Genre/Form & Critical Viewpoints

Question 1

Tragedy

Answer 1

• Aristotlean 3 Unities of tragedy
  1. Time
  2. Place
  3. Action
• Blanche is our tragic heroine whose downfall is brought about by their hamartia combined with fate

Question 2

Modern Tragedy

Answer 2

*Modern tragedies are centered around ordinary people and their problems
* Fate and fivine power play a lesser role in the hero’s downfall. Instead, they are caused by flaws in the characters, society and the law
“I believe that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as Kings were”-Arthur Miller

Question 3

Melodrama

Answer 3

*Evident in Stanley rifling thorugh Blanche’s finery (Sc2), Blanche’s hysteria (Sc3+4) and the rape (Sc10)
* However, unlike a typical melodrama, these events are not intended to thrill the audience but ot explain the complex emotions of the characters and throw a light on their motives

Question 4

Southern Gothic

Answer 4

*Southern Gothic characters are typically the ‘outsider’ trying to find a place to belong. They are often delusional and mentally damaged.
*Southern Gothic settings are always charming in their decay
* Features of death and the grotesque
*Shows awareness to a dying culture-romantic, fragile but still based on a history of violence, slavery and rigid social hierarchies
“I write out of love for the Old South”-Williams

Question 5

Homosexual writing

Answer 5

*Queer Theory states that Blanche is an embodiment of Williams himself

Question 6

Marxist response

Answer 6

*Endorses the struggles of the working class man

Question 7

Feminist response

Answer 7

*Sympathetic towards women