scene 8 Flashcards
stage directions:
‘the view through the big windows is fading gradually into a still golden dusk’
reflects blanche - ending is pending, descent into madness - illusion/ fantasy is fading
façade is slipping
ecological awareness of williams, the dissatisfaction of industrialisation and the desire of going back to natural world
‘golden’ implies what once was and what has been lost
blanche:
‘tell us a joke, tell us a funny story to make us all laugh. i don’t know what’s the matter, we’re all so solemn’
she is being tolerated - no one is happy with her
lacks social awareness - bad mental state
no room for outdated culture in this society
wants to escape reality
blanche:
‘i must run through my repertoire!’
going through her acts
delusional
stella:
‘your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. go and wash up and then help me clear the table’
infantilising
blanche’s mental state is so bad to the point she needs step by step instructions to guide her through the most basic of tasks
motherly role
stanley:
‘don’t ever talk that way to me! ‘pig - polack -disgusting - vulgar -greasy!’ - them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here! what do you two think you are? a pair of queens? remember what huey long said - ‘every man is a king!” and I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!’
gender roles
he’s superior - different species
dehumanising them
no coherence between new south and old south
the working class are the future, not the rich
ironic - his actions are awful
huey long became the governor of louisiana in 1928, then went on to become a senator in 1932. championed the rights and living standards of the poor white population; himself coming from an impoverished background, he put into action a wide program of road and bridge construction, widened state university facilities and created a state hospital, affording these measures through heavier inheritance and income taxes. largely maintained his power through intimidation – taking personal control of all civil service positions in louisiana by 1934. stanley seems to echo the exact man long aimed to inspire with his policies, and long’s control over louisiana indeed parallels stanley’s patriarchal, new-money position.
stanley:
‘it’s gonna be all right again between you and me the way that it was. you remember that way that it was? Them nights we had together? god, honey, it’s gonna be sweet when we can make noise in the night the way that we used to and get the coloured lights going with nobody’s sister behind the curtains to hear us!’
relationships purely based on desire
uses sex to manipulate stella
boldness of sex in the new south
blanche:
‘his auntie knows candles aren’t safe, that candles burn out in little boys’ and girl’s eyes, or wind blows them out and after that happens, electric light bulbs go on and you see too plainly’
sense of wonder from the world disappears
light went out when allan died
trying to replace with the artificial light of mitch
the dim light of candles can hide the truth; cast a warm glow over situations whereas electric lights are garish. Shows how she struggles to cope with the harsh realities of the modern world
candles symbolise her fantasy world
stanley:
‘i am not a polack. people from poland are poles, not polacks. but what i am is a one hundred percent. american, born and raised in the greatest country on earth and proud as hell of it, so don’t ever call me a polack’
effects of ww2 - fought for america - became heroes of the country
williams demonstrates racial and cultural shifts in society
demonstrates the sad reality wherein some believed they had more of a claim of this identity than others and reflects the racial divide between peoples during the 40s. (made ironic through the setting of new orleans, one of the more diverse and integrated communities in america at the time.
irony is further heightened as new orleans is a french colony, emphasising blanche’s inability to adapt to the social changes taking place in america- something stanley interprets as prejudice, but we, the audience, come to learn is a result of deep seating trauma causing her to cling to the safety of her past
stanley;
‘ticket! back to laurel! on the greyhound! tuesday!’
blanche didn’t really do anything wrong
doesn’t care about people’s emotions - typical masculine trait
williams believed intentional cruelty was unforgivable
revenge for her hypocrisy
exclamatory demonstrates how stanley thinks he’s won
peripeteia (turning point) of the play
stanley:
‘when we first met, me and you, you thought I was common. how right you was, baby. i was common as dirt. you showed me the snapshot of the place with the columns. i pulled you down off them columns and how you loved it, having them coloured lights going! and wasn’t we happy together, wasn’t it all okay till she showed here?’
spatial deixis
old south must come down from its height ideals in order to live in the new world
alternatively, stanley ‘pulled” stella ‘down’ to his lower status as an immigrant representative of new america
stage directions:
‘the varsouviana is heard’
played when blanche’s husband died
circus - jarring music, crazy
gets us into blanche’s mind
out of place music
blanche:
‘el pain de mais, el pan de mais,
el pain de mais sin sal.
el pain de mais, el pain de mais,
el paid de mais sin sal…’
possessed - southern gothic tropes
fantasy - french
spanish - losing grip on reality
bread without salt - poor food
nothing to do with what’s going on in the play
delusional
echolalia of street sellers - impact of her surroundings
