Stella's final betrayal of her sister is impossible to forgive Flashcards
I want to be near you…
…got to be with somebody, I can’t be alone!
“I want to be near you, got to be with somebody, I can’t be alone!”
tautology emphasises her inability to adapt to new America
Blanche’s virtues
clings to a social system of “aristocrats” and “working class”
“polack”
“what I am is 100% American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth
Stanley as new America
compromised of immigrants of all races with equal opportunity
you are the one that…
…abandoned Belle Reve, not I! I stayed and fought for it, bled for it, almost died for it
“you are the one that abandoned Belle Reve, not I! I stayed and fought for it, bled for it, almost died for it”
the asyndetic list highlights her struggle and abandonment and reveals that holding on to the “ruins of the Old South” can only invite suffering
Stella has forgotten…
… “much of [her] upbringing” at Belle Reve
the night is filled with inhuman…
…voices like cries in the jungle
“the night is filled with inhuman voices like cries in the jungle”
plastic theatre emphasised by simile suggests Blanches downfall into insanity.
Nancy Tischler…
…sees Streetcar not as a drama of natural selection but rather as “a reversal of Darwin’s vision—back to the apes
“Lurid reflections appear on the walls around Blanch”
again PT crafts the diabetic quality of Blanches downfall as her inner thoughts are portrayed on stage.
You ought to lay off…
…this liquor. he says you’ve been lapping it up all summer like a wild-cat
“You ought to lay off this liquor. he says you’ve been lapping it up all summer like a wild-cat”
the zoomporhismo of this simile dehumanises Blanche and reveals her alcohol dependance as the catalyst for her insanity
I couldn’t believe her…
… story and go on living with Stanley
“I couldn’t believe her story and go on living with Stanley”
- her pronoun and Stanley’s name reveals the order of importance
- “story” - a product of her delusions.
Stella is essentially…
…submissive, self deprecating wife who tolerates and excuses her husbands behaviour - Koprince
Oh God what…
…have I done to my sister
“Oh god what have I done to my sister?”
the interrogative displays her guilt intensified by the exclamatory “Oh God” she is still a victim of abuse and pregnant
the cycle of abuse as suggested by Lenore Walker
1-tension building 2-acute incident 3- love contrition
tension building
“yelling “sit down””
acute incident
“Stanley charges after Stella
love contrition
see scene three stage directions
“Stella ignores the needs of others and eventually adopts her own illusion…
… Her refusal to accept Blanche’s story of the rape is a commitment to self-preservation rather than love…“-Mcglinn
