Streetcar

Question 1

Themes death

Answer 1

Blanche has a fixation to be young as a result of her underlying fear of death:
‘I hate to tell you the reason that step was taken! A seventeen year old boy- she’d gotten mixed up with’
It’s Della Robbia blue’- symbolic of purity. Upholding ‘southern Belle’ to disguise the guilt in the death of her husband

CONTEXT LINK: Her presentation of herself as a ‘southern Belle’ - The old south’s inability to adapt to the new America resulting in its death. Stanley’s assistance in the downfall of Blanche shows how New America arose after the civil war, and with it came the fall of the old south.

Blanche retreats into a fantasy world to cope with the death of her husband and the thought of her inevitable ageing.
‘You’re not the gentleman I was expecting’ c11

Symbolism of death:
‘Varsouviana’- shadows death of husband and effect it has.
‘Only Poe! Only Mr Edgar Allan Poe!— could do it justice!’

Context: with the fall of the old south after the civil war came the Southern Gothic genre of literature with popular writer being Edgar Allan Poe and the genre aimed to expose problems they saw in society such as slavery and the south’s fear of the outside world.

Even though intimacies with strangers make Blanche feel alive, they are the cause of her ultimate downfall.
‘Death[…] is desire’
‘The grim reaper had put up his tent on our doorstep!’ C1
After the death of her family. She desperately tries to flee death by sleeping with young men though this only leads to her downfall when Stanley finds out

Question 2

Themes conflict

Answer 2

Conflict between sex:

Stanley ultimately rapes Blanche but ultimately receives no consequence: Stella is dependent on him for money so needs him to raise the baby and ultimately chooses him over her sister.
‘You done the right thing, the only thing you could do’ -Eunice c11

CONTEXT: double standards about sexual lives of men and women in the 1940s: women were viewed as impure if they had more than one sexual partner. During ww2 women worked in jobs usually occupied by men as they were on the battlefront, however after the war women were encouraged to resume domestic roles and became financially dependent again (hence stella’s inability to leave Stanley. ‘Blinded by all the brass’ to ‘Stanley doesn’t give me a regular allowance’.

Conflict created by Stanley is ultimately resolved as Stella adopts a maternal role; this highlights the power dynamic.

‘Her eyes go blind with tenderness as […] lifts her off her feet’ c3

Stella views herself as intellectually superior to Stanley:
‘Apparently Mr Kowalski was not amused’ - face threatening.
Stanley is presented as animalistic while being dominant in the relationship:
Pattern of dynamic verbs ‘hurls’,
This is recognised by Blanche: she undermines his authority and views herself as superior (due to her southern values such as poetry and music):
‘Party of apes’
It is ironic that she views herself as more modern and civilised than Stanley as her ignorant, outdated views represents those of a dying culture:
‘In bed with your polak’
‘What I am is one hundred percent American, born and raised in the greatest country on earth’- superlative. Rise of new America and equal opportunity.

Stanley has a desire to destroy the heritage of the old south:
‘I pulled you down off them columns’ metaphor. Non-standard English ‘them’ undermines upper class status and shows pride in lower class

Question 3

Costume that represents Stanley’s dominance over Blanche and Blanches facade of purity.

Answer 3

‘Coloured shirts, solid blues, a purple, a red and white check, a light green’
Scene 3
‘Denim worn clothes’ ‘grease-stained’
‘Daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice’
Scene 1
‘The blue of the robe in the old Madonna pictures’ ‘delia Robbia blue’- comparing herself to the Virgin Mary- delusion.
Scene 11

Question 4

Costume quotes that show Stanley’s suspicious of Blanche.

Answer 4

Stanley refers to Blanches clothes and jewellery as ‘the treasure chest of a pirate’ in scene 2. Blanche is a criminal determined to ruin them.
Stanley’s description of Blanches tiara ‘a crown for an empress’ in scene 2: his anxiety that Blanche threatens his power as the ‘king’ in the household by reminding Stella of where she was raised.

Question 5

Mitch and Blanche costume before vs after finding out about Blanche.

Answer 5

‘Alpaca coat’ fails to remove it out of fear of destroying the illusion. ‘I am ashamed of the way I perspire’. Scene 6
Vs
Scene 9 ‘Blue denim shirt and pants’- no longer trying to conform to her chivalrous ideals.

‘Daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice’
Vs
Scene 9 ‘Scarlet satin robe’ - acquires sinful connotations

Question 6

Themes fantasy and reality

Answer 6

Blanche’s escape from reality through alcoholism:

Question 7

Scene 1

Answer 7

Blanche arrives.
View of lower class: face threatening act ‘what I meant was I’d like to be left alone’.
Southern Gothic genre: ‘only Mr Edgar Allan Poe!- could do it justice’

Question 8

Downfall of Old South and Rise of New America demonstrated by Stanley and Blanche.

Answer 8

O

Question 9

Stanley and Stella relationship

Answer 9

Primitive relationship:
‘Party of apes’
Scene 3 ‘They come together with low, animal moans’
Scene 8 dynamic verbs ‘hurls’, scene 11 ‘tearing’
Scene 1 ‘Stella, baby! Catch!…meat’- symbolism of Stone Age man bringing meat home after a hunt.

Relies solely on sexual desire:
Scene 3
Scene 4: ‘ I was -sort of - thrilled by it’
Stella defends Stanley’s actions ‘when men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen’ scene 4- double standard for men and women. This behaviour is expected of men in 1940s.
Stanley sees himself as having rescued Stella from the old south:
‘I pulled you down off them columns and how you loved it’- colloquial ‘them’, proud of lower class. Stanley’s part in the fall of old south. Dynamic verb ‘pulled’. Blanche is next.

Stella feels she needs to stay with Stanley:
Scene 4 ‘Stanley doesn’t give me a regular allowance’- financial dependability of Stella on Stanley. During ww2 women took on the jobs of men but returned to domestic roles when men returned from fighting. Women returned to being financially dependent on their husbands. 1940s.
Stanley’s dependability on Stella and her maternal instincts : ‘her eyes go blind with tenderness’ scene 3. Stellas maternal role.