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Literature > SCND > Flashcards

SCND Flashcards

0
Q

Characterisation of Stanley,

  • how he sees/treats women
    • gender roles
    • sexuality
  • animalistic
A
  • “He (Stanley) sizes women up at a glance; with sexual classifications, crude images flashing into his mind, and determining the way he smiles at them”
  • “he’s like an animal. He has animal habits”
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1
Q

Blanche Du Bois

  • turns to strangers for comfort
  • lives in fantasy world
A

“I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers”

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2
Q

Stella

  • self-deluded and strives off survival instinct to trust Stanley
  • mediating point between Stanley and Blanche
A

“I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley”

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3
Q

Mitch

  • lacks southern class Blanche pretends to uphold
  • Mitch and Blanche are drawn together through mutual need of companionship
A

“You need somebody. And I need somebody. Could it be - you and me, Blanche?”

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4
Q

Relationship between sex and death

- indulging one’s desire in the form of unrestrained promiscuity leads to forced departures and unwanted ends

A
  • “They told me to take the streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields”
  • “death, the opposite of desire”
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5
Q

Dependence on man/masculinity

A

Maybe he’s what we need to mix with our blood now that we’ve lost belle reve

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6
Q

Themes of drugs and alcohol

  1. ) means of escape for Blanche (embarrassed by ‘addiction’)
  2. ) casual and leisure for males
  3. ) linked to aggression and violence
A
  1. ) now don’t worry your sister hasn’t turned into a drunkard
  2. ) nothing belongs on a poker table but cards, chips and whiskey
  3. ) drunk drunk animal thing you
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7
Q

Appearances

- high importance to Blanche

A

I still have that awful vanity about my looks

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8
Q

The Varsouviana

  • inside the mind of Blanche
  • when she feels remorse or emotionally threatened
    - can’t forgive herself for Allen’s death
    - theme: guilt and madness
  • symbolises decent into madness
A

“Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable. It is the one unforgivable thing in my opinion.”

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9
Q

Fantasy vs reality

  • Blanche represents fantasy
    • lies to others and self in order to create own reality
    • shield from harsh circumstances/reality
  • Stanley is firmly grounded in the physical real world
    • unravel Blanche’s fantasy
  • reality triumphs over fantasy in SCND
A

“I don’t want realism… I’ll tell you what I want,magic!”

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10
Q

Symbolism: naked light bulb and paper lantern

  • reality/ revealing
  • doesn’t want to see truth
    • age but also circumstances
  • paper lantern is shielding Blanche’s harsh reality of which she doesn’t want to see or experience
A
  • “I can’t stand a naked light bulb, any more that I can a rude remark or a vulgar expression.”
  • “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in the light. That’s a fact!”
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11
Q

Theme: Love

  • symbolism of light
    • bright: innocence, dim: sexual maturity
  • Blanche and Allen had perfect love until she caught him with another man , confronted him cruelly and he committed suicide. Resulting in Blanche’s guilt and ultimate decent into madness
A
  • Falling in love: “you suddenly turned a blinding light on something that has always been half in shadow”
  • death of love: “the searchlight which had been turned on the world had suddenly been turned off”
  • maturity: “never for one moment since has there been any light that’s stronger than this - kitchen candle…”
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12
Q

Blue piano

  • used for dramatic intensity and themes (lust and passion)
  • invoked by scenes with great passion (intimate moments with Kowalski’s)
A

“Expresses the spirit of life that goes on here”

- stage directions

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13
Q

What does the locomotive represent and why is it important?

A
  • used for dramatic intensity (sound effect)
  • represents:
    • relentless fate
    • Stanley: masculine, powerful, modern, brutal
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14
Q

What themes do the human silhouettes and cries convey/symbolise?

A
  • symbols of human cruelty
    • “deliberate cruelty is unforgivable”
  • shows inside Blanche’s head
    • terror and madness
  • used for dramatic intensity
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15
Q

What is the importance of Blanche’s long baths?

A
  • represent efforts to “cleanse” herself
    • unspoken desire to be cleansed of guilt and promiscuous past
  • can’t erase the past hence bathing is never done
  • themes: sex/desire vs. death
16
Q

What is the importance of the poker night with regards to:

  1. Colours/ artwork
  2. Stanley’s character
  3. Introduction of Mitch (quote)
  4. Mitch and. Blanche
A
  1. Van Gogh’s “The Night Cafe”
    • primary/raw colours to represents primal nature of Kowalski’s union and masculine stereotype
  2. cements Stanley’s role as the “villain”
  3. Contrasts Mitch with the other males
    • “that one seems superior to the other… I thought he had sort of a sensitive look”
  4. Initial attraction between Mitch and Blanche is in contrast to the ‘bestial’ relationship of the Kowalskis
17
Q

What is the importance if the Mexican vendor and why is she used?

A
  • used for dramatic intensity
  • “Flores para los muertos” (flowers for the dead)
    • sign of respect to deceased
  • foreshadows Blanche’s figurative death (mentally and physically)
    • mentally: loss of reality
    • physically: no longer young or chances of marital happiness
18
Q

What is the significance of Blanche’s wardrobe and what is it used for??

A
  • Used for characterisation of Blanche
  • protection from horrifying reality
  • hold on to past: create illusion that she is still young, innocent and admired by many
    • “oh, in my youth I excited some admiration”
19
Q

Significance of Blanche’s name

A
  • used to oppose Blanche’s true character
  • “it means woods and Blanche means white, so the two together mean white wood, like an orchard in the Spring!”
  • white: innocence she has lost
  • spring: youth, new life
20
Q

Significance of the title if the play

A

“Take a streetcar named Desire”

  • theme: sexual desire vs. death
  • play is centred around incidents of desire
  • brought to New Orleans by promiscuous past (desire)
    • not just a streetcar
    • “it brought me here where I’m not wanted and ashamed to be”
  • runs all the time
  • turn to sex for happiness
21
Q

Example of dramatic irony

A

Stanley over hears Stella and Blanche talk about him rudely

22
Q

Example of importance of clothing as a symbol

A

Blanche uses her “fancy” clothes to hold onto youth

23
Q

Example of uses of lighting/colour as a symbol

A

Stanley’s red pjs = desire

24
Q

Example do significant music or sound

A
  • Varsouviana: shows madness
  • blue piano: desire or passion
  • locomotive: fate (foreshadowing)

Literature (15 decks)

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