question 25

Expressionism

Answer 25

An unconventional technique in drama, aiming for a closer approach to the truth.

Question 26

Why did women suffer in 1940s?

Answer 26

Due to social and political restrictions. American heroism made men seem idolised, placing women in domestic roles.

Question 27

Where is racism present in New Orleans?

Answer 27

There is racism in New Orleans, but it is a more accepting than most places. However, there is lots of prejudice against European immigrants such as Stanley, seen through Blanche’s language to him.

Question 28

Where can we see the working-class in the play?

Answer 28

Stanley is the epitome of a working-class man, which was seen as being a respectable member of society.

Question 29

The American Dream

Answer 29

How the working-class were working their way up to great lifestyles, with wife, children, homes, and products.

Question 30

Where do we see religion in the play?

Answer 30

There is hints of Christian values in the play, due to an intolerance of homosexuality and sexual immorality.