Context Flashcards
What sort of place was New Orleans in 1940s America?
A Deep South city with a cosmopolitan background due to heavy immigration from the 1880s to the 1920s. It is a blend of old and new cultures, a crossroad of past and present.
How is New Orleans described in Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’?
The sidewalks have “entertainment by pickaninnies” and there are “ante-bellum homes”.
What was Williams’ father like?
His father was an alcoholic and often neglectful or abusive.
What was Williams’ mother like?
Williams’ mother was a ‘Southern Belle’ type of woman who could become prone to neurotic and hysterical behaviour.
Who was the closest family member in Williams’ life?
His sister Rose, who is believed to have inspired many of his female characters.
What traumatic event happened to Williams regarding his sister Rose?
When Williams was young, Rose underwent a lobotomy and was then institutionalized.
What did Williams suffer from later in life?
Depression and alcoholism.
What is plastic theatre?
A form of theatrical Expressionism, mostly unique to ‘Streetcar’, that uses motifs (props/sounds/etc) to parallel a character’s mindset.
Give three examples of plastic theatre in ‘Streetcar’.
- The Varsouviana Polka and Blanche’s trauma and fragile mental state.
- Light as a representation of truth, shown through the paper lantern on the bulb and Blanche’s use of candles with Mitch.
- The lurid shadows in Scene 10 and 11 which represent Blanche’s terror.
What is a tragic protagonist?
A protagonist with a noble goal, whose fatal flaw hinders them from achieving their goal and ultimately causes their downfall.
What is a Southern Belle?
A stock character and stereotype from the Deep South, who embodied ‘Southern hospitality’, and sought out gentlemen husbands to marry into respectable families and further their own social status.
How is Amanda in The Glass Menagerie reminiscent of Blanche?
- She has had an antebellum upbringing and ‘gentleman callers’.
- She is a ‘faded’ Southern Belle who has ‘fallen’ from her upbringing both socially, economically, and aesthetically.
- Her value system is at odds with her children, the ‘new generation’, like Stanley and Blanche are.
How is Blanche’s situation reminiscent of Maggie’s in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof?
- She is married to a man who is suspected to be a homosexual and does not sleep with her, much like Blanche’s first husband.
What dramatic medium does Williams give to Blanche and most of his other female characters? What is the intention/effect of this?
Several monologues, which means there is more vividness to Blanche’s history and her character to allow the audience to sympathise with her.
What themes are similar between Williams and his contemporary Arthur Miller’s work “A View From The Bridge”?
- Domestic setting
- Claustrophobic and cramped setting
- Patriarchal figures (Eddie and Stanley)
- Homosexuals and marrying women
Who was Erwin Piscator and how did he influence Williams?
An early 20th century German political theatre dramatist who worked alongside Brecht. He was a teacher of Williams in New York.
