Setting, Sound and Lighting

Question 1

‘Inhuman jungle voices’

‘Lurid reflections move sinuously as flames’

Sound
Climax
Lighting
Theme - Civilisation vs savagery

Answer 1

The animalistic world of Stanley takes over the stage. This emphasises the fact that Blanche has no escape from his cruel world. Stanley is the predator. The jungle merges with real life to show that there is no barrier between the two which would offer her protection.
‘Lurid’ suggests unnatural and disturbing which signifies the deterioration of Blanche’s mental state.

Question 2

‘[Varsouviana is filtered into a weird distortion… cries and noises of the jungle.]

Denouement
Stage directions
Sound
Theme - civilisation vs savagery

Answer 2

Stanley’s rape has added to Blanche’s trauma. She now recalls both her husbands death and the rape and it haunts her. Stanley is a brute who is completely unaffected by the shameful acts he has committed.

Question 3

‘Polka music sounds, in a minor key faint with distance’

Sound/music
Stage Directions

Answer 3

Williams’ use of background music during story of her husband’s suicide shows how the past still haunts Blanche. The polka music is a symbol of Blanche’s mental deterioration. Her past is so vivid in her mind and it’s causing her emotional turmoil.

Question 4

‘It has a raffish charm…atmosphere of decay’

Setting
Contrast
New Orleans

Answer 4

Directly contrasts Blanche’s appearance. The inability of the weak and well-bred to survive in the rough, modern world of vulgar but vital commoners. Stella isn’t particularly well off but the area has a run-down attractiveness to it.

Question 5

‘Only Poe! Only Mr Edgar Allan Poe! - could do it justice!’

Setting
New Orleans

Answer 5

Williams demonstrates Blanche’s dramatic nature. Poe was an incredibly famous Gothic writer. It is fitting that Blanche was an English teacher and is using his work to describe her current setting. She feels it is so horrible that it is straight out of a gothic horror. She is a snob for judging her sister’s place immediately upon arriving.

Question 6

‘Ticket! Back to Laurel…[Varsouviana music steals in softly and continues playing]’

Sound
Characterisation of Stanley

Answer 6

The past is catching up with Blanche and Williams makes emphatic use of sound to make this clear to the audience. The Varsouviana music is associated with her husband’s suicide throughout the play and the thought of returning to Laurel causes huge emotional distress for Blanche.

Question 7

‘Outside a train approaches’

Turning Point
Stage Directions

Answer 7

The train is unstoppable like Blanche’s fate. It could symbolise how Stanley’s power is no match for Blanche and he will always be there to win the battle. Blanche is getting ‘run over’ by Stanley physically and emotionally.

Question 8

‘A locomotive is heard approaching outside.’

Symbolism
Sound
Stage Directions
Plastic Theatre

Answer 8

The locomotive is a symbol of the past and oppression. The sound is too overwhelming for Blanche just like how reality is too hard for her to accept. This symbolises her inevitable fate arriving for her.