Scene 1 Flashcards
non-conforming, idiosyncratic city. Becomes more poignant when Blanche is introduced as she is a stark contrast to the personality of her surroundings.
setting - “raffish charm”
It isn’t going to fit in with Blanche’s idealism, its industrial, its physically unclean and unkempt.
“faded white stairs”
expressionist device - reality is distorted
greek mythology allusion - afterlife paradise
The day Blanche arrives the sky is clashing with the rest of the setting. Represents Blanche and Stanley’s characters + reality vs illusion.
“peculiarly tender blue”
“invests the scene with a kind of lyricism”
“Elysian fields”
“attenuates atmosphere of decay”
creates verisimilitude and an authentic atmosphere, embeds the events of the play with accurate surroundings, reflects the self-sufficient mindset - everyone is getting on with their own things.
multiple conversations of inhabitants
“the voices of the people on the street can be heard overlapping”
signifies class, social status and occupation.
Plastic theatre - costume
Stanley - “roughly dressed” in “blue denim work clothes”
reflective of the ‘Southern Belle’ coined by the Antebellum South.
upper socioeconomic class, ostentatious values - creates distinction between her and Stanley.
Privilege is fading and she now doesn’t fit in with the changing society.
Blanche - “fluffy bodice” “white suit” “necklace and earrings of pearl” “incongruous to this setting”
façade, performance, not as she seems on the surface.
“her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light”
metaphorical value, allegorical version of Blanche’s life up until now - illicit pursuit of sexual “desires” led to social death and expulsion. Foreshadows Blanche’s fate - already sealed?
Freudian perspective - Blanche succumbing to her ultimate will of self-destruction.
No way Blanche can escape her fate: it is as certain as the running of the New Orleans streetcars.
“They told me to take a Streetcar named Desire, and then transfer to one called cemeteries.”
alcohol issues, duplicitous and deceitful. Tries to conceal anything about her that takes away from her ‘pure’ persona. Similarity between her and Stanley - share some of the same flaws
“pours half a tumbler of whiskey and tosses it down.”
“I look around for some liquor!”
“no I - rarely touch it!”
paroxysm of jumbled speech from Blanche. Feel her chaos and instability from the beginning. Constant diversions are an attempt to maintain control of how others are perceiving her. She anticipates scrutiny from her sister as a result of her own deep rooted insecurities.
Blanche speaks with “feverish vivacity as if she feared for either of them to stop and think.”
“don’t you look at me Stella no no no not till later, not till I’ve bathed and rested! And turn that over-light off!”
acute self-awareness and fear of judgement which she projects onto Stella
Fading ‘Southern Belle’
“You see I still have that awful vanity about my looks even now that my looks are slipping”
physical craving, relationship rooted in passion that transcends reason/logic.
physical dependency - her desire has control over her (similar to Blanche and Stanley)
“when he’s away for a week I nearly go wild!”
symbolic of the fading grandeur of the old south and Blanche’s inability to cope with that change - clinging to the past while resenting Stella for embracing change.
romanticizing tragedy - characteristic of her broader approach to life: she retreats into illusions and poetic language as a defence against the harshness of reality.
Blanche’s rich, melodramatic imagery of death
“the long parade to the graveyard”
“the grim reaper had put up his tent on our doorstep”
presenting herself as a martyr - deflecting her own guilt onto Stella so that she may share the burden. This speech indicates Blanche’s inability to take responsibility as the reality of her situation is too difficult to accept.
“I took the blows in my face and my body”
“where were you. In bed with your - Polack.”
archetypal machismo
hegemonic masculinity
women’s role - 1940s housewife - sees women as a commodity, at the mercy of his sexual desires
“animal joy”
“centre of his life has been pleasure with women”
“power and pride of a richly feathered male bird”
“gaudy seed-bearer”
“sexual classifications”
