Streecar context Flashcards
Southern gothicv
Dark humour
Irrational, horrific thoughts and impulses
Sense of alienation
Brings to light how the idyllic South rests on repression of historical reality eg slavery, patriarchy
Historical realities take concrete forms as ghosts/ grotesque figures highlighting what is unsaid eg Alan Grey
Plastic theatre
Used by Williams to express universal truths via settings, props, music, sound and visual effects
Reflects/ enchances action, themes, characters etc
American Dream
Stanley attempts to fulfill the American Dream through individual labour as well as Stella’s family, representing multiculturalism and industrialisation of the US
Blanche sees social status as attaining the Dream
American Civil War
South defeated, slavery abolished
Industrialised North grew politically and economically in comparison
Southerners bought into a nostalgic myth representation of the South is its heyday of peace, prosperity and gallantry
New South
Post war- Time of social uppheaval and insutrialisation
Plantations no longer profited off of free labour
Rich families such as the DuBois’ fell into decay
Belle Reve means ‘beautiful dream’, representing shrinking of Old South through the loss of it
Southern Belle
Archetype of Southern literature
White, wealthy background
Cultured, pretty and charming
Complimented by the Southern gentleman eg Shep Huntleigh
Locomotive symbol
Represents modernity and innovative change after the war
Symbolises Stanley’s dominance and inevitable victory over Blanche
End of WW2
Focus on middle and lower classes after Depression
Young men ready to take back ‘traditional values’ and took jobs back from working women
Brutal reality of war made people lose hope, inspired Williams’ realistic style of writing
Williams’ parents
Father was abusive, linking to Stanley
Mother prone to hysterical outbreaks, like Blanche
Williams’ sister
Rose suffered from schizophrenia, resulted in lobotomy
Williams regretted doing nothing to stop her being institutionalised, like Stella and Blanche
Aristotelian tragedy
Change in circumstance for main character, Blanche moving in with the Kowalskis
Main character should have a ‘fatal flaw’ that leads to their downfall, Blanche refusing to accept reality
Aim to arouse feelings of wonder and awe in audience
Hegelian tragedy
Exposing a tragedy as a battle of two opposing moral claims or ideas, such as the opposing ideals of Blanche and Stanley
Both are valid but cannot coexist so one belief must be eradicated and result in a tragic hero, Blanche being institutionalised
